Portugal advanced to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 after beating Slovenia on penalties.
Goalkeeper Diogo Costa saved all three penalties he faced and Portugal converted all three of its attempts to set up Friday’s match against France (3 p.m. ET; Fox). France defeated Belgium 1-0 in Monday’s other Euro 2024 round-of-16 match.
The teams held their own during the 90 minutes and extra time before having to resort to penalties to decide the winner. In the shoot-out, Josip Iličić, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbič all missed their shots against Costa, while Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva beat Jan Oblak to secure victory.
Portugal were saved by Costa after almost losing the match at the end of extra time. Slovenian Benjamin Šeško took advantage of a mistake by Pepe in midfield, but was unable to beat the Portuguese goalkeeper to open the scoring.
Cristiano Ronaldo redeems himself
It was a tough 90 minutes and one extra time for Ronaldo. He was the team’s top scorer with six shots on goal, but failed to convert any of his four free kicks.
In extra time, Portugal were awarded a penalty after Slovenian defender Vanja Drkušić fouled Diogo Jota. Ronaldo had a chance to be the hero, but his effort was intercepted by Oblak.
The missed opportunity to put his country ahead before the second half of extra time had Ronaldo coming out emotional. as well as his mother — during the break. The Portugal captain had to be consoled by his team-mates after breaking down in tears. He had scored his last 13 penalty opportunities before Oblak ended the streak.
Ronaldo would get his redemption in the penalty shootout, putting his shot into the bottom corner past Oblak.
The winner of the Portugal/France match will face the winner of the Spain/Germany match in the first semi-final of Euro 2024 on 9 July in Munich.
