Portugal vs France Preview

Portugal and France will square up at the Volksparkstadion this Friday in the second quarter-final of the 2024 European Championship.

Portugal booked their place at this stage of the tournament amidst much drama with their last win over Slovenia full of intrigue. First, Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty in extra time with Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak becoming just the second goalie to save both Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s spot kicks.

However, the most intriguing spectacle came in the penalty shootout as Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa became the first goalkeeper to save three penalties in a European Championship shootout. The Porto goalkeeper helped Portugal make history in the process as they have now reached a record-extending seventh quarter-final.

The Seleção will hope to go a step further by reaching the semi-finals. However, they will be wary of the French challenge here as they have lost eleven of the last 14 H2Hs (W1, D2). More recently, however, they have tasted defeat only three times in their last 19 matches (W16) but one of those defeats came against Georgia (2-0) in this tournament.

Meanwhile, France have made it to their third quarter-final in the last four European Championships with a 1-0 win over Belgium on Monday. Yet, despite their abundance of quality players, their performances at this years tournament have been far from convincing.

Les Bleus have been particularly toothless in attack. They have just three goals in Germany but none from open play by one of their own players. They have been enjoying success at the other end, at least, having kept five clean sheets in their last six games. Those defensive strengths could help prolong this encounter as five of France’s last seven matches at the European Championships have been level after 90 minutes (W2, D5).