Result: Portugal 0-1 France
Date: 14 November 2020
Venue: Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Cristiano Ronaldo endured a quiet evening as Portugal bowed out of the UEFA Nations League after defeat to France on Saturday night.
Les Bleus were without star forward Kylian Mbappe due to injury, as Kingsley Coman, Anthony Martial and Antoine Griezmann lead the attack while Portugal recalled Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix and Bernardo Silva.
The sides had early chances, as France shot-stopper Hugo Lloris made a good save to keep out Ronaldo's swerving strike in the fifth minute before Rui Patricio parried Coman's looping effort over the crossbar five minutes later.
Martial had a better chance for the visitors in the 12th minute after going through inside the box but his low point-blank range shot was saved by Patricio in a one-on-one situation.
Didier Deschamps' charges should have been ahead on the half-hour mark after a clever free-kick by Griezmann led to Adrien Rabiot having an over-head kick in the centre of the box that Martial finished off with a header from close range but his effort came off the crossbar.
France had another big chance five minutes before the break after Lucas Hernandez whipped in a teasing cross in the six-yard box that Martial guided towards goal from close range but Patricio produced an oustanding save while Ronaldo came close on the stroke of half-time with a bullet header from a corner that missed slightly over the bar.
Les Bleus were under pressure in the early exchanges of the second stanza but they broke the deadlock eight minutes from the break after N'Golo Kante pounced on a rebound to fire into a gaping net after Patricio spilled Rabiot's shot.
Jose Fonte came close to snatching the equaliser on the hour-mark with a header at the back post that came off the upright from the rebound after Loris pulled off a great save to keep out Raphael Guerreiro's long-range strike.
With time running out, Joao Moutinho came very close to levelling matters for Fernando Santos' troops in the last quarter of an hour with a first-time strike from the edge of the box that forced Lloris into stupendous save.
The visitors were lucky not to concede a penalty in the last three minutes after Hernandez clipped Francisco Trincao inside the box but the Portuguese attacker stayed on his feet to chase a lost cause and that proved costly as France held on to clinch the win and won the group with a match to spare, eliminating Portugal in the process.
