Day 18 of the tournament will be remembered most for Cristiano Ronaldo’s tears and the heroics of Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
The goalkeeper became the first to save three penalties in a shootout at the European Championship after denying Slovenia all three of their attempts, and spared Ronaldo’s blushes after the veteran striker had seen his own penalty in extra time pushed away by a diving Jan Oblak.
Advertisement
The forward was reduced to tears and had to be consoled by his team-mates in the immediate aftermath of his miss, but recovered his poise to score Portugal’s opening kick of the shootout after the game finished goalless.
While Portugal squeaked through, another heavyweight nation departed Euro 2024 on Monday with Belgium eliminated by France courtesy of a late own goal. Off the pitch, UEFA launched an investigation into England’s Jude Bellingham, while the cost of supporter indiscipline to the respective national football associations was also revealed.
Our writers explain the key moments from day 18.
Ronaldo spared by Diogo Costa’s heroics
The sight of Ronaldo sobbing uncontrollably as he tried to comprehend his penalty miss in extra time may become one of the defining images not just of Euro 2024, but of any European Championship.
His team-mates tried to console and refocus their captain — Diogo Dalot comforted and kissed him, Joao Palhinha gave a stern word and Bruno Fernandes offered some quiet advice in his ear. But to see the man venerated as the greatest Portuguese and possibly even European player of all time reduced to floods of tears was pretty astonishing.
So too was his spurned penalty (which was more of a stunning save from Oblak) in the first half of extra time, just when it looked as though he would have the final say.
He may have scored hundreds of times during his career but it is hard to imagine a player being more anguished and desperate to score a goal than Ronaldo was throughout this game.
Once again he had the fewest touches and most shots in the Portugal team. That’s 20 he’s had at Euro 2024, more than any other player at the tournament, and he still hasn’t scored (penalty in the shootout aside). But, all that said, you have to admire the mentality he showed to step up and score Portugal’s first penalty in the shootout, so soon after being visibly distraught.
Advertisement
As it was, Diogo Costa summoned three stunning saves to propel the Portuguese into a quarter-final against France, when Ronaldo will no doubt have another opportunity to break his tournament duck.
Tim Spiers
Sting in the tail for Bellingham
Jude Bellingham was England’s saviour against Slovakia, conjuring a stunning overhead kick in stoppage time to haul his team level and into an extra half-hour. But the Real Madrid midfielder now finds himself under investigation by UEFA.
The 21-year-old appeared to make a lewd gesture towards the Slovakia bench in the immediate aftermath to his equaliser, with UEFA confirming on Monday that an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector will conduct a disciplinary investigation “regarding a potential violation of the basic rules of decent conduct”.
Bellingham appeared to follow his 95th-minute strike in Gelsenkirchen by making the gesture. According to the laws of the game, any “obscene gesture” or “offensive or insulting action” should be punishable by a red card.
The England midfielder later claimed on social media that it was an “inside joke gesture” made towards his close friends who were in attendance at the game. “Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight,” he added.
🥱❌- An inside joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game. Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight.🤝🏽 https://t.co/H8sETMkPoi
— Jude Bellingham (@BellinghamJude) June 30, 2024
While they wait to hear the results of the investigation, England will be relieved that Declan Rice is set to avoid any retrospective action for his post-match altercation with Francesco Calzona, the Slovakia manager.
The Arsenal player reacted angrily to being pushed in the chest by Calzona after the manager approached Halil Umut Meler, the referee, at full time.
Dan Sheldon
GO DEEPER
Jude Bellingham - who else?
When will France score from open play?
Head coach Didier Deschamps made the point that France would not have beaten Belgium had his substitute Randal Kolo Muani not conjured the cross-shot which was deflected in inadvertently by Jan Vertonghen, but that effort was ruled to be the ninth own goal of the tournament.
That means that, technically speaking, Les Bleus are through to a quarter-final against Portugal despite no French player having scored a goal in open play so far this summer.
Advertisement
The team’s only rewards in the group stage were an own goal from Austria’s Maximilian Wober and a Kylian Mbappe penalty against Poland. The tight contest with Belgium means Deschamps’ side — who have reached two World Cup finals and one European Championship final under his stewardship — still lack a cutting edge.
That ruthless, professional efficiency that has underpinned their mastery of knockout football remains elusive.
The contest in Dusseldorf showed they can still edge games and, encouragingly, find a way to win. But they have a distinctly unfamiliar bluntness in the final third.
In some ways, they have faced similar struggles as tournament favourites to England. But unlike Gareth Southgate’s team, it is their wastefulness that catches the eye. Against Belgium, they managed 19 attempts but few were clear-cut.
A masked Kylian Mbappe offered flashes of his quality against the Belgians, but his menacing runs too often culminated in wild shots. Even Real Madrid’s new signing is struggling to weigh in with goals at this tournament.
The fear for their opponents on the tough side of the draw is that, at some stage, the French will click. But for now, Deschamps is still striving to coax goals from his team of contenders.
Peter Rutzler
Where do Belgium go from here?
At least in Dusseldorf there was no backlash from Belgium’s supporters after the defeat to the French. One guy walked past the media tribute shouting that it was (expletives removed) a “disgrace” and that the journalists in his vicinity should report it as such. Overall, though, there was no mutiny — certainly not compared to their final group game against Ukraine.
As captain Kevin De Bruyne went over to the fans after the final whistle, they applauded their captain. De Bruyne stared back and there was unmistakable sadness on his face.
Unfortunately for De Bruyne, these are the moments when he must wonder whether they have blown their best chance of ever winning a tournament. Too often it has been a story of this smallish nation (population 11.6 million) producing brilliant players only for it to lead to nothing for the national team.
Advertisement
And now, another inquest, another period of soul-searching to examine what has gone wrong, and how to put it right.
De Bruyne says he is not retiring from international football. But he, their best player, will be 34 at the next World Cup. Romelu Lukaku — goalless at this tournament — will be 33 at the next World Cup. Other players are coming through, but are they of the same level as the players from Belgium’s so-called golden generation? No, this tournament strongly suggests they are not.
Daniel Taylor
Another fine mess
National football associations represented at Euro 2024 were fined more than €1.2million by organisers UEFA during the tournament’s group stages.
The fines, which total €1,293,645 (£1,097,328; $1,635,123), relate to the national respective sides’ supporters during the matches, but host nation Germany were fined twice for their failure in “protection of the playing area” — relating to fans entering the pitch in the game — during Portugal’s group games against Turkey and Georgia respectively.
Eight teams — Hungary, Switzerland, Croatia, Albania, Poland, Serbia, Romania and Belgium — received fines for their fans’ behaviour during all three of their respective group-stage matches. That means 21 of the 24 nations were fined at least once during the group stages, with only France, Spain and Slovakia not being sanctioned by European football’s governing body.
Croatia were the nation to accumulate the highest fines (€220,875) with Balkan neighbours Albania (€171,375) and Serbia (€166,625) completing the top three.
Colin Millar
What’s next?
The round of 16 concludes on Tuesday with Romania taking on the Netherlands in Munich, then a meeting of two of the tournament’s surprise packages as Austria and Turkey collide in Leipzig.
- Romania vs Netherlands (5pm BST/12pm ET)
- Austria vs Turkey (8pm BST/3pm ET)
(Top photo: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)