Portugal v Czech Republic: Euro 2024 – live | Euro 2024

33 minutes: A deft backheel from Ronaldo sends Vitinha racing down the left channel into the Czech penalty box. His presence earns a corner. He heads it clear. Portugal are left in doubt.

32nd minute: Bruno Fernandes splits the Czech defence in the middle and plays a low pass to Ronaldo, who turns and attempts a one-touch shot to the bottom right – Stanek slides in and puts out a powerful arm to make the save. Sensational! However, had it gone in, the VAR would almost certainly have ruled it offside.

half an hour: The Czechs start making silly mistakes: Coufal loses the ball, Nuno Mendes makes a good pass on the left wing, but… the cross is deflected away from all his teammates in the middle. Goal kick.

29th minute: Dudera chested a beautiful cross from the left towards his own goal which the keeper managed to catch, and it was a brilliant display of cool defence, but Stanek mishandled the ball carelessly, resulting in a corner kick. The Czechs were lucky that the chested ball did not reach the goal and Portugal did not award another high-profile corner kick.

28th minute: Horeş was cornered in the centre circle and for a moment it looked like Portugal would set up a three-on-one break. Luckily for Horeş, his partner Franach was nearby to clear the loose ball before it became dangerous.

26 minutes: A cute reverse pass from Schick down the left wing found Schultz, who had a chance to shoot from long range, but took too long to think. After losing possession, Portugal launched a rapid counter attack, with Fernandes firing in a low cross from the right. Leao stretched out his leg but somehow missed the target, and the Czech Republic missed a goal.

24th minute: Fernandes was given too much time and space on the left, so he slowly moved up the field and shot from distance, another deflection sending the shot over the bar and another wasted corner.

22 minutes: Ronaldo searches down the left. Nothing happens. He passes to Vitinha, who passes to Diaz, who runs across the front of the box. His first touch takes a shot that goes wide to the right for a corner. Nothing happens. Portugal look much more likely to score the opening goal, but Stanek has yet to really get going.

20 min: This corner is also a waste of time.

19 minutes: Nuno Mendes again pushed the Czechs back, this time with a graceful run down the centre of the pitch, before Bruno Fernandes took a dangerous shot from the right, Coufal headed it home and Portugal again earned a corner.

17 min: …Nuno Mendes had enough and shot impatiently from a ridiculous distance, high and wide. The Czech Republic was happy, but Portugal were too early to get annoyed.

16th minute: Portugal pass the ball around. There’s no opening. Six white shirts line the edge of the area.

14 min: Soucek races for a high ball and shoots past Bruno Fernandes. A routine foul in midfield results in a free kick. Fernandes is not happy and is quick to complain to both Soucek and the referee, who largely ignores him.

12 minutes: Leon makes an incredibly easy run down the left wing, gets past Coufal, gets to the line but loses control before playing the ball back to Ronaldo, and the Czechs clear the line.

10 minutes: Portugal have the majority of the ball, while the Czechs are content to sit back and take their chances. Then suddenly, a long pass from the Czech right to Provod, who evades a clumsy Pepe but carelessly deflects the ball away for a goal kick, leaving Portugal momentarily vulnerable.

8 minutes: Leão picks up a loose ball in midfield and races down the left wing. He races across the field and crosses, but this time there’s a man in red there. It’s Ronaldo, and his header, his first touch of the night, goes wide to the left. Portugal Also The left side looks dangerous.

6 min: Nuno Mendes played a pass down the left wing in the hope that Leão would break through, and Franac was forced to slide, conceding a corner. No set pieces resulted, but Portugal now launched three promising attacks down that wing.

4 minutes: Portugal created space on the left wing, this time Bruno Fernandes looped a cross into the open box. The Czech Republic countered and Schulz tried to create space on the left edge of Portugal’s defensive half, but was pushed out before he could shoot.

3 minutes: Leon and Fernández exchange passes down the left wing, and Fernández sends Bernardo Silva into the box. Silva crosses without seeing anyone in particular, and the ball flies out for a goal kick. Both teams are active in the early passing exchanges.

1 minute: The Czech Republic got underway early on, with Schick and Soucek attacking down the right wing and for a moment it looked as though the pair had combined to give Portugal an opportunity, but the ball rolled away for a goal kick.

Portugal scored the first goal. If this is even half as good as Turkey v Georgia then we are doing pretty well. Goals please!

Cristiano Ronaldo may be approaching 40, but he had the ebullience of an excited teenager during the playing of the Portuguese national anthem. a Huge He had a smile on his face as he belted out the lyrics and then belted out “COME ON!” There were all sorts of signs that he was more than ready for this song.

The team is out! There’s a lot of noise and passion in the RB Arena. Portugal is red with green and black borders, Czech Republic is white with blue borders. The national anthem is sung. The voices of great ancestors lead Portugal to victory, a hymn to the pine forests rustling among the rocks of our beautiful Czech homeland, a veritable paradise on earth. A true brand of positivity. The pennants are exchanged, the coin is tossed and we’re off in a few minutes.

Meanwhile, here’s John Moloney’s prediction: “Do you think the umpiring has been pretty good so far? I wonder how much the new rules about who can complain or harass the umpire have helped, but it seems to be working pretty well so far. But tonight will definitely be a stiff test. Bruno Fernandes, without the captain’s immunity, will probably only last around 15 minutes. I’m interested to see what happens.”

The first wave of the group stage has now concluded, with no games yet to end without a goal. Hopefully we can finish the set without conceding a goal and it bodes well for the fact that tonight’s attack will be led by Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick, the two who shared the top scorer spot at the last Euro 2020. Ronaldo won the Golden Boot with just one assist.

This is what happened in Group F today…

…Turkey’s Arda Güler became the youngest player to score on a Euro final debut, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s 20-year-old record. The “Turkish Messi” is 19 years and 114 days old. Ronaldo was a relatively young 19 years and 128 days old when he scored a late goal against Greece in the Euro 2004 opener. So this is what the squad looks like ahead of tonight’s game in Leipzig.

Both of these countries have identical records at the close of trading in the euro. Portugal won in 2016 and was runner-up in 2004. The Czech Republic was runner-up in 1996 and won (as Czechoslovakia) in 1976, but since the Czech Republic became an independent country, Portugal has had the advantage in head-to-head matches. Karel Poborsky’s famous scoop Portugal clinched the title in the quarter-finals of Euro 96, but since then they have won four straight matches, at Euro 2008, Euro 2012 and in the 2022-23 Nations League.

Portugal’s starting lineup included Cristiano Ronaldo (39) and Pepe (41). Both will break records tonight. Ronaldo will be playing in his sixth European Championship final while Pepe, at 41 years and 113 days, will be the oldest player to play in the 64-year-old tournament. Pepe will break the record held by Gabor Kiraly, who was the goalkeeper when Hungary lost to Belgium in the round of 16 at Euro 2016. Manchester City will be represented by Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, while Manchester United will be represented by Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.

West Ham midfielder Tomáš Soucek will captain the Czech Republic. Like City and United, the Hammers have two players available to start tonight’s game, with Vladimir Coufal lining up on the right side of midfield.

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