No wonder playing on your home turf is called home-field “advantage”. It’s proven to be quite valuable for France as they’ve rolled through Euro 2016. Cheered on by their raucous fans, France ousted Germany, the World Cup champions, in the semifinals. France will now face Portugal in the final, but before we preview that matchup, let’s look back at the semifinals.
Portugal topped Wales in a matchup of two teams that weren’t expected to make it this far. The first half was lacklustre because both teams – especially Wales – were playing extremely defensively. However, five minutes after the break, a bullet header from Cristiano Ronaldo netted his third goal of the tournament. Three minutes later, Nani netted his third as well. Following the back-to-back goals, Wales looked shell-shocked and didn't muster much in a 0-2 loss. It was tough for Wales; with suspended midfielder Aaron Ramsay missing, Gareth Bale had a lot cut out for himself. Portugal is now going to their first final since they lost at home to Greece at Euro 2004.
France and Germany met on Thursday in Marseille. German captain Bastian Schweinsteiger was called for a handball in the box right before half-time. Antoine Griezmann stepped up and notched his fifth goal of the tournament to give the hosts the lead into the break. Germany poured on the pressure in the second half, but a defensive gaffe allowed Paul Pogba to steal the ball and cross it, which Germany keeper Manuel Neuer could only palm into the path of Griezmann, who scored his second of the game and sixth of the tournament. France won the match 2-0 and is now heading to the final.
The final is set for Sunday at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, and France is looking to make their home-field advantage count. They won Euro 1984 at home, then the World Cup in 1998 as the hosts, and then Euro 2000 when they were the co-hosts with Belgium. Meanwhile, Portugal has never won a major tournament, but they were the runner-up as the hosts in 2004 when they lost to Greece in the final. France has won 18 and drawn one of their 24 meetings with Portugal, who haven't beaten France in 11 matches.
Portugal hasn’t played great in this tournament, but they’ve done enough to get by against weaker competition. And they still have Cristiano Ronaldo – a world-class player. But France has been one of the more impressive teams of this tournament, scoring at least two goals in all but one game. Griezmann's six goals lead the tournament, and Olivier Giroud and Dimitri Payet have scored three goals apiece. France is -110 favourite for this contest while Portugal sits at +345; the draw is +210.
*Odds as of July 8, 2016