Fans claim Cristiano Ronaldo decision gave France a major advantage before Les Bleus sent Portugal crashing out of Euro 2024 on penalties

• e-mail

Fans have questioned Cristiano Ronaldo for appearing to allow France to take first in their Euro 2024 penalty shoot-out as Portugal were sent crashing out of the tournament.

Penalties were required to separate France and Portugal following a goalless draw in their last eight tie - a repeat of the Euro 2016 final.

Ronaldo appeared to have won the toss with fellow captain Kylian Mbappe, with the 39-year-old reportedly allowing France to take first in the shoot-out.

France would ultimately emerged as 5-3 winners on penalties, with Joao Felix seeing his effort come back off the post.

Fans questioned why Ronaldo had allowed France to take first, suggesting his decision had given Portugal's rivals a major advantage.

Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to allow France to take the first penalty of the shoot-out

Joao Felix struck the upright in the only missed spot kick of the penalty shootout with France

France progressed to the Euro 2024 semi-finals after converting their five spot-kicks

'Why did Ronaldo let France go first? The first normally wins lol,' one fan posted on social media.

Read More

The definitive guide on how not to choke on penalties - and why England so often do

'If Ronaldo let France go first after winning the toss he handed them a 20% swing in probability of winning,' another claimed.

A third wrote 'Ronaldo let them go first even though first shooters win 71% of the time???????'  

Previous research has indicated that teams that go first in international shootouts have a 20 per cent greater chance of winning.

The research was produced by a scientist who analysed 1,000 professional penalty kicks.

Fans on social media suggested Ronaldo's decision had handed France a major advantage

The defeat ended Ronaldo's final participation at the European Championships

Read More

France beat Portugal on penalties to reach Euro 2024 semi-final as Ronaldo misses glorious chance

The swing it claimed to be due to shooting second placing players under greater pressure, making them more likely to miss their spot kick.

The gap, however, has reportedly reduced over recent years according to Geir Jordet, professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences.

Jordet, the author of the recently-published book, 'Pressure: Lessons from the Psychology of the Penalty Shoot-out' claimed ahead of Euro 2024 the balance between shooting first and second was almost even.

The study, covering men's competitions over an 11 year period, found teams shooting first during shootouts on 48.83 per cent of the time.