Portugal just made it to the quarterfinals of Euro 2024 after a fierce and determined Slovenian effort forced them into a penalty shootout until Diogo Costa’s heroics saved them.
Portugal progressed to play France on Friday in Hamburg when Costa miraculously stopped all three of Slovenia’s penalties in the shootout, making him the first person in Euros history to do so.
This match would rate relatively low on the list of the most thrilling games of Euro 2024, despite being tight, particularly in extra time and the penalty shootout.
Slovenia understood they would have to sit deep to attempt to contain the Portuguese danger, and they weren’t expecting to get much of the ball in their first tournament knockout match. Although they possessed 27.9% of the ball in this game and only averaged 32% possession in the group stage, Roberto Martínez’s team was frustrated by their diligent out-of-possession play.
Portugal would have to be cautious of the Slovenian danger on the break with intriguing young striker Benjamin Sesko in the lineup. Just after the hour, the RB Leipzig striker burst through Pepe’s elderly legs before sending a scuffed attempt across goal and over the post.
Portugal was only allowed to take three attempts on goal in the ninety minutes prior to extra time, and their projected goal total was less than one (0.91). The Slovenian defense did a fantastic job of keeping their opponents out. Portugal’s strategy of getting the ball wide and putting in crosses quickly became dependable, despite Slovenia’s best efforts. They made 31 open-play crosses in this match, and they have made 97 open-play crosses throughout the competition, which is 32 more than any other team. It frequently seemed as though this strategy was only employed because it was what Cristiano Ronaldo desired.
In the 105th minute of the game, Ronaldo had the opportunity to become the oldest scorer in the history of the European Championship when Diogo Jota was awkwardly taken down in the area by Vanja Drkusic. Slovenian captain Jan Oblak produced a remarkable stop onto the post to deny the all-time Euros leading scorer another goal in the competition, despite the 39-year-old’s well-executed penalty. Ronaldo broke down in tears as a result, and his teammates had to comfort him during the halftime break in extra time.
In a lot of ways, this game was Ronaldo’s worst. He tried eight attempts without scoring, and at times, getting a goal to boost his hero status appeared more important than choosing the best course of action for his side. He has scored three goals in his previous 11 tournament appearances, including the World Cup and the Euros, all from the penalty spot. Tonight, he couldn’t even count on it. He has made 37 tries from non-penalty shoots throughout that time and has not scored. He has had more shots than any other player at Euro 2024 (20), although he has yet to score. Unless Martínez decides to alter, he will have at least one more opportunity to play France.
Let’s hear what Gonçalo Ramos has to say. Ramos replaced Ronaldo in the starting lineup and scored three goals in Portugal’s crushing defeat of Switzerland in the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup. By achieving this, he became the youngest player in 60 years to score a hat-trick in the World Cup. Ramos has scored 30 goals for his club and nation since that match (26 for Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain combined, and four more for Portugal), yet he has only played 24 minutes at Euro 2024.
With five minutes of extra time left, Sesko had Slovenia’s greatest chance of the evening. He robbed Pepe of the ball once more, giving him the time and space to position himself up for what would have been the game-winning goal. However, Costa salvaged Portugal’s day by preventing Sesko’s attempt from going into the net with his outstretched foot.
Costa saved penalties from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec, and Benjamin Verbic to win the match for Portugal, continuing his exploits in the penalty shootout. To his amazement, he made three more saves during the shootout than he did over the 120 minutes prior (2). Not even the FIFA World Cup has had less than seven penalties taken in a single shootout, making this the shortest penalty shootout in Euros history (six penalties taken).
At the World Cups in 2018 and 2022, as well as Euro 2020, Martínez was given the keys to Belgium’s golden generation, but he was unable to unleash their full potential. He had luck tonight, but you have to worry about them if they play like this against France in the next round.
You can get all of the Portugal vs. Slovenia statistics from their Euro 2024 final 16 encounter at Frankfurt Arena in Germany by visiting our Opta match center.
An Opta chalkboard, passing networks, team and individual statistics, and data on projected goals are all included in the match center below. Everything you need to perform your own match analysis is included.
The official Opta statistics for the game are also provided beneath the match center.
