France narrowly escaped a hugely frustrating draw in their opening Euro 2017 game against Iceland, with Eugénie Le Sommer’s late penalty finally breaking their opponents’ resistance to claim three points.

Iceland played with their backs against the wall for much of the match, repelling waves of French pressure as the favourites to win Group C asserted their dominance.

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The match was heading for a draw until the Iceland substitute Elín Jensen brought down Amandine Henry in the penalty area in the 86th minute and Le Sommer converted from the spot.

Olivier Echouafni, the France coach, said: “We have the win, that’s the most important thing. We have to be effective. I love these games because the girls were in difficulty but they were patient. They have been rewarded. Everyone did well.”

France will face Austria on Saturday, with Iceland meeting Switzerland.

Austria down Switzerland in Euro debut

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Austria’s Nina Burger, left, celebrates with team-mate Sarah Zadrazil after opening the scoring against Switzerland. Photograph: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images

Austria made a dream debut at the European Championship with a 1-0 victory over 10-woman Switzerland in Group C.

Playing in the Dutch city of Deventer, the striker Nina Burger put the Austrians in front on 15 minutes after latching on to a throughball by Sarah Zadrazil and slotting low past Gaëlle Thalmann, to hand her side a 1-0 lead at half-time.

When Burger was tripped on the hour by Rahel Kiwic, the Swiss defender was shown a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Despite the disadvantage Switzerland mustered late chances but the Austria goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger made two important saves to ensure her side a winning start to the tournament.

The win was the country’s first in either the men’s or women’s Euros.