France, who had not been past the quarter-finals since they won the tournament in 2000, eased off and cruised home.
Coming into the game, Iceland were praised for a rigidly well-organised defence while France had found first-half goals hard to come by, with their previous six coming after the break.
It was a matter of minutes, however, before both of those traits to be swept aside, as France set about picking their way through gaping holes in Iceland's previously solid rearguard.
Having defended so admirably against England, Iceland were 2-0 down inside 20 minutes through two of the oldest and simplest tricks in the football playbook.
The opener came after 12 minutes from a hopeful long ball which found Giroud with acres of space to run through and he drive a low finish beneath keeper Hannes Halldorsson.
