France’s heartache in penalty shootouts is over.
In a clash of football’s superstars, it was Kylian Mbappé — and not Cristiano Ronaldo, his idol — advancing to a semi-final against Spain as France beat Portugal 5-3 on penalties following a 0-0 draw in Hamburg on Friday.
Portugal substitute Joao Felix hit the post with the only miss in the shootout and Theo Hernández showed no sign of pressure by converting the clinching kick into the top corner.
It was a record sixth and final European Championship for the 39-year-old Ronaldo, who scored Portugal’s first penalty in the shootout.
The victory ended the recent heartbreak of Mbappé and France in shootouts,
having lost in them at their last two major tournaments — in the last 16 at the Euros
in 2021 and in the 2022 World Cup final.
Before that, the French were also defeated on spot kicks by Italy in the 2006 World Cup final so it had been 26 years — since beating the Italians in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1998 — that Les Bleus had been victorious in a shootout.
Mbappé didn’t even take a penalty this time, having been substituted during half-time of extra time following a couple of knocks to his broken nose that was covered by a protective mask. France coach Didier Deschamps said his captain was tired, too.
France didn’t need their star player, as Ousmane Dembele, Youssouf Fofana, Jules Kounde and Bradley Barcola, who replaced Mbappe, all found the net in the shootout — held at the end housing Portugal’s vocal fans — before Hernández’s coup de grâce set off jubilant scenes for the French inside the stadium in Hamburg.
“It wasn’t easy,” France goalkeeper Mike Maignan said. “We didn’t always play that great, it was a complicated game.“We got to the penalty shootout and didn’t waver. We can be proud of ourselves.”
France will play Spain in the semi-finals in Munich. Les Bleus have won the European Championship title twice, in 1984 and 2000.
Deschamps’ team has reached the last four despite no France player having scored from open play so far in the tournament. Fortunately for Les Bleus, they have been excellent at the other end, conceding just one goal — a retaken penalty by Poland’s
Robert Lewandowski in the group stage.
“We are solid and exemplary in defence and that is essential at a major tournament,” Deschamps said. “When you don’t score a lot of goals, it’s best not to concede a lot of goals, either.
“But we need to score more goals .. we are at the mercy of our opponents.”
