France Beat Portugal in Shootout to Reach Semis and End Ronaldo’s Dream

 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, right, embraces Pepe at the end of a quarter final match against France at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Hamburg, Germany, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, right, embraces Pepe at the end of a quarter final match against France at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Hamburg, Germany, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP)
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France Beat Portugal in Shootout to Reach Semis and End Ronaldo’s Dream

 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, right, embraces Pepe at the end of a quarter final match against France at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Hamburg, Germany, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, right, embraces Pepe at the end of a quarter final match against France at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Hamburg, Germany, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP)

France converted all their kicks in a shootout to edge Portugal 5-3 on penalties after a goalless stalemate in their European Championship quarter-final on Friday, likely bringing the curtain down on Cristiano Ronaldo's international career.

Theo Hernandez stroked home the winning kick for a perfect sequence after Joao Felix’s effort, the third for Portugal, hit the post. France will now play Spain in the semi-finals on Tuesday in Munich.

Defeat for Portugal is set to spell the end of the 21-year international career of 39-year-old Ronaldo, who converted their first kick in the shootout but was also responsible for one of the night’s many glaring misses.

Success for France makes up for shootout heartbreak at the last Euros, when they were eliminated by Switzerland in the round of 16, and in the 2022 World Cup final against Argentina.

Ousmane Dembele, Youssouf Fofana, Jules Kounde and Bradley Barcola all netted their spot kicks for victorious France.

A game that was slow in firing up ended with a myriad of missed opportunities at either end, with clear chances for both sides in 90 minutes as well as the half hour of extra time.

France now find themselves in the semis without scoring in open play at the tournament, having benefitted from two own goals and a penalty in their previous four games.

But the French have also not conceded in open play at Euro 2024 with goalkeeper Mike Maignan making two key saves in Friday's match that proved key for his side.

CAUTIOUS START

Both teams started cautiously, intent on keeping possession and avoiding mistakes. The play was therefore often pedestrian with only periodic bursts of action.

It took 16 minutes before the first shot was fired off in anger – Bruno Fernandes’ effort hitting Hernandez and deflecting away for a corner.

Soon after the second half kicked off, the contest rose from its slumber.

A rare contribution from the masked Kylian Mbappe was a clever combination with N'Golo Kante that produced a rapid fire shot, swallowed up by goalkeeper Diogo Costa. France's captain Mbappe had another off night in attack.

Within minutes, Hernandez’s square ball from the left beat the Portuguese defense as it went invitingly across goal, crying out for a tap-in but with no one to meet it.

Maignan then made two crucial saves in the space of three minutes – a stiff arm reaction to deny Fernandes on the hour, followed by a point blank stop from Vitinha after another of Rafael Leao’s probing runs.

MENTAL STRENGTH

"We knew it was going to be a tough game but we were solid in defense and we had a lot of mental strength and kept our cool during the shootout, that's what made the difference," Maignan said.

In the 67th minute, a quick break from Randal Kolo Muani, in tandem with Kounde, had the striker in on goal but Ruben Dias made a goal-saving tackle.

France’s profligacy continued straight afterwards when substitute Dembele’s trickery teed up Eduardo Camavinga but the young midfielder inexplicably spurned the chance from close range.

"You wonder what would have happened if we had scored goals. The opponent wasn't that efficient either," added France coach Didier Deschamps.

"But you're not telling me that we don't deserve our place in the semi-final. But I would prefer to have a team that's more efficient in goalscoring."

The worst miss, however, belonged to Ronaldo three minutes into extra time as Francisco Conceicao’s enterprise saw him cut in on the byline and pull the ball back for his captain to deliver a fairytale finish but the forward fluffed his lines.

Ronaldo's future with Portugal after 212 caps and 130 goals now looks at an end. He was in the Portuguese side that beat France in the Euro 2016 final in Paris, although he went off early with injury and had to urge them on from the sidelines.

Also likely to be over is the international career of 41-year-old center back Pepe, the oldest player to appear at the Euros.

"Football is cruel ... and sadness is part of it. We were aiming to win for our country and bring joy to our people," said Pepe, who made some outstanding tackles. "Five days ago we won on penalties and now we've lost on penalties."



China Facing a Reality Check in World Cup Qualifying 

Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Third Round - Group C - Saudi Arabia v China - Al-Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - March 20, 2025 China players pose for a team group photo before the match. (Reuters)
Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Third Round - Group C - Saudi Arabia v China - Al-Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - March 20, 2025 China players pose for a team group photo before the match. (Reuters)
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China Facing a Reality Check in World Cup Qualifying 

Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Third Round - Group C - Saudi Arabia v China - Al-Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - March 20, 2025 China players pose for a team group photo before the match. (Reuters)
Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Third Round - Group C - Saudi Arabia v China - Al-Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - March 20, 2025 China players pose for a team group photo before the match. (Reuters)

Branko Ivankovic's China lineup faces another reality check in World Cup qualifying, with the national team risking falling further behind the global ambitions it promoted a decade ago.

China hosts Australia at Hangzhou in Asian qualifying on Tuesday with its hopes of a direct entry to the 2026 World Cup hanging precariously on the outcome. A loss will end those hopes, leaving China with another, more tense route through a fourth round of Asian qualifying.

A decade ago, as the Chinese Super League was spending hundreds of millions of dollars on big-name foreign players, the national soccer federation released a plan laying out a route to a status of international powerhouse by 2050 and one of the best teams in Asia by 2030.

As clubs faced financial problems, the foreign stars departed and the league started to struggle. In terms of continental strength, there's still a long way to go. A 1-0 loss to Saudi Arabia last week was China’s fifth in seven games in the third round of Asian qualification, where it is in last place in Group C.

Only the top two teams in each of the three Asian qualifying groups will progress to the World Cup automatically. Japan secured the first of those direct World Cup spots with a 2-0 win last week over Bahrain lifting it to 19 points, nine ahead of second-place Australia and 10 clear of the third-place Saudis.

Bahrain, Indonesia and China are on six points.

After this week, there's only two more match days in June to determine the standings.

“We played well against Saudi Arabia but now we have to focus on the next game,” said Ivankovic, who will be without the injured Jiang Guangtai and Gao Zhunyi and Lin Liangming, sent off in Riyadh. “We will assess who is fit and then give our all to win."

The 2002 edition co-hosted by South Korea and Japan remains China's only appearance at the World Cup finals. But even if it loses to Australia, all is not lost for China as Asia now has eight guaranteed places at the expanded 48-team World Cup tournament. The third- and fourth-place finishers in each group this round will go into another stage to compete for two spots in the tournament co-hosted by Canada, the US and Mexico.

Australia's Socceroos have grown in confidence following last week's 5-1 win over Indonesia in Sydney.

“It’s full focus on China,” Australia coach Tony Popovic said. “They haven’t changed too much in how they’ve been playing, whether it’s home or away. They sit in their block. They’re very dangerous on the break. And we just have to be prepared.”

Patrick Kluivert is already under pressure as Indonesia head coach after that thrashing in his first game in charge, and needs a win against Bahrain in Jakarta to stay in touch.

“The positive is that we kept on going and the spirit of the team will always be there,” said Kluivert, who was appointed in January. “We will react absolutely against Bahrain.”

Iran can qualify for a seventh World Cup if it avoids a loss to Uzbekistan at Tehran. Iran has 19 points from seven games, three clear of its opponent. Uzbekistan can secure its first World Cup place if it gets a combination of results including a win over Iran and both the United Arab Emirates and Qatar failing to beat North Korea and Kyrgyzstan in other games.

Group B calculations South Korea was disappointed to 1-1 draw with Oman at home last week when a win would have given it more cushion as it pushes for an 11th successive World Cup spot.

The South Koreans on 15 are three points clear of second-place Jordan ahead of the meeting between those teams at Suwon, just south of Seoul. Third-place Iraq faces the Palestinian team in Amman and Kuwait hosts Oman.