Portugal vs France: EURO 2016 Final Preview & Prediction

France meet Portugal in the Euro 2016 final in Paris on Sunday night desperate to lift the trophy in front of a passionate home crowd at the Stade de France.

Les Bleus triumphed last time they hosted the European Championship in 1984 and followed that by winning the 1998 World Cup at home too, so expectations will be high amongst the French supporters.

The fact that Portugal have barely got out of second gear so far is unlikely to dampen the fervour and anticipation of the home fans. It remains to be seen whether the Portuguese can find a higher gear in the final, or whether their dogged displays to date are the best they have to offer. They were a little better in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Wales, but must improve if they’re to trouble their opponents here.

France extended their run of unbeaten major tournament matches as hosts to 18 games by beating world champions Germany 2-0 in the semi-final. It wasn’t a sublime display from Didier Deschamps’ side on Thursday, rather an efficient and clinical one, but that’s no mean feat against the Germans.

Antoine Griezmann looks set to win the Euro 2016 Golden Boot after scoring six goals so far. Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

It’s unlikely that we’ve seen the best of the French side throughout the tournament despite them reaching the final, but they’re just one goal away from equalling their own European Championship record of 14 goals, set in 1984.

Fernando Santos’ Portugal side have been the major beneficiaries of the expanded 24 team format at Euro 2016. They only managed to draw with Iceland, Austria and Hungary in Group F to finish third; a position that would normally see a team on the plane home. Not only that, but fate had it that they ended up on the weaker side of the draw, and this has surely helped them reach Sunday’s showpiece.

France and Portugal have met twice in European Championships, with Les Bleus having won both the semi-finals at Euro 1984 and Euro 2000. On each of those occasions, they lifted the trophy. The only other competitive meeting was in the 2006 World Cup semi-final when the French won 1-0 through a Zinedine Zidane penalty.

Those three competitive victories are part of a ten-game winning streak for Les Bleus against Portugal, with their last defeat coming in a friendly in Paris way back in 1975. The sides have played each other 24 times in total, with France winning 18, Portugal five and just one being drawn. The last meeting was in September last year when Mathieu Valbuena’s free-kick earned France a 1-0 win in Lisbon.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been the star man for Portugal, scoring the opener against Wales in the semi-final. Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Whilst France have lifted the Henri Delaunay trophy twice, Portugal have never won a major tournament and will be chomping at the bit to end their long wait. They’ll be particularly desperate to try and erase the memories of losing the final of Euro 2004 to Greece in their own country.

It was a game in which they were hot favourites to win despite having lost to the rank outsiders in the group stage, but contrived to lose 1-0 to the Greeks’ only shot on target. It’s the only time that Portugal have reached the final of a major tournament.

So, does everything point to a French victory? Well most of the statistics and experts do, but there are reasons for Portuguese supporters to be hopeful. For starters, they’re unbeaten under Santos in his 13 competitive matches to date, with nine of those being wins. In addition, they’ve only lost one of their last 13 games in major tournaments, and that was to eventual champions Germany at the 2014 World Cup.

Should the game be decided on penalties, they have a better record than France in tournament football, having won three of four shoot-outs, with the French losing half of their six.

France manager Didier Deschamps could win Euro 2016, 16 years after winning it as a player. Photo: Offside / L’Equipe.

There are a couple of personal achievements to look out for too. Should Ronaldo find the net, he’ll become the leading goalscorer in European Championship history, whilst Antoine Griezmann is currently three goals ahead of his nearest rivals for the Golden Boot and will surely claim that prize. Olivier Giroud, Dimitri Payet, Ronaldo and Nani are all joint second but would need to net a hat-trick to have a chance of equalling Griezmann’s tally.

If France lift the trophy, Deschamps will become just the second person to win the trophy as a player (2000) and manager after Berti Vogts. The German, however, was an unused substitute in Euro 1972 so Deschamps’ potential achievement would trump that of the German.

Team News:

France are likely to be unchanged for the third consecutive game after an excellent victory over Germany in the semi-final. Deschamps’ only real dilemma seems to be whether to recall Leicester midfielder N’Golo Kante in place of Newcastle’s Moussa Sissoko.

Portugal midfielder William Carvalho is back from suspension and is likely to be recalled at the expense of Danilo. Real Madrid defender Pepe is expected to return in place of Bruno Alves after missing the semi-final win over Wales with a thigh injury.

FIFA World Ranking: France – 17th; Portugal – 8th
Best European Championship Finish: France – Winners (1984 & 2000) Portugal – Runners-up (2004)
Previous Meeting: Portugal 0-1 France (September 4, 2015 – International friendly)
Form: France – WWDWWW; Portugal – DDDWDW (Last six fixtures)
Key Men: France – Antoine Griezmann; Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo
Shoot Says: France 3-1 Portugal