Portugal's reign as European champions was brought to an end in Seville as Belgium beat Cristiano Ronaldo and company 1-0 thanks to a stunning goal late in the first half from Thorgan Hazard on Sunday.
In a match low on quality, Thorgan Hazard provided the game's decisive moment, a swerving effort from the left corner of the box proving to be enough to break Portugal's stubborn defense just before the interval. A late charge from the reigning champions saw Raphael Guerreiro hit the post and Thibaut Courtois beat Andre Silva to a flick on from Ronaldo as Belgium held on to set up a quarterfinal showdown with Italy on Friday.
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But how did each player perform in this one? Here are our player ratings for the match for every starter, substitute and manager.
Belgium ratings
Name | How did they do? | Rating |
Thibaut Courtois | Alert when he was needed with an excellent first-half save to deny Cristiano Ronaldo's free kick, but was heroic in the second half with a string of blocks to deny the likes of Joao Felix, Ruben Dias and Andre Silva. | 9 |
Toby Alderweireld | Stretched at times as one part of a veteran Belgian defense, which was partially Meunier's fault on that right side, but he ultimately held his own and took a booking as Portugal were successfully shut out. | 6 |
Thomas Vermaelen | Had a handball penalized and Ronaldo was able to test Courtois from it and picked up a booking in the second half, but otherwise stood firm as the Portuguese turned up the pressure late on. | 7 |
Jan Vertonghen | Kept his composure as Portugal attacked in waves toward the end. Martinez will be pleased at the way he combined with Alderweireld and Vermaelen to limit the number of clear chances conceded. | 6 |
Thomas Meunier | The Borussia Dortmund man was an offensive outlet and provided the assist for Hazard's solitary strike, but much of his other passing and crossing was wayward while he was also caught out at times defensively. | 6 |
Youri Tielemans | Might have had the chance to put the icing on the cake late on if Yannick Ferreira Carrasco had passed to him earlier when Romelu Lukaku was equally well-positioned on the break, but otherwise quiet as Axel Witsel came to the fore at his expense. | 5 |
Axel Witsel | Made some big defensive contributions in the second half and had no problems getting his hands dirty as Belgium dug deep to hold on for victory. | 7 |
Thorgan Hazard | Worked hard until he was withdrawn late on and he provided the decisive moment of the match with a wonder strike that will live long in Belgian memory. | 7 |
Kevin De Bruyne | Belgium's creative fulcrum in the first half and sadly fell victim to a knock on his ankle at the start of the second half which the Red Devils will be praying is not serious. | 6 |
Romelu Lukaku | The Inter Milan man cut a frustrated figure for much of the game due to his teammates' inability to give him adequate service, but he provided the focal point and battering ram they needed at times. Fired his best chance over without any real opportunities of quality coming his way. | 7 |
Eden Hazard | Considering his Real Madrid struggles, the captain was lively and involved without being overbearing toward Kevin De Bruyne's creative prowess and he was only withdrawn at the very end after mucking in as best he could. | 8 |
Dries Mertens (De Bruyne, 48') | Replaced De Bruyne for the second half and took on a wider role as Portugal grew more dominant toward the end and Belgium looked to hit them on the counter-attack. | 6 |
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco (E. Hazard, 87') | Given a few minutes at the end to potentially use his explosive pace to win the game and not only did he fail to pull the trigger himself, he also picked poorly in trying to play in Youri Tielemans instead of Lukaku. | 5 |
Leander Dendoncker (T. Hazard, 90') | Literally given a matter of seconds in the place of Eden Hazard as the Belgians successfully looked to make the game and result safe. | N/A |
Manager -- Roberto Martinez | Wisely kept his substitutions open for as long as possible before making a few select changes and was rewarded for his decision to opt for experience in defense as Portugal were kept at bay. | 7 |
Portugal ratings
Name | How did they do? | Ratings |
Rui Patricio | In reality the vicious swerve from Thorgan Hazard's shot meant Patricio was inevitably fighting a losing battle to get anything more than a despairing glove on Belgium's opener. | 5 |
Diogo Dalot | Somewhat more secure on his right flank than Nelson Semedo had been in previous games and as the game wore on he started to grow more involved in the attacking interplay, combining smartly with Ronaldo in the build up to a chance early in the second period. | 6 |
Pepe | In three years time Pepe will presumably still be dropping his backline deep, waiting for the cross and heading it to safety. Probably he'll be back at it in Euro 2028 too. In a game where Portugal saw a lot of the ball he was not at his busiest at least until his customary bust up with time running out. | 5 |
Ruben Dias | A customarily solid performance from the Manchester City man, he was as much a ball-playing force as a defensive operator and delivered one particularly wonderful ball over the top for Andre Silva late on. | 6 |
Raphael Guerreiro | There was something dispiriting about seeing Guerreiro make all the right runs only to see so little of the ball in advanced areas, particularly as the space in behind Meunier was ripe for exploitation. He showed why he should have been involved earlier when a snap shot on his right foot hit the post. | 6 |
Joao Moutinho | A sedate, almost sedentary, performance in front of the back four by the veteran midfielder. A player of Moutinho's experience could surely have been more expansive in his build-up work. | 5 |
Joao Palhinha | It is almost hard not to admire his cynicism when he has Lukaku's shirt in his clutches, brazenly refusing to the Belgium striker get away by foul means or by foul. If his task was simply to leave his mark on his opponents then you couldn't argue this wasn't a job well done even if it did little to help the team. | 4 |
Renato Sanches | The shining light in the void that was Portugal's attacking plans, his ability to draw opponents out of position and get by them the only viable weapon for getting his team up the pitch. | 8 |
Bernardo Silva | His early withdrawal was indisputable despite the fact that Portugal needed a player like Bernardo to pry open some of the gaps in the Belgium backline. He did not look like doing that in Seville, too often cutting back inside and looking for the safe pass. | 3 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal's insistence on having 10 men behind the ball does leave Ronaldo rather isolated for much of the game, Santos effectively asking him to function as a target man who could create chances for himself. He sparked into life with teammates around him | 5 |
Diogo Jota | The Liverpool forward spurned an early chance when he fired wide and though his industry was never in doubt but his end product was hugely frustrating. | 4 |
Joao Felix (Bernardo, 55') | In the early moments after his introduction the Atletico Madrid youngster looked like being the spark Portugal needed, finding a gap in the area from which to head at Courtois' goal. | 5 |
Bruno Fernandes (Moutinho, 55') | Fernandes took his time to get into the game but as Portugal finally woke up as an attacking force late on his vicious crosses from the right flank kept Belgium pinned back. However he wasted an excellent position late on, shooting over a mass of bodies when well-placed to make a better decision. | 5 |
Andre Silva (Jota, 70') | The Eintracht Frankfurt forward went close with a header soon after his introduction and certainly made a nuisance of himself as Portugal chased parity. | 5 |
| Sergio Olivera (Sanches, 78') | Struggled to make a significant impact on the contest with most of Portugal's passes flying over his head. | 5 |
| Danilo (Palhinha, 78') | A crucial tackle on Lukaku in the 86th minute denied Belgium what may well have been a goal to kill the tie. | 6 |
Manager -- Fernando Santos | There just does not seem to be any real attacking rhythm to this Portuguese side. They seem content to grind games down, take away good shots and expect to nick one at the other end. Often it might work but when a goal like Hazard's happens there needs to be more to this side than hope Sanches can carry the ball up to Ronaldo. | 3 |
