France scored all their goals as they beat Portugal 5-3 on penalties after a goalless draw in the European Championship quarter-finals on Friday, a move that will likely spell the end for Cristiano Ronaldo’s international career.
Joao Felix’s effort hit the post and Portugal’s third goal was followed by Theo Hernández’s winner, completing a perfect sequence. France will now play Spain in the semi-finals in Munich on Tuesday.
Portugal’s defeat looks set to bring an end to 39-year-old Ronaldo’s 21-year international career. He converted the first penalty kick but was responsible for one of several poor misses on the night.
France’s success compensates for the frustrations they suffered at the last European Championship, where they were knocked out by Switzerland in the round of 16, and then lost to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final.
Ousmane Dembele, Youssouf Fofana, Jules Kooundé and Bradley Barcolao all scored penalties to secure France’s victory.
The game ended with both teams missing several chances during the slow-moving game. During the 90 minutes and 30 minutes of added time, both teams had clear chances.
France reached the semi-finals of this tournament without scoring a goal from open play, having scored two own goals and one penalty in their previous four games.
But France were undefeated at Euro 2024 as goalkeeper Mike Maignan made two crucial saves from open play on Friday to lead his team to victory.
Both teams started cautiously, focusing on maintaining possession and avoiding mistakes, so play was often flat, with sporadic bursts of action.
It took 16 minutes for the first shot to be fired in a furious rage, with Bruno Fernandes’ shot deflected by Hernandez and headed in for a corner.
As soon as the second half began, the game woke up from its slumber.
A rare contribution from the masked Kylian Mbappe came in a clever combination with N’Golo Kante, producing a rapid-fire shot that was swallowed by goalkeeper Diogo Costa. France captain Mbappe had another poor night in attack.
A few minutes later, Hernandez’s square ball from the left beat the Portuguese defence and crossed the goal, necessitating a tap-in, but there was no one there to stop it.
Mañan made two crucial saves in the space of three minutes, a powerful arm save from Fernandez with 1:30 to go, followed by a close-range save from Vitinha following another sharp run from Rafael Leao.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we had a solid defense, a strong mentality and stayed calm during the shootout. That made the difference,” said Mainan.
In the 67th minute, Randal Kolo Muani made a quick break alongside Kounde and the striker raced towards goal, but Ruben Dias made a tackle to block the goal.
France’s profligacy continued after that, with substitute Dembele tricking Eduardo Camavinga into scoring, but the young midfielder wasted his chance from close range.
But the biggest miss was Ronaldo’s goal in the third minute of added time, when Francisco Conceicao’s ingenious idea saw him cut across the face of goal and pass the ball to his captain for a fairytale finish, but the striker was unable to do much and missed his line.
After 212 appearances and 130 goals for Portugal, Ronaldo’s future looks set to end, while 41-year-old central defender Pepe’s international career also looks set to come to an end.
“Football is cruel… and sadness is part of it. We aimed to win for our country and bring joy to our people,” said Pepe, who made a couple of excellent tackles. “Five days ago we won in a penalty shootout, now we lost in a penalty shootout.”
