After losing to France on penalties, Portugal was eliminated from Euro 2024, and there was a brief period of time when it appeared as though the game was lost.Two of the biggest names to get to the Euro 2024 quarterfinals were France and Portugal, but their matchup could not have been less of a classic.The world champions of 2018 and the victors of Euro 2016 put up a very boring show in Hamburg that lacked passion, quality, and enthusiasm.Not even Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe, the two superstars on show, lived up to their hype.

In fairness to Portugal, they did at least display some attacking intent during the opening half, generating some respectable opportunities through their possession. France’s strategy was to give the ball to their opponents and then attempt to counterattack in an attempt to catch them.The French only came to life when Didier Deschamps substituted Ousmane Dembele. However, even though the Paris Saint-Germain winger gave the French attacks more energy and pace, he was unable to end the deadlock.

The tie appeared set to go the entire distance halfway through the second half, and that’s exactly what transpired.Unexpectedly, both teams pulled their finest penalty takers well before the shootout. Bruno Fernandes was pulled by Roberto Martinez with 74 minutes remaining, and Mbappe—his broken nose obviously bothering him—left the game after the first extra session.During the 480-minute football match at Euro 2024, not a single player from France scored through open play. Their two goals in the competition came from a Mbappe penalty against Poland and an own-goal by Austria.

But even without their finest penalty taker, France won the shootout despite losing Mbappe fifteen minutes beforehand.

Due to Joao Felix’s costly error, the French won 5-3 on penalties after scoring all five of their kicks.

Maybe things would have gone differently if Portugal had kept Bruno Fernandes on the pitch.