Austria coach Marcel Koller said the nation's expectations might have been "too high" as their Euro 2016 campaign ended without a victory.
Austria finished bottom of Group F, behind Hungary, Iceland and Portugal, after taking just one point from their three games.
They had needed to beat tournament debutants Iceland on Wednesday to make the round of 16 but, despite having the lion's share of both shots and possession, they came away with a 2-1 defeat after a 94th-minute Arnor Traustason goal.
Austria had been tipped as a dark horse for tournament in some quarters but Koller told reporters after the game: "Maybe the expectations have been too high.
"I don't think it's a personal failure. It's an experience for me with the team."
Austria were disappointing in the first half. They might have had the lead when Marko Arnautovic dispossessed goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson in the area but he could not get a shot away, and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson then gave Iceland the lead on 18 minutes.
Aleksandar Dragovic missed a penalty for Austria on 37 minutes before Alessandro Schopf finally equalised on the hour, but Koller's men could not force another and Traustason ultimately had the last word.
"It was like an Icelandic wall," Koller said. "There was always a body in the way."
He added: "I don't think that the first-half performance was down to the system, but more to a lack of combination, a lack of pressing. From my point of view, it had nothing to do with the system, but more with the nervousness.
"The second half was the first time we saw it [a performance at our best] at this tournament. The pressing was more exact, the movement was there."
He also stressed that he did not hold Dragovic responsible for the missed penalty.
"I have two takers, David [Alaba] and 'Drago,'" he said. "The two should decide on the pitch who takes it and who feels better. I think Drago took the responsibility, so we can't blame him."
Austria captain Christian Fuchs admitted that the team's poor tournament had been down to a combination of problems in both attack and defence.
"We had big plans, but we struggled to score goals in these three matches, not taking our chances," he said. "In defence we made individual mistakes with our marking and with the second balls, for instance from the throw-in [for Iceland's first goal].
"But we must not focus on little details. Basically, it can be said that we haven't lived up to our expectations, for whatever reason. We will be analysing that in the next few months, but the disappointment is really huge."
However, Austria had never had a successful European Championship qualification campaign before, and the Leicester City left-back added: "The positives are forgotten all too quickly amid all the focus on the negatives.
"Of course, we are not satisfied with this tournament, but with the way the team has developed in the past few years, there is every reason for people to be really proud of the lads."