Portugal missed out on a European football semi-final for the fourth time in nine matches today, losing 5-3 on penalties to France after 120 goalless minutes in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals against Germany in Hamburg.
The “quinas” formation, led on German soil by Spaniard Roberto Martinez, repeated the “falls” of the quarter-finals of 1996 and 2008, three years after their worst performance ever, with a fall in the “round of 16” of Euro 2020.
Portugal can therefore no longer repeat the 2016 title and the 2004 final, and have lost the chance to at least equal their presence in the “semi-finals” of 1984, 2000 and 2012, the first two also with an elimination against France.
In their debut, in 1984, in the final stage, still with eight teams, Portugal reached the ‘semi-finals’, finishing second in Group 2, behind Spain but ahead of RFA and Romania, before losing 3-2 to hosts France, after expansion.
The Portuguese team returned to the 1996 European Championship, already in the final stage of 16, and this time they did not make it into the “top four”, as in the first knockout game, in the “quarters”, they lost 1:0 to the Czech Republic, due to the “hat” of Karel Poborsky.
In 2000, Portugal qualified for the group stage after two games (3-2 against England and 1-0 against Romania) and, after beating Germany 3-0, secured a place in the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Turkey. Nuno Gomes, Figo’s assistant.
In the semi-finals they lost to France again, again in extra time, this time 2-1, after a ‘golden goal’ from the penalty spot by Zinedine Zidane and a handball from Abel Xavier.
At Euro 2004, held on Portuguese soil, the Quinas formation survived the group stage thanks to a 1-0 defeat to Spain thanks to a goal from Nuno Gomes, and then secured the semi-finals by beating England on penalties (6-5, after 2-2 in 120 minutes).
After defeats by France in 1984 and 2000, Portugal reached the semi-finals for the first time in 2004, beating the Netherlands 2–1 before losing to Greece (0–1) thanks to a goal from Angelos Charisteas in the final against France.
Four years later, in 2008, in their fifth appearance, the Portuguese team failed to finish in the top four for the second time when they were knocked out 3–2 by Germany in the quarter-finals after having proven themselves in the group stage against Turkey, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
In 2012, Portugal returned to the semi-finals, this time beating the Czech Republic 1-0 in the quarter-finals, gaining revenge for 1996. In the semi-final against Spain, the then European and World title holders, they lost by 4-2 on penalties after 120 minutes without a goal.
The title was won in 2016: Portugal survived three draws in the group stage, with Iceland, Austria and Hungary, extra time against Croatia (1-0) in the 1/8 finals and penalties against Poland (5-3 after 1-1) in the quarters.
In the semi-finals, for the fifth time in seven matches, Portugal beat Wales 2-1, and in the final, after extra time, they beat France 1-0. Without Cristiano Ronaldo, Eder was the “hero”, scoring a goal in the 109th minute.
In 2021, Portugal had their worst ever European Championship performance, after advancing through the group stage and losing 1-0 to Belgium in the round of 16.
This time, the Portuguese team almost lost at that stage, against Slovenia, with San Diogo Costa, also on penalties (3-0, after 0-0 in 120 minutes), but in the “quarters” he could not resist the new “lottery” against France (3-5, after another “zero” in 120 minutes).
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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