Euro 2024: France knocks out Portugal on penalty kicks
By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer
HAMBURG, Germany — France ended Cristiano Ronaldo’s bid to win the title at his last European Championship by beating Portugal, 5-3, in a penalty shootout to reach the semifinals on Friday.
After the game finished 0-0 following extra time, Portugal substitute Joao Felix hit a post with the only miss in the shootout and Theo Hernández showed no sign of pressure by converting the clinching kick into the top corner.
It was a record sixth and final European Championship for the 39-year-old Ronaldo, who scored Portugal’s first penalty in the shootout and ended up consoling fellow veteran Pepe afterward as the 41-year-old defender cried on his captain’s shoulder.
“We need to go through this moment of our loss, which is very painful,” Pepe said.
Ronaldo’s 20-year career in the Euros included the title in 2016 – when Portugal beat France in the final – and it remains to be seen if the five-time FIFA World Player of the Year will continue playing for his country through to the 2026 World Cup, when he will be 41.
The victory ended the recent heartbreak of Kylian Mbappé and France in shootouts, having lost in them at their last two major tournaments – in the last 16 at the Euros in 2021 and in the 2022 World Cup final.
Mbappé didn’t even take a penalty in the shootout, having been substituted after the first half of extra time following a couple of knocks to his broken nose that was covered by a protective mask.
Les Bleus didn’t need their star player, as Ousmane Dembele, Youssouf Fofana, Jules Kounde and Bradley Barcola all found the net in the shootout – held in front of Portugal’s fans – before Hernández’s coup de grâce set off jubilant scenes for the French inside the stadium in Hamburg.
“It wasn’t easy,” France goalkeeper Mike Maignan said. “We didn’t always play that great, it was a complicated game. We played well defensively.”
“We got to the penalty shootout and didn’t waver. We can be proud of ourselves.”
France will play Spain in the semifinals after its extra-time win over Germany in Stuttgart, with Les Bleus staying on course for a third European Championship title after 1984 and 2000.
Didier Deschamps’ team has reached the semifinals despite no France player having scored from open play so far in the tournament.
Portugal exited having failed to score in either of its knockout games – the team beat Slovenia on penalties in the last 16 – and its final group match, leaving coach Roberto Martinez plenty of questions to answer.