UEFA European Championship 2024: Ronaldo out, France enter semis with 0 open-play goal

France advances to the semifinals with a penalty shootout (5-3). With this, it became the first time in the history of the Championship to reach the semifinals without scoring a single open-play goal.

Portugal vs France match

Cristiano Ronaldo and his team Portugal bade adieu to the UEFA European Championship 2024 as they lost to France in the quarterfinal match. On Friday, France advances to the semifinals with a penalty shootout (5-3). With this, Kylian Mbappe’s team became the first time in the history of the tournament to reach the semifinals without scoring a single open play goal.

What is an open-play goal?

Any goal that is not scored from a dead-ball situation, like a penalty, is an open-play goal. In this tournament, France played five matches. Each of their wins (or goal) either came from a penalty or penalty shootout or own goal. Their Friday match against Portugal went goalless till it went into a penalty shootout. Earlier in a group league match, France and the Netherlands ended goalless. 

Also read: UEFA European Championship 2024: Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal will face Czech Republic – when and where to watch the match

France won against Austria and Belgium owing to their own goals. In their group league match Austria’s Maximilian Wöber scored an own goal. In the Round of 16, Belgium’s Jan Vertonghen scored an own goal as France marched into the quarterfinals. France drew with Poland 1-1 and both these goals came from a penalty – one by Mbappe and the other one by Polish captain Lewandowski. In fact, that is the only goal France conceded so far. 

Also read: UEFA European Championship 2024: ‘Own Goal’ leads the race for the highest score, Muasiala follows

Own goals galore

In fact, the UEFA European Championship 2024 witnessed a total of nine ‘own goals’ – the second highest in the history of the cup. In the first match between Germany and Scotland, Antonio Rüdiger scored a same-sided goal. Germany won the match 4-1. France won over Austria as Maximilian Wöber scored an own goal. Czech’s Robin Hranáč scored an own goal against Portugal as the latter won the match 2-1. Albania’s Klaus Gjasula’s own goal led to a draw against Croatia. Spain defeated its rival Italy 1-0 because of an own goal by Riccardo Calafiori.  Turkey’s Samet Akaydin scored an own goal against Portugal. The Netherlands’s Donyell Malen scored an own goal against Austria. Spain’s Robin Le Normand scored an own goal against Georgia. Besides, Belgium’s Jan Vertonghen’s own goal led France to the quarterfinals in the tournament. 

In India, Sony Sports Network will broadcast the matches and the Euro 2024 will also stream live on SonyLiv. You can catch them with OTTplay Premium.

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