Euro 2016 - The Final
It has taken 50 games, but finally we know which two countries will do battle in the biggest game of European football this Sunday for the right to be crowned Euro 2016 winners!
After a full month of what has been a great festival of football, host nation France take on Portugal at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris on Sunday 10th July at 8.00pm (UK time).
France will be the favourites to clinch their 3rd European Championship but will have an expectant home crowd behind them to add to the pressure of trying to lift the Henri Delauney Trophy while Portugal will be keen to win the tournament and banish the memories of their loss on home soil in 2004 and triumph for a first time.
France's route to the final saw them win Group A with 7 points out of a possible 9, though they required a last minute winner from Dimitri Payet against Romania in the tournament opener, and then scored twice in injury-time to see off a brave Albania side. A 0-0 draw with Switzerland saw the French finish top of the group and earn a trip to Lyon to take on the Republic of Ireland.
Still not playing up to their tag as one of the pre-tournament favourites, the hosts were stunned after just 2 minutes when Robbie Brady converted a penalty to give the Irish a 1-0 lead but a double from Antoine Griezmann put France 2-1 ahead and into the Quarter Finals.
Shock troops Iceland were the opponents for France in the quarters, but their adventure was brought to an end after Les Bleus put in their best performance of the competition to demolish Iceland 5-2. A double for Olivier Giroud and single markers for Dimitri Payet, Paul Pogba and Griezmann saw the hosts book a place in the semi-finals against World champions Germany in Marseille.
A packed Vélodrome saw France take the lead just before half-time after a Bastian Schweinsteiger handball gifted the French a penalty which Griezmann duly dispatched and he added his 2nd of the game, and tournament leading 6th of the competition, on 72 minutes to send France through to Sunday's final amid joyous scenes in Marseille's great stadium.
Opponents for the final Portugal haven't enjoyed the best campaign but have done the job when required to make it through to Sunday's showpiece.
Favourites to win a group containing Austria, Hungary and Iceland, the Portuguese were stunned in their opener by the Icelanders as the Nordic island held their more heralded opponents to a 1-1 draw in Saint-Étienne, Nani scoring the goal for Portugal. Things looked bleak for Portugal's hopes of qualifying after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Austria, and when they could only manage a 3-3 draw with group winners Hungary it meant that they just sneaked out of the group stages as one of the best 3rd place teams by a margin of 2 goals.
The 3-3 draw with the Hungarians did finally see superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo get on the scoresheet with a double. This match also showed the fighting qualities of the side as three times they came from being a goal behind to level the contest.
In what was one of the worst games of the competition, Portugal edged past Croatia in the last 16 with a goal from Ricardo Quaresma in extra-time while they made their way into the semi-finals with a 5-3 win over Poland on penalties after both sides played out a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes. Goalkeeper Rui Patricio being the hero as he saved Jakub Blaszczykowski's penalty to send the Portuguese through to a semi-final against Wales.
The semi-final proved a step too far for Chris Coleman's brave dragons as a clinical 4 minute spell saw former Manchester United team-mates Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani bag the vital goals to see Portugal reach the final in Saint-Denis with a 2-0 win.
