European Football Championship 2016 / Portugal

This article covers the Portuguese national team at the 2016 European Football Championship in France . It was the seventh participation for Portugal. Portugal has always qualified since 1996 or - as in 2004 - was automatically qualified as host. Portugal won the title for the first time and qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup .

qualification

Cristiano Ronaldo was the Portuguese top scorer in qualifying.

Portugal, eliminated in the group stage at the 2014 World Cup , qualified for the European Championship in Group I , the only group of five. The Portuguese began qualifying with Paulo Bento as their national coach. After the surprising 0-1 home defeat in the first qualifying game against Albania , Bento was dismissed after four years in office and replaced by Fernando Santos , who last led Greece to the last 16 at the 2014 World Cup. Under Santos, Portugal won all remaining qualifying games by one goal difference and became group winners. A total of 33 players were used, including Nani and Rui Patrício in all eight games. The top scorer was Cristiano Ronaldo with five goals in six games. André Gomes and Ricardo Horta came to their first international matches in their first qualifying match . Raphaël Guerreiro made another international debut on November 14, 2014 against Armenia .

In addition to the qualifiers, Portugal, like the other group opponents, also played two friendlies against the European championship host France . Both games were lost. The qualifying results helped Portugal move up to fourth place in the FIFA world rankings after slipping to 11th place due to poor performance at the World Cup.

Games

All results from a Portuguese perspective.

date	Venue	opponent	Result	Goal scorers
07.09.2014	Municipal Stadium of Aveiro Aveiro ( PRT )	Albania	0: 1 (0: 0)	0: 1 Bekim Balaj (52nd)
14/10/2014	Telia Parken , Copenhagen ( DNK )	Denmark	1: 0 (0: 0)	1: 0 Cristiano Ronaldo (90 + 5 ′)
11/14/2014	Estádio Algarve , Faro / Loulé	Armenia	1: 0 (0: 0)	1-0 Cristiano Ronaldo (72nd)
03/29/2015	Estádio da Luz , Lisbon	Serbia	2: 1 (0: 1)	1-0 Ricardo Carvalho (10th), 1-1 Nemanja Matić (61st), 2-1 Fábio Coentrão (63rd)
06/13/2015	Wasken Zarkissyan Republican Stadium , Yerevan ( ARM )	Armenia	3: 2 (1: 1)	0: 1 Marcos Pizzelli (14th), 1: 1, 2: 1, 3: 1 Cristiano Ronaldo (29th / penalty, 55th, 58th) 3: 2 Hrajr Mkojan (72nd)
07.09.2015	Elbasan Arena , Elbasan	Albania	1: 0 (0: 0)	1: 0 Miguel Veloso (90 + 2 ′)
08/10/2015	Estádio Municipal de Braga , Braga	Denmark	1: 0 (0: 0)	1-0 João Moutinho (66.)
10/11/2015	Partizana Stadium , Belgrade ( SRB )	Serbia	2: 1 (1: 0)	1-0 Nani (5th), 1: 1 Zoran Tošić (65th), 2-1 João Moutinho (78th)

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Portugal	8th	7th	0	1	011: 500	+6	21st
2.	Albania 1	8th	4th	2	2	010: 500	+5	14th
3.	Denmark	8th	3	3	2	008: 500	+3	12
4th	Serbia 1	8th	2	1	5	008:130	−5	04th
5.	Armenia	8th	0	2	6th	005:140	−9	02
As of October 11, 2015

¹The game on October 14, 2014 between Serbia and Albania (canceled when the score was 0-0) was rated 3-0 goals for Albania. Serbia was also deducted three points because of the incidents surrounding the game. The judgment was passed by the International Court of Justice for Sports (CAS), which partially revised a decision by UEFA.

preparation

The Portuguese national soccer team played a few test matches both during and after the qualification for the 2016 European Championship in order to prepare for the finals of the European Championship. The games against European championship hosts France arose from the fact that the French played a friendly match against the otherwise play-free team of the group of five on each group match day. All friendly matches that took place or are scheduled between the start of qualification and the start of the final round are listed.

date	Venue	opponent	Result
Oct 11, 2014	Saint-Denis ( FRA )	France	1: 2
Nov 18, 2014	Manchester ( ENG )	Argentina	1-0
31 Mar 2015	Estoril	Cape Verde	0: 2
June 16, 2015	Lancy ( SUI )	Italy	1-0
04th Sep 2015	Lisbon	France	0: 1
Nov 14, 2015	Krasnodar ( RUS )	Russia	0: 1
Nov 17, 2015	Luxembourg ( LUX )	Luxembourg	2-0
25th Mar 2016	Leiria	Bulgaria	0: 1
29 Mar 2016	Leiria	Belgium	2: 1
May 29, 2016	postage	Norway	3-0
02nd June 2016	London ( ENG )	England	0: 1
0June 8, 2016	Lisbon	Estonia	7-0

Squad

The 23-player squad was named on May 17, 2016. Some players, including Fábio Coentrão , Danny and Bernardo Silva , could not be called up to the national team due to injuries. Cristiano Ronaldo was the player with the most appearances (125) and goals (56). The oldest player in the squad was Ricardo Carvalho at 38 years old, the youngest was Renato Sanches at 18 years old. The average age of the team was 27.9 years. The players came from 15 clubs in eight countries (7 leagues). Most put Sporting Lisbon (4). Ricardo Carvalho was the oldest nominated field player at the age of 38 - only five goalkeepers ( Gábor Király / Hungary, Shay Given / Ireland, Orges Shehi / Albania, Roy Carroll / Northern Ireland and Gianluigi Buffon / Italy) were older.

Jersey no.	Surname	society	birth date	International matches	Länderspiel- gates	debut	Last use	EM games
goalkeeper
01	Rui Patrício	Sporting Lisbon (I)	Feb. 15, 1988	45	0	2010	July 10, 2016	5 (2012)	7th				1
12	Anthony Lopes	Olympique Lyon (I)	0Oct. 1, 1990	4th	0	2015	May 29, 2016
22nd	Eduardo	Dinamo Zagreb (I (M))	19 Sep 1982	35	0	2009	June 26, 2014	0 (2012)
Defense
02	Bruno Alves	Fenerbahçe Istanbul (I)	Nov. 27, 1981	85	10	2007	0July 6, 2016	1 (2008), 5 (2012)	1				1
03	Pepe	Real Madrid (I (C))	Feb. 26, 1983	71	3	2007	July 10, 2016	4 (2008), 5 (2012)	6th				1
04th	José Fonte	Southampton FC (I)	Dec 22, 1983	12	0	2014	July 10, 2016		4th				1
05	Raphaël Guerreiro	FC Lorient 1 (I)	Dec 22, 1993	7th	2	2014	July 10, 2016		5				1
06th	Ricardo Carvalho	AS Monaco (I)	May 18, 1978	86	5	2003	June 22, 2016	5 (2004), 3 (2008)	3
11	Vieirinha	VfL Wolfsburg (I)	Jan. 24, 1986	22nd	1	2013	June 22, 2016		3
19th	Eliseu	Benfica Lisbon (I (M))	0Oct 1, 1983	16	1	2009	June 30, 2016		2
21st	Cédric	Southampton FC (I)	Aug 31, 1991	11	0	2014	July 10, 2016		4th				1
midfield
08th	João Moutinho	AS Monaco I	08 Sep 1986	84	4th	2005	July 10, 2016	4 (2008), 5 (2012)	6th
10	João Mário	Sporting Lisbon (I)	Jan. 19, 1993	11	0	2014	July 10, 2016		7th				1
13	Danilo Pereira	FC Porto (I)	0Sep 9 1991	12	1	2015	0July 6, 2016		5
14th	William Carvalho	Sporting Lisbon (I)	0Apr 7, 1992	20th	0	2013	July 10, 2016		5				3
15th	André Gomes	Valencia CF (I)	July 30, 1993	7th	0	2014	0July 6, 2016		5
16	Renato Sanches	Benfica Lisbon 2 (I (M))	Aug 18, 1997	5	0	2016	July 10, 2016		6th	1
23	Adrien Silva	Sporting Lisbon (I)	15th Mar 1989	9	0	2014	July 10, 2016		4th				1
attack
07th	Cristiano Ronaldo (CT)	Real Madrid (I (C))	0Feb 5, 1985	126	58	2003	July 10, 2016	6 (2004), 3 (2008), 5 (2012)	7th	3			1
09	Éder	Lille OSC (I)	Dec 22, 1987	26th	3	2012	July 10, 2016		3	1
17th	Nani	Fenerbahçe Istanbul (I)	Nov 17, 1986	96	18th	2006	July 10, 2016	3 (2008), 5 (2012)	7th	3
18th	Rafa Silva	Sporting Braga (I (P))	May 17, 1993	8th	0	2014	June 18, 2016		1
20th	Ricardo Quaresma	Beşiktaş Istanbul (I (M))	26 Sep 1983	50	7th	2003	July 10, 2016	2 (2008), 0 (2012)	7th	1			1
Trainer
	Fernando Santos		Oct 10, 1954			2014		4 (2012)	7th

1. ↑ In brackets personal successes of the 2015/16 season, CT = top scorer of the UEFA Champions League
2. ↑ League status 2015/16 in brackets, C = UEFA Champions League winner, M = champions, P = cup winners
3. ↑ ^{a b} Status: June 8, 2016
4. ↑ Status: Before the EM
5. ↑ ^{a b} In the French league
6. ↑ With Greece

¹Raphaël Guerreiro moved to Borussia Dortmund during the European Championship .

²Renato Sanches moved to Bayern Munich during the European Championship .

Finals

St-Etienne Paris Lyon (VR + HF) Linas - Marcoussis Lens (AF) Marseille (VF) Saint-Denis (F)

Venues (green = won, yellow = draw, black = not yet played), quarters (blue)

In the draw for the six final groups on December 12, 2015, Portugal was placed in pot 1 and therefore could not meet hosts France, defending champions Spain or, as in 2012 and at the 2014 World Cup, world champions Germany. Portugal was drawn as the group head of Group F and was drawn with a newcomer from the European Championship, Iceland, Austria and Hungary. There were only two games against Iceland in qualifying for the last European Championship , both of which were won. Hungary had previously opposed the Portuguese ten times, who won seven times and drew them three times. The last time they met each other was in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and Portugal won both games. Against Austria, however, the balance sheet was negative and could have been equalized at the EM, as there were two wins in ten games, five draws and three defeats. The last games between the two took place 20 years ago in qualifying for the European Championship in 1996 , when Portugal was able to qualify again for the first time since 1984. The last defeat against Austria in the qualification for the European Championship 1980 , for which both could not qualify.

The Portuguese started with a 1-1 draw against Iceland and then only got a goalless draw against Austria in which they could not use a number of chances and Cristiano Ronaldo shot a penalty against the post. In the game against the Hungarians who were already in the round of 16, who spared all yellow-burdened players, Ronaldo was able to equalize the Hungarians' lead twice and also become the record player at the European Championship. In addition, Nani was able to equalize the lead once. In the end, both were satisfied with the 3: 3 - the Portuguese because they reached the round of 16 as third-best group third and the Hungarians because they were group winners. In the round of 16, the Portuguese met Croatia, against which they played for the first time at the European Championships in 1996 and won 3-0. They also won the two subsequent friendlies, but each scored one goal less.

Coach Fernando Santos changed his starting XI compared to the group games in defense and midfield with the intention of neutralizing the Croatian playmakers Luka Modrić and Ivan Rakitić , which largely succeeded, but with the loss of his own creativity. In attack, he continued to rely on European championship record players Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani , who made his 100th international match. Since the two teams were so largely out of the game, there were hardly any scoring chances and the two goalkeepers did not have to provide proof of work. Only shortly before the end of extra time did the Croatians get a significant chance, but it ended on the post. The counterattack initiated by Renato Sanches led to Ronaldo's first shot on goal of the game. The Croatian goalkeeper was able to fend off the shot in his only action, but Ricardo Quaresma , who ran along with him, scored the 1-0 winner. The Croatians still had a chance to equalize, but defender Domagoj Vida's shot just missed the target.

In the quarter-finals, the Portuguese met the Poles, who eliminated Switzerland on penalties in their round of 16 . Against Poland there were four wins and three draws and three defeats in ten previous games. The last Portuguese victory came in the preliminary round of the 2002 World Cup , when the Portuguese won 4-0, after which both of them did not survive the preliminary round. The last two games before the European Championship between the two in September 2007 and February 2012 ended without a winner (2: 2 and 0: 0). The Portuguese fell behind in the second minute after a defensive error by right-back Cédric , who underestimated a long ball on Kamil Grosicki , which he picked up and then crossed into the penalty area, where Robert Lewandowski completed. In the 33rd minute, however, Renato Sanches managed to equalize, after which both teams did not succeed much, so that it came to a penalty shoot-out, which the Portuguese won. In the semifinals they met EM newcomer Wales, who eliminated Belgium. There were only three friendly matches against the Welsh before, Portugal won two and Wales one, both at home. After a goalless first half with advantages for the Welsh people, Ronaldo put his team in the lead with his ninth goal in the 50th minute, drawing level with the previous top scorer Michel Platini . Three minutes later he gave the template to Nanis 2-0. The Welsh then pushed for the goal, but were too harmless in the penalty area and long shots by Gareth Bale kept goalkeeper Rui Patrício . This is the second time you have reached a European Championship final and will face host France. Against the French there were five wins, one draw and 19 defeats in 24 games, including three in competitive games - semi-finals at World and European Championships. The last Portuguese victory came in 1975 when no player in the current EM squad was born. Already in the eighth minute Ronaldo was injured in an action by Payet in the knee and had to be replaced by Quaresma. In the regular season, the French were superior, but could not convert their dominance into goals. The Portuguese, on the other hand, could hardly create any scoring chances, so it remained goalless and was extended. In this more and more the Portuguese took the initiative and the substitute Éder scored the only goal of the game with a long shot in the 109th minute. With this, the Portuguese not only achieved their first competitive win against France, but also their first title win outside of the junior division. By defeating France, they are also qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup . When they returned to Portugal, they were greeted with enthusiasm by the country's fans and political leaders. Four players from the Portuguese team were nominated for the team of the tournament : Rui Patrício, Pepe , Raphaël Guerreiro and Cristiano Ronaldo . As a result of the European Championship games, Portugal improved by two places in the FIFA world rankings and achieved sixth place, the best position since 2014.

Games

Group stage

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Hungary	3	1	2	0	006: 400	+2	05
2.	Iceland	3	1	2	0	004: 300	+1	05
3.	Portugal	3	0	3	0	004: 400	± 0	03
4th	Austria	3	0	1	2	001: 400	−3	01

Tue., June 14, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Saint-Étienne
Portugal	-	Iceland	1: 1 (1: 0)
Sat., June 18, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Paris
Portugal	-	Austria	0-0
Wed., June 22, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. in Décines-Charpieu ( Lyon )
Hungary	-	Portugal	3: 3 (1: 1)

Knockout phase

Round of 16: Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Lens
Croatia	-	Portugal	0: 1 a.d.
Quarter-finals: Thursday June 30, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Marseille
Poland	-	Portugal	1: 1 a.d., 3: 5 i. E.
Semi-finals: Wed July 6, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Lyon
Portugal	-	Wales	2: 0 (0: 0)
Final: Sun July 11, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Saint-Denis
Portugal	-	France	1: 0 a.d.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ FIFA World Ranking (August 14, 2014)
2. ↑ FIFA World Ranking (5th November 2015)
3. ↑ FOOTBALL: The CAS rejects the appeal filed by the Serbian FA, upholds in part the appeal filed by the Albanian FA: the match Serbia-Albania is deemed to have been forfeited by Serbia (0-3). In: tas-cas.org. International Court of Sports , July 10, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 . 
4. ↑ The game was originally supposed to take place in Brussels , but was postponed due to the terrorist attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016 .
5. ↑ fpf.pt: "Euro-2016: os 23 convocados" ( Memento of the original from May 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ uefa.com: "UEFA EURO 2016 final draw"
7. ↑ Portugal vs. Poland
8. ^ Portugal national football team v France in all times
9. ↑ n-tv.de: "Enthusiastic reception in Lisbon - Portugal pays homage to the EM champions around Ronaldo"