Portugal was eliminated from Euro 2024 after losing to France on penalties, and there was a moment when the game appeared to be lost.

France and Portugal were two of the major names to advance to the Euro 2024 quarterfinals, but their match could not have been more different.

The Euro 2016 victors and 2018 world champions put on an extremely bland show in Hamburg, devoid of quality, energy, and excitement.

None of the superstars on show lived up to their expectations, particularly Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe.

To be fair, Portugal shown considerable aggressive intent in the first stanza, creating some good chances with their possession. France’s strategy was to let their opponents have the ball and then catch them on the counter-attack.

It wasn’t until Didier Deschamps brought on Ousmane Dembele that the French came alive, but despite injecting pace and dynamism into the French attacks, he couldn’t get through.

Midway through the second half, it appeared that the game would go the distance, which it did.

Perhaps surprisingly, both teams pulled their finest penalty takers well before the shootout; Roberto Martinez withdrew Bruno Fernandes with 74 minutes on the clock, while Mbappe, plainly troubled by his broken nose, quit after the first period of extra time.

During 480 minutes of football at Euro 2024, no French player scored from open play. Their two goals in the competition came from an Austrian own goal and a Mbappe penalty against Poland.

Despite losing Mbappe 15 minutes before the shootout, France won without their finest penalty taker.

Joao Felix’s error proved costly, as the French converted all five penalty kicks to win 5-3.

If Portugal had still had Bruno Fernandes on the pitch, things might have turned out differently.