Portugal v France final background

Portugal can lay the ghost of their UEFA EURO 2004 final defeat in Saint-Denis, but the UEFA EURO 2016 hosts have not lost a game against their Stade de France opponents since almost ten years before Cristiano Ronaldo was born.

Previous meetings
• France have had much the better of the nations’ 24 meetings: W18 D1 L5.

• France have won the last ten games between the two sides, most recently a friendly in Lisbon in September 2015 in which Mathieu Valbuena scored the only goal. Their last competitive encounter also ended 1-0 in France’s favour, a Zinédine Zidane penalty enough to end Portugal’s 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign in the semi-finals.

• That winning streak stretches back over 40 years to a 2-0 friendly success for Portugal at the Parc des Princes in April 1975, Nené and Marinho scoring the goals.

Final facts
• The winners have kept a clean sheet in the last three EURO finals.

• The last EURO final to go into extra time was the 2000 edition, when France beat Italy 2-1 thanks to David Trezeguet’s golden goal.

• Only one EURO final has gone as far as penalties; the 1976 edition, when Czechoslovakia held West Germany 2-2 and won 5-3 on spot kicks in Belgrade.

• This is the fifth international team or club final to be played at the Stade de France – the previous four were:
Brazil 0-3 France, 1998 FIFA World Cup
Real Madrid CF 3-0 Valencia CF, 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League
Cameroon 0-1 France (gg), 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
FC Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal FC, 2005/06 UEFA Champions League

EURO facts: Portugal
• Portugal’s 2-0 semi-final win against Wales was their first victory inside 90 minutes at these finals. Their previous six finals matches ended in draws after 90 minutes; five at this competition, plus a 0-0 stalemate with Spain – preceding a shoot-out defeat – in the UEFA EURO 2012 semi-finals.

• In their only previous major final, Portugal lost 1-0 to Greece in the UEFA EURO 2004 decider – a defeat made all the more agonising by the fact that they were tournament hosts.

• This is Portugal’s third game at the Stade de France; they previously lost 4-0 (April 2001) and 2-1 (October 2014) to Les Bleus at the home of the French national team.

• Portugal are competing at their sixth consecutive EURO and their seventh in total.

EURO facts: France
• Group A winners France are unbeaten in ten games (W9 D1), their 0-0 draw against Switzerland in the group stage having ended a six-match winning streak dating back to a 2-0 friendly loss to England on 17 November 2015.

• France are playing in their fifth EURO or World Cup final; they won the first three (2-0 v Spain, UEFA EURO 1984; 3-0 v Brazil, 1998 World Cup; 2-1 v Italy UEFA EURO 2000) before losing the most recent on penalties following a 1-1 draw against Italy in the 2006 World Cup final.

• France’s 5-2 quarter-final success against Iceland was their 80th game at the Stade de France; their record in those matches is W50 D20 L10. Their record in major final tournament games at the venue is W5 D1, that lone draw a 0-0 against Italy at the 1998 World Cup – a tie Les Bleus won on penalties.

• The last-16 win against the Republic of Ireland at Stade de Lyon was France’s first EURO knockout success since lifting the trophy in 2000.

• France (1984) are one of three nations to have won a EURO as hosts, along with Spain (1964) and Italy (1968).

Coach and player links

• Current team-mates:
Anthony Lopes with Christophe Jallet and Samuel Umtiti (Olympique Lyonnais)

• Former team-mates:
Patrice Evra with Nani (2007-14) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2006-09) (Manchester United FC)
Paul Pogba and Nani (Manchester United FC, 2011-12)
Morgan Schneiderlin and José Fonte (Southampton FC, 2010-15)
Anthony Martial with João Moutinho and Ricardo Carvalho (AS Monaco FC, 2013-15)
Eliaquim Mangala with João Moutinho (2011-13) and Ricardo Quaresma (2014) (FC Porto)

• Aside from Lopes, three other Portugal players are currently with French clubs: Ricardo Carvalho, João Moutinho (both Monaco) and Éder (LOSC Lille). Raphael Guerreiro (FC Lorient) also played in France in 2015/16 before joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

• Portugal’s Lopes (Givors), Adrien Silva (Angouleme) and Guerreiro (Le Blanc-Mesnil) were all born in France; all three have Portuguese fathers, with both of Lopes’s parents Portuguese expatriates.

• Ronaldo and Pepe are looking to do a EURO and UEFA Champions League double, having helped Real Madrid CF to beat Club Atlético de Madrid in the final on 28 May.

• France’s Adil Rami could pick up a second major trophy this summer, having already won the UEFA Europa League with Sevilla FC.

• Antoine Griezmann, meanwhile, will look to avoid being on the losing side in both the major finals of the summer, his Atlético team having succumbed to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League decider.

Key statistics

• France have been the most prolific nation at the finals, scoring 13 goals at a rate of 2.17 per game; Portugal’s eight have come at a rate of 1.33 per game. France have a +9 goal difference; Portugal’s is +3.

• France and Portugal go into the final having had an equal number of shots on target at the finals: 36. Only Germany (with 37) had more.

• France have hit the woodwork five times at the finals – more than any other side; Portugal have struck the woodwork twice.

• Portugal have won more corners than any side at the finals: 45 in total, an average of 7.5 per game.

• Portugal have been the most fouled team at the finals with 82 infringements against them; 24 more than France have suffered.

• Griezmann is UEFA EURO 2016’s top scorer so far with six goals; his nearest rivals are a cluster of six players who have scored three, including Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani as well as France team-mates Dimitri Payet and Olivier Giroud.

• Griezmann and Ronaldo have both had 12 shots on target going into the final; Ronaldo has had more shots than any other player at the tournament – 47: 12 on target, 17 off target, 17 blocked and one against the woodwork.

• Due to two of Portugal’s games going into extra time, Ronaldo and Rui Patrício (600) have played more minutes at UEFA EURO 2016 than any other player. Hugo Lloris, Patrice Evra and Bacary Sagna (540) have been France’s most-used players.

Penalty shoot-outs
• Portugal’s penalty shoot-out record is W3 L1:
6-5 v England, UEFA EURO 2004 quarter-finals
3-1 v England, 2006 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals
2-4 v Spain, UEFA EURO 2012 semi-finals
5-3 v Poland, UEFA EURO 2016 quarter-finals

• France’s record in six competitive penalty shoot-outs is W3 L3:
4-5 v West Germany, 1982 FIFA World Cup semi-finals
4-3 v Brazil, 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals
5-4 v Netherlands, EURO ’96 quarter-finals
5-6 v Czech Republic, EURO ’96 semi-finals
4-3 v Italy, 1998 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals
3-5 v Italy, 2006 FIFA World Cup final

• No team has won more than one penalty shoot-out at the same UEFA EURO finals.