EURO 2016
Portugal 1 Éder 109
France 0
After extra time
Portugal Rui Patricio - Cedric, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro - William Carvalho - Renato Sanches (Eder 79), Adrien Silva (Moutinho 66), Joao Mario - Nani, Ronaldo (Quaresma 25) Booked Cedric, Joao Mario, Guerreiro, William Carvalho, Jose Fonte, Rui Patricio Subs not used Bruno Alves, Carvalho, Vierinha, Anthony Lopes, Danilo, Andre Gomes, Rafa Silva, Eliseu, Eduardo.
France Lloris - Sagna, Koscielny, Umtiti, Evra - Pogba, Matuidi - Sissoko (Martial 110), Griezmann, Payet (Coman 58) - Giroud (Gignac 78) Booked Umtiti, Matuidi, Koscielny, Pogba Subs not used Jallet, Rami, Kante, Cabaye, Schneiderlin, Mangal, Mandanda, Digne, Costil
Attendance 75,868 at Stade de France, Saint-Denis Referee Mark Clattenburg (England)
Kick-off 8pm BST. Live on BBC and ITV1.
PORTUGAL won their first major international trophy after former Swansea City flop Éder struck in extra time to break French hearts.
Substitute Éder failed to score in any of his 15 appearances for the Swans last season but lashed a raking shot from 25 yards to win a low-quality contest at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
France, of course, had been looking for a third success as hosts having previously won Euro 1984 and World Cup 1998 on home soil.
But it was the Portuguese - and their injured talisman Cristiano Ronaldo - who eventually prevailed in a match which neatly summed up the weaknesses of this expanded 24-team tournament as a whole.
It would be fair to say, as feared, the expansion has not really worked. The format meant a single win was likely to take a team through - with only Turkey and Albania missing out on this basis.
Portugal, meanwhile, managed to qualify without a group stage victory, Slovakia satisfied themselves with a 0-0 draw against England, and Northern Ireland were even able to celebrate a narrow defeat - albeit against Germany.
Overall, far too many of the group games were tight, tense affairs, usually more readily found in the latter stages of a tournament. In total, there were just 108 goals in 51 games.
That is a paltry average of 2.12 per match (compared to 2.67 at the last World Cup) - and, though there were only four 0-0 draws, a further 13 matches featured just a single goal.
UEFA truly needs to learn that sometimes less can be more - though having already made the move to 24 teams, it is unlikely the governing body will go back to more easily divisible 16.
After all, the tournament on some levels has been a success. The matches have captured the attention and imagination of a scarred French public, and there have been some truly magical stories featuring some of the supposed lesser nations such as Iceland and Wales.
On a personal level, my trip to Lille for five days during the tournament will remain a highlight of my year. The fan camp and the city were largely well organised, and there was hardly any sign of the sort of trouble which the British newspapers would have you believe was commonplace.
It is just a shame that the fun off the pitch was not mirrored by a greater quality of play on it.
Back to the Final anyway - and, though it will be little remembered now, France actually started reasonably well.
On 10 minutes, semi final hero and tournament top scorer Antoine Griezmann sent a looping header towards goal which was tipped over by Rui Patricio.
From the resultant corner, Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud headed straight at the grateful Portuguese goalkeeper.
Then, in the 17th minute, there appeared to be a critical twist. Ronaldo nastily clashed knees with West Ham United's Dmitri Payet - and, a couple of minutes later, the Real Madrid man went down in pain again.
Still attempting to carry on at first, he was forced to admit defeat five minutes later, and was replaced by Ricardo Quaresma.
A capacity crowd in the Stade de France sensed the match was now there for the taking - but the team on the pitch looked tense and, bar a Moussa Sissoko shot straight at the goalkeeper, created little as the first half faded to a close.
The early stages of the second period were more of the same before the game was livened up by the introduction of winger Kingsley Coman.
Within moments of coming on, Coman released Griezmann but the Atletico Madrid striker again shot straight at Rui Patricio.
And then Griezmann was guilty of missing a gilt-edged chance, heading over from just six yards from an excellent Coman cross.
Unfortunately, thereafter, France failed to kick on and use the little momentum which they had built up.
Portugal began to look ever more dangerous on the counter with Hugo Lloris forced to save from Nani and an acrobatic effort from Quaresma in quick succession.
However, the last big chance of normal time fell to the hosts. Andre-Pierre Gignac twisted and turned into a good position before hitting his shot off the face of the post.
Time had ticked by, slowly for much of the game, and it seemed destined that this underwhelming tie would be decided in extra time.
Sadly, in the first 15 minutes of the additional period, the match got little better.
The Portuguese provided the only vaguely exciting moment in that first half when Lloris saved well from eventual match-winner Éder.
Nevertheless, it was beginning to become clear which way this match was swinging.
Consett-born referee Mark Clattenburg had enjoyed a largely uneventful evening - but definitely got one of his decisions wrong by giving a Portugal free-kick when it was actually Éder who had handled.
It could have been costly with Raphaël Guerreiro smacking the resulting effort off the bar - but, within a minute, Portugal did take the lead.
Éder's goal left France little more than 10 minutes to get back into the match, but - in a tournament of dramatic, late goals - Les Bleus never looked like conjuring one.
Indeed, Portugal could have gone further ahead if Paul Pogba had not brought down Joao Mario and if Bacary Sagna had not intercepted a shot from the same player.
Cruelly perhaps, for France, there was one last scrambled effort as Anthony Martial - brought on in extra time - attempted a shot from the edge of the box.
However, it never looked like piercing the mass of bodies in front of it and, on heading into two minutes of injury time, this looked destined to be Portugal's night.
So it was - and, though it could not be said for them in the tournament as a whole, so it deserved to be on the night.
Portugal had a clear game plan and stuck to it, even if their tactics were never going to make the purists purr - and, finally, in their 35th match in European Championship finals history, they had won the trophy.
England - generally poor in France and absolutely atrocious against Iceland in the last 16 - now hold the unwanted crown of having played the most games at the European Championships without winning them.
That streak already stands at 31 and seems likely to go far beyond the Portuguese total in the years ahead.
Nonetheless, it is impossible to get away from the fact that Portugal are surely one of the poorest teams to have ever won an international tournament.
Ahead for only 73 minutes of the whole campaign, A Seleção qualified for the latter stages by drawing their three group games, beating Croatia in extra time, and then Poland on penalties.
A merited victory over spirited Wales was their only win inside 90 minutes but, once it became clear that France were not going to hit the form which had carried them past Iceland and Germany, another workmanlike performance was always going to give Portugal a chance.
It is a chance which they have gratefully taken - but, except for joyous Portuguese and the heartbroken French, this was a forgettable end to a largely drab four weeks.
Roll on 5 August - the start of the new domestic football season as well as the next big event of the year, the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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