France underlined their Euro 2020 favourite tags with a 1-0 win over Germany in Munich, while holders Portugal opened their Group F campaign with a 3-0 victory over Hungary in Budapest.
In the tournament’s so-called ‘group of death’, the two former world champions went head to head on Tuesday night.
A first-half own goal from Mats Hummels proved enough for a hard-earned France win, with Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema both seeing efforts ruled out for offside at the Allianz Arena.
Defending champions Portugal, meanwhile, eventually got the better of Hungary after a late double by Cristiano Ronaldo helped silence the majority of the home fans at a full-capacity Puskas Arena.
Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen gave a positive update on his health and thanked everyone for their kind messages of support.
Budapest’s bumper crowd
The Puskas Arena in Budapest hosted the biggest attendance of the tournament so far, with a near-capacity 61,000 crowd packed in as Hungary – where there has been a huge Covid-19 vaccination rollout – opened their Group F campaign with a defeat to dampen the party atmosphere.
Quote of the day
Eriksen with words everyone wanted to hear.
Allez Les Bleus
Stat attack
Portugal forward Ronaldo became the first player to appear in five European Championship finals when he led the team out against Hungary – having made his debut against Greece at Euro 2004. Not content with that new benchmark, Ronaldo’s late double then also had him crowned the tournament’s all-time top-scorer with 11 goals.
Up next
June 16
Finland vs Russia (Group B, St Petersburg, 2pm)
Turkey vs Wales (Group A, Baku, 5pm)
Italy vs Switzerland (Group A, Rome, 8pm)