Portugal0 - 0France

Good evening and welcome to Sports Mole's live commentary of Friday's mouthwatering Euro 2024 quarter-final between Portugal and France in Hamburg.

Portugal needed a penalty shootout to overcome Slovenia in the last-16 stage of the competition, while France recorded a 1-0 victory over Belgium to book their spot in the final eight.

The quarter-final promises to be an enticing affair, with both sides confident of progression.

You can follow our live minute-by-minute commentary of the contest below.

Sort:

Newest

Oldest

Auto-refresh:

On

Off

28 min

The corner was Portugal's fifth, but France deal with it through Saliba.

28 min

I cannot speak from personal experience, but that mask must be really difficult to play in. It simply must have an impact on Mbappe's performances. Just the one piece of strong work from the Real Madrid attacker in the opening 28 minutes.

Leao, though, has been very impressive for Portugal down the other end, with the forward just having a low cross cleared behind for another corner.

26 min

France have the opportunity to threaten from a wide area, with Griezmann standing over a free kick, but his delivery is headed clear by Ronaldo.

24 min

Camavinga attempts to chip one into Hernandez inside the Portugal box, but he gets it wrong, and the ball goes behind for a goal kick. Still level with 24 played here.

22 min

And just like that, Mbappe bursts into life.

He is down the left and delivers into the Portugal box, Costa palms it clear, and Portugal manage to clear their lines. First sign of Mbappe here.

22 min

A bit better from France, but Portugal are back in control of the possession.

No real chances for either side in the opening 22 minutes, but Portugal have been the superior outfit. Nothing from Mbappe yet tonight, famous last words.

20 min

SAVE! Smart save from Costa to keep out a long-range effort from Hernandez!

20 min

Just a reminder that the winner of this match will face Spain in the semi-finals next week.

La Roja beat the hosts Germany 2-1 earlier this evening...

18 min

Kolo Muani heads the Portugal corner clear.

Cancelo against Mbappe is a very interesting battle in this match. Cancelo has just got the better of the France captain. Both players are absolutely lightening it must be said.

17 min

SHOT! Fernandes hits one from distance, and the ball deflects wide of the post.

16 min

The answer? No.

Comfortable claim for the France goalkeeper.

15 min

An error from Maignan leads to Portugal having a corner. Will it be costly?

14 min

Not too much happening at the moment in all honesty.

I gave this one the big build-up, but it is yet to produce.

12 min

Leao releases Mendes with a brilliant flick down the France right, but the left-back's cross does not find a teammate.

11 min

Not too much from either Ronaldo or Mbappe thus far.

Ronaldo has shown some nice touches, though, with the 39-year-old combining with teammates in dangerous positions. Portugal have just had a corner courtesy of a deflected Fernandes free kick, but France deal with the danger.

Yet to really take off this game.

9 min

Leao and Mendes have been bright for Portugal in the early moments, and they again combine down the left, but France clear the danger.

Portugal are the team dominating the ball at this moment in time.

7 min

France came out quickly, but Portugal have been on top in the last few minutes, working the ball from side to side in a bid to create space. France are sitting deep at the moment.

5 min

Little bit of possession from Portugal in the last couple of minutes.

Martinez's side will be looking to settle into this contest. Ronaldo has an early touch and zips a pass into the feet of Mendes, who advances down the left. It is worked into the France box, but the Blues stand strong and manage to force Portugal back.

3 min

Decent start from France here. The Blues are on the front foot, with Portugal having to sit deep in the early exchanges. Griezmann is playing as the 10, as expected.

1 min

KICKOFF: We're off. France get us started.

Let's hope for an absolute cracker here.

7.58pm

Ok, it's just about that time. The handshakes have been completed. The players are ready. It is Portugal against France for the right to play Spain in the semi-finals.

7.56pm

Now Portugal. You can feel the emotion here.

7.55pm

Time for the national anthems. France are up first.

7.54pm

Little over five minutes until kickoff in Hamburg, and the players will soon emerge from the tunnel. You do get the feeling that the first goal could be crucial here. There are also so many stories that could emerge from this match. Will it be Ronaldo's final appearance at a European Championship? Or will he be the hero?

7.52pm

France will seemingly play a midfield diamond tonight, with Griezmann operating behind Mbappe and Kolo Muani. The midfield battle will be fascinating here, as there are so many wonderful players, including a certain N'Golo Kante. This match could well be won or lost in the middle of the park.

7.50pm

Some words from Mbappe on a certain Ronaldo...

"It's the admiration I've always had for Cristiano, for the player. Over time, I've had the chance to get to know him and talk to him many times. We're still in touch," Mbappe told reporters.

"He's always trying to give me advice and keep up to date with what's going on. Playing against him is an honour for everything he's done in football.

"No matter what happened before or what happens after, he'll always be a legend of the game. But of course we hope to win and reach the semi-finals."

7.48pm

Portugal will need to be better then they were against Slovenia if they are to advance to the semi-finals of the competition. Diogo Costa was brilliant for Martinez's side during the penalty shootout, and Ronaldo also scored after missing during extra-time. Diogo Jota was mentioned as a possible replacement, but Ronaldo keep his spot.

7.46pm

Some pre-match thoughts from Portugal boss Martinez...

"One of the reasons [for sticking with the same XI] is that we want to give continuity. Keeping the partnerships is important. We are refreshed. After the four games, we've been very focused, the feeling in training has been very good. We want to play a good game in this quarter-final and be the best version of what we can be. We can improve what we've done, but we need to carry on the good things that we did," he told reporter Carlos Machado.

7.44pm

Portugal needed a penalty shootout to beat Slovenia in the last-16 stage of the competition, while France recorded a 1-0 victory over Belgium. Neither side were convincing, and it would not be a shock to see this match go all the way to penalties. A 0-0 cannot be ruled out, but let's hope that it is a game full of goals.

7.42pm

Spain vs. Portugal.

Spain vs. France.

Both sound excellent to be fair.

Spain will take some beating, but they will be without some key players for the semi-final, including Dani Carvajal, who was sent off late on against Germany.

We'll have reaction from that contest on the site, but for now, let's focus on this titanic battle, as kickoff is now under 20 minutes away!

7.40pm

SPAIN ARE THROUGH!

La Roja beat tournament hosts Germany 2-1 to progress to the semi-finals. Portugal or France will tackle Luis de la Fuente's side in the final four. Incredible scenes.

7.38pm

As for France, head coach Didier Deschamps has made two changes to the side that started the last-16 game with Belgium. Adrien Rabiot is suspended, which has opened the door for Eduardo Camavinga to start, while Randal Kolo Muani has replaced Marcus Thuram in the final third of the field. There is also a spot in the XI for a certain Kylian Mbappe.

7.36pm

As expected, Portugal are unchanged from their last-16 clash with Slovenia. There had been suggestions that Cristiano Ronaldo could be dropped, but in truth, it was never a serious possibility. Ronaldo again leads the line - could this be the match where he becomes the oldest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship?

7.34pm

FRANCE: Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, T Hernandez; Kante, Tchouameni, Camavinga; Griezmann; Kolo Muani, Mbappe

SUBS: Samba, Areola, Pavard, Mendy, Giroud, Dembele, Thuram, Zaire-Emery, Fofana, Coman, Clauss, Konate, Barcola

7.32pm

PORTUGAL: Costa; Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Mendes; Vitinha, Palhinha, Fernandes; B Silva, Ronaldo, Leao

SUBS: Patricio, Sa, Semedo, Dalot, Ramos, Felix, Danilo, Inacio, J Neves, Nunes, R Neves, Jota, A Silva, Neto, Conceicao

7.31pm

SPAIN HAVE JUST SCORED! 2-1! LA ROJA ARE HEADING INTO THE SEMI-FINALS OF EURO 2024!

7.30pm

Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live commentary of Friday's mouthwatering Euro 2024 quarter-final between Portugal and France in Hamburg. Right, with only 30 minutes until kickoff, let's immediately have a look at the team news here.