The visitors had looked set for an upset win in Valenciennes as Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Birkir Bjarnason gave them a 2-0 lead before the interval.

But Mathieu Debuchy triggered the hosts' comeback, and Laurent Blanc's men left things late with Franck Ribery and Adil Rami both finding the net in the last six minutes as France extended their unbeaten run to 19 matches.

France were the more enterprising team early, particularly wingers Hatem Ben Arfa and Jeremy Menez.

They struggled to create clear-cut chances, however, and against the run of play, the visitors made them pay on 27 minutes.

Sigthorsson's header picked out Bjarnason, and the winger — left unmarked by Patrice Evra — finished well from a difficult angle.

The Ajax striker went from provider to scorer only five minutes later, tapping in from close range as Rurik Gislason escaped the attentions of Evra down the right flank to set him up.

France's forwards showed signs they were starting to gel before half-time, with Karim Benzema skewing their best chance wide after good work from Ben Arfa.

They pulled a goal back seven minutes after the break through the unlikely source of right-back Debuchy, who finished after a loose ball fell kindly for him inside the area.

Frustration followed for the hosts as their opponents defended stoutly, blocking countless shots from the edge of the area.

Iceland went close to restoring their two-goal advantage on the counter-attack, but goalkeeper Steve Mandanda saved from Bjarnason as the home defence was again exposed.

They would live to regret the miss as France launched their salvage mission with the introduction of Olivier Giroud, whose deft pass to Ribery set up the Bayern Munich star for a lofted finish.

Moments later, the Montpellier forward helped secure the turnaround with a wonderful header to Rami, whose first-time finish completed the comeback.