Portugal recovered from going behind in the second half to snatch victory thanks to substitute Francisco Conceição’s dramatic winner.
Cristiano Ronaldo hugs Francisco Conceição after his late winner
Portugal made a winning start to UEFA EURO 2024 as Francisco Conceição struck in added time to see off a dogged Czech Republic in Leipzig.
Key moments
32′: Staněk saves from Ronaldo
45+1′: Keeper thwarts Ronaldo again
62′: Provod curls fine opening goal
69′: Hranáč own goal restores parity
90+2′: Francisco Conceição with late winner
Match in brief: Portugal forced to dig deep
Jindřich Staněk keeps out Cristiano Ronaldo’s first-half effort
Portugal set the tone from the off, moving the ball around calmly, crisply and accurately, but they found little space to prosper against a well-organised Czech Republic defence, which also dealt competently with the consistent stream of early crosses into their box.
Bruno Fernandes came closest to picking the lock in the first half, bisecting the Czech Republic rearguard to find Cristiano Ronaldo in the 32nd minute but his strike was repelled by Jindřich Staněk. Ronaldo, appearing in a record sixth EURO finals, was again thwarted by Ivan Hašek’s No1 on the stroke of half-time to end a frustrating period for the Seleção.
The pressure exerted by Roberto Martínez’s charges continued to mount after the interval but it was Czech Republic, from a rare counter, who broke the deadlock when Lukáš Provod expertly dispatched Vladimír Coufal’s lay-off in off the far post.
However, the Národní tým could not bed in that advantage and they were pegged back seven minutes later when Staněk could only parry Nuno Mendes’s header against Robin Hranáč and watch the ricochet drop into his net.
Hranáč’s misfortune would not end there though, as his attempt to block Pedro Neto’s added time cross presented another substitute, Francisco Conceição, with the chance to fire in a close-range winner. Late – but deserved nonetheless.
Lukáš Provod reacts after curling Czech Republic in front from the edge of the area
Vivo Player of the Match: Vitinha (Portugal)
Controlled the tempo of the game and had a high number of passes and percentage completion. Made important interceptions too.
Robin Hranáč’s own goal levels the scores
Carlos Machado, Portugal reporter
Portugal appeared set for a disappointing draw until Francisco Conceição’s late intervention. They had lots of chances, Staněk was brilliant in goal, but the fact is that their goals both had a touch of fortune and they were also given problems by Czech Republic. The Seleção lacked ideas in the final third and they will need to approach the next game differently to avoid dropping points against their next opponents, Türkiye.
Ondřej Zlámal, Czech Republic reporter
Czech Republic put in a very organised defensive performance and showed effectiveness in attack. Staněk showed probably the best performance of his career and was helped by his defenders in several vital situations. The next game against Georgia will definitely require more attacking output though.
Key stats
Pepe (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo (right) sing the Portuguese anthem on their landmark night
- Ronaldo became the first player to make an appearance in six EURO final tournaments.
- Pepe became the oldest player to feature in a EURO final tournament match at the age of 41 years and 113 days – breaking the previous record held by Gábor Király (40 years and 86 days).
- Pepe has now appeared in a five successive EURO final tournaments, something only achieved by Ronaldo (six) and Luka Modrić, and became only the second player to reach 20 appearances at the finals after Ronaldo (26).
- This match – the 12th at EURO 2024 – was the first to be goalless at half-time.
- Portugal have won their last five matches against Czech Republic (F12 A2).
- Czech Republic have won only three of their last 12 EURO group stage matches (D2 L7).
Line-ups
Portugal: Diogo Costa; Dalot (Gonçalo Inácio 63), Pepe, Rúben Dias; João Cancelo (Nélson Semedo 90), Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha (Francisco Conceição 90) , Nuno Mendes (Pedro Neto 90); Ronaldo, Rafael Leão (Diogo Jota 63)
Czech Republic: Staněk; Holeš (Chorý 90+3), Hranáč, Krejčí; Coufal, Šulc (Ševčík 79), Souček, Provod (Barák 79), Douděra; Kuchta (Lingr 60), Schick (Chytil 60)