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Kylian Mbappe’s France beat Portugal 5-3 on penalties in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on Friday after a 0-0 tie over 120 minutes. Theo Hernandez scored the winning goal in a match that will likely be remembered as Cristiano Ronaldo’s last in the tournament.
France scored all of their penalties and advanced to the semi-finals against Spain. Portugal’s Joao Felix was the only player to miss a penalty, hitting the post with his third.
France beat Portugal on penalties in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on Friday after a 0-0 draw to advance to the quarter-finals against Spain.
Neither side was able to create clear-cut chances during the 120 minutes in Hamburg, and in the end, Joao Felix was the only player to miss in the shootout, with Theo Hernandez scoring the winning spot kick.
Felix missed the penaltypic.twitter.com/zWHWmq5YVI
— DieHardUtdFans (@DieHardUtdFans) July 5, 2024
It was a belated shootout success for France, who lost to Argentina on penalties in the 2022 World Cup final, and lost to Switzerland in the same manner in the round of 16 at the European Championships three years ago.
In Germany’s last major tournament, they also lost on penalties to Italy in the 2006 World Cup final.
Mbappe missed a crucial goal against Switzerland and was off the pitch when the shootout began, before being replaced by Badeli Bakola midway through extra time.
Bacora, Ousmane Dembélé, Youssef Fofana and Jules Kounde also scored penalties for France.
🥶 @TheoHernandez Ice cold wins the shootout!
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) July 5, 2024
Mbappe endured a frustrating night as he continued to search for his best form in the competition, but looked reserved as he wore a mask to protect the nose he broke in France’s opener against Austria.
At least he will get another chance to play in the semi-finals, while at 39 years old Ronaldo looks set to play in his last European Championship.
This was his sixth European Championship, but he conceded goals in all five games for Portugal and failed to break his own European Championship record of 14 goals set in Germany.
He converted Portugal’s first penalty, but Roberto Martinez’s side were unable to score in more than six hours of play and were eliminated.
They drew 0-0 with Slovenia in the round of 16 and beat them on penalties, but this time around they were disappointing in Hamburg.
Neither team has fully realized their potential in previous games, especially France, who have made it to today without any player scoring a goal in open play.
Mbappe’s frustrating night
Randal Kolo Muani came on as a substitute in the last round and forced France into an own goal in the final moments of the game, helping France beat Belgium, and he finally got a chance to start.
Eduardo Camavinga also joins the mix, replacing the suspended Adrien Rabiot in midfield, while Antoine Griezmann is deployed as a number 10 behind Kolo Muani and Mbappe.
France have been happy to wait for their opponents to attack and rely on excellent defending, but have also struggled to play with real intensity when in possession.
They had less possession in this game, an often disappointing one, but only briefly revived in the second half.
Portugal began to cause problems for their opponents by attacking from midfield into the penalty area, the first of which came in the 60th minute when Bruno Fernandes’ shot was saved by Mike Maignan.
Vitinha then tried his luck when he latched onto a low pass from Rafael Leao. Determined not to concede an early goal in this tournament, Mainian saved Vitinha’s shot and reacted quickly to prevent Ronaldo from back-heeling the ball in from close range.
France responded quickly when Kolo Muani played a one-two with Kounde and tried to shoot, but Ruben Dias saved Portugal with a timely interception.
Deschamps then removed Antoine Griezmann and brought on Dembele, who wasted no time in creating a great chance for Camavinga, but the midfielder fired the ball wide.
After that, the game inevitably went into extra time, and Ronaldo wasted a great opportunity from substitute Francisco Conceicao’s return pass.
It was beyond Mbappe’s play, with the France captain watching the extra-time play out from the bench as Maignan blocked Nuno Mendes’ shot in the final moments of 120 minutes, leading to a penalty shootout.
The penalty shootout took place on the Portuguese side of the Parc des Volkswagen stadium, with Maignan failing to make a save, but it was unnecessary.
Portugal’s Diogo Costa saved three penalties from Slovenia in the last round but was unable to stop Slovenia’s penalty this time.
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