In a repeat of the 2016 Euro finale, Portugal and France will again lock horns at the Volkspartstadion on Saturday in a high-profile quarter final.
On Monday, Group F winners, Portugal traversed the whole spectrum of emotions at the business end of their first knockout stage fixture this year against Slovenia.
The clash ended 0-0 after extra time with Portugal winning the penalty shoot-out 3-0. The recorded 68% of possession at the Frankfurt Arena. In their three group games, the selecao won two and lost their game against Georgia 2-0.
Given the dismal nature of their performance at the Round of 16 game, it goes without saying that if they cannot improve on it their Euro aspirations are likely to be cut short.
However, in comparison to this French side, they have nowhere close to their best either. Rather shockingly, France are yet to score from open play after four games at the Euro 2024. They have scored three goals so far, one of which was a Kylian Mbappe penalty against Polan with the other two being own goals.
The Group D runners-up had only two shots on target in their last game, beating Belgium 1-0 at the Düsseldorf Arena. While a Jan Vertoghen’s own goal sent France into the quarter-finals, their group stage matches ended 1-1 with Poland, 0-0 with Netherlands and their only group stage victory over Austria which ended 1-0.
While their shooting boots have gone missing, however, France continues to be sturdy at the back and has kept three clean sheets so far at the tournament, with the only goal from a Robert Lewandowski penalty.
It was a 2-2 draw when Portugal last faced France, with the Puskas Arena playing host to this match. The previous 3 head-to-heads have seen two draws and one France win. In total, France has won 19 of the team’s 28 H2H meetings.
Portugal vs France: Team News
Martinez and the Portugal physios will need to conduct thorough checks on their charges who completed 120 minutes on Monday, but at this juncture, there are no serious fitness concerns for the 2016 champions to report ahead of the quarter-final.
As a result, another untouched XI ought to be sent out onto the field on Friday, where a 212th cap will come the way of Ronaldo, who has now fired 20 shots on goal without scoring at the tournament; only four male players have had more without success in the history of the Euros.
Diogo Jota and Francisco Conceicao appear to be first in line for promotion from the bench, but Silva and Rafael Leao have nailed down their spots in the Selecao attack, while Vitinha and Joao Palhinha should be in no danger of ceding their midfield spots either.
However, there will have to be one alteration to the France XI, as Adrien Rabiot – now a free agent after his contract with Juventus expired – is suspended on account of picking up his second yellow card of the tournament in the last-16 win over Belgium.
Any of Ousmane Dembele, Eduardo Camavinga, Youssouf Fofana or Warren Zaire-Emery could take Rabiot’s spot depending on what formation Deschamps favours, and the only possible Bleus absentee should be Kingsley Coman, who like Phil Foden earlier in the tournament has left the camp for the birth of his child.
Rabiot formed a part of a diamond midfield for Les Bleus in Dusseldorf, allowing Marcus Thuram to spearhead the charge alongside Mbappe, but the Inter Milan striker was hooked with just an hour played and is certainly at risk of dropping out for Kolo Muani.
Predicted XIs
Portugal’s possible starting lineup:
Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Pepe, Mendes; Palhinha, Vitinha; Silva, Fernandes, Leao; Ronaldo
