Portugal vs Slovenia facts

Portugal must regroup quickly from a Matchday 3 loss as they take on knockout debutants Slovenia at the Frankfurt Arena in the UEFA EURO 2024 round of 16.

Roberto Martínez's side – who lost in Slovenia in a friendly earlier this year in the teams' first ever fixture – secured first place in Group F with a game to spare thanks to wins against Czechia (2-1) and Türkiye (3-0). However, a much-changed side finished the group stage on a losing note, going down 2-0 against debutants Georgia in Gelsenkirchen in their final fixture.

Slovenia qualified as one of the best third-placed sides after drawing all three Group C games, 1-1 against both Denmark and Serbia, before a 0-0 stalemate against England sent them into the EURO knockout rounds for the first time in what is their second finals appearance.

The winners of this tie play France or Belgium in the quarter-finals in Hamburg on 5 July.

Previous meetings

The sides met for the first time on 26 March this year, Slovenia recording a 2-0 friendly victory at Stadion Stožice in Ljubljana thanks to late goals from Adam Gnezda Čerin (72) and Timi Elšnik (80). The match marked half-time substitute Francisco Conceição's debut for Portugal.

EURO facts

Portugal

Portugal are making their ninth EURO appearance overall, and an eighth in succession.

Their greatest success came at EURO 2016, when an extra-time winner from substitute Éder earned a 1-0 final win against hosts France in Saint-Denis.

Portugal's defence of their title ended in a 1-0 round of 16 loss to Belgium at EURO 2020. They had finished third in Group F behind France and Germany, winning only one game – 3-0 against Hungary in their opening fixture.

With Roberto Martínez having replaced EURO-winning coach Fernando Santos after the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Portugal stormed through EURO 2024 qualifying as the only team to win every game, scoring 36 goals and conceding only two as they finished eight points clear at the top of Group J. They qualified with three matches still to play thanks to a 3-2 home win against eventual runners-up Slovakia on 13 October 2023.

Cristiano Ronaldo is appearing in his sixth EURO finals in Germany; he holds records for the most goals (14) and appearances (28) at the tournament.

Ronaldo hit five goals at EURO 2020, level with Czechia's Patrik Schick as the tournament's top scorer, but is yet to open his account at EURO 2024.

Pepe has also become the oldest player to feature in a EURO finals at EURO 2024; the Portugal centre-back was aged 41 years 117 days on 22 June, when he played 90 minutes of the 3-0 win against Türkiye.

Portugal have now qualified from their group on all nine appearances at a EURO final tournament.

The Seleção das Quinas' round of 16 record is W1 L1. They beat Croatia 1-0 after extra time in 2016 but lost to Belgium by the same scoreline at EURO 2020.

This is Portugal's third game at the Frankfurt Arena. They drew 1-1 against Germany in April 1938 before a 2-0 victory against Iran in the 2006 World Cup group stage – a game in which Ronaldo scored the second goal from the penalty spot.

Slovenia

Slovenia's sole previous finals appearance came at EURO 2000, when they finished bottom of Group C behind Spain, Yugoslavia and Norway. A side coached by Srečko Katanec opened with a 3-3 draw against Yugoslavia – a game in which they had led 3-0 against ten men with 23 minutes remaining – and bowed out after a goalless draw against Norway having lost 2-1 to Spain on Matchday 2.

Zlatko Zahovič scored three of Slovenia's four goals at the tournament.

Slovenia were fourth in their EURO 2020 qualifying section, picking up 14 points from their ten games to finish behind Poland, Austria and North Macedonia in Group G.

This time round, Kek's team were beaten only twice across their ten fixtures as they claimed second place in Group H, level with Denmark on 22 points but behind on head-to-head record.

A 2-1 home win against Kazakhstan in their final fixture ensured Slovenia reached a major international tournament for only the fourth time and a first since the 2010 World Cup. This is the first time they have gone beyond the group stage.

Slovenia have drawn their last four games – the Matchday 3 stalemate against England ending a run of three successive 1-1 scorelines – and five of their last seven. They are unbeaten in nine matches (W4 D5).

Indeed, a 2-1 loss in Denmark in their penultimate EURO 2024 qualifier on 17 November 2023 is Slovenia's only reverse in their last 15 matches (W8 D6) and one of only two in their last 24 (W13 D9).

Slovenia have drawn five of their six matches at EURO tournaments, losing only to Spain (1-2) on Matchday 2 at EURO 2000.

This is Slovenia's first game at the Frankfurt Arena.

Links and trivia

Ronaldo scored eight goals in 13 games past Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak when the pair played for Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid respectively, a total that includes hat-tricks in Madrid's 3-0 wins in La Liga on 19 November 2016 and in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg on 2 May 2017.

Ronaldo had converted the winning penalty past Oblak in the 2016 Champions League final as Madrid beat Atlético 5-3 on spot kicks in Milan.

The Portugal forward scored three more times past Oblak as Juventus retrieved a 2-0 first-leg loss at Atlético in the 2018/19 Champions League round of 16 with a 3-0 win in Turin thanks to another Ronaldo hat-trick.

Have played in Portugal:
Jan Oblak (Benfica 2010–14, Beira-Mar 2010/11 loan; Olhanense 2011 loan; Leiria 2011/12 loan; Rio Ave 2012/13 loan)
Vid Belec (Olhanense 2013/14 loan)
Igor Vekić (Paços de Ferreira 2021–23)
Andraž Šporar (Sporting CP 2020–21, Braga 2021 loan)

Have played together:
Nélson Semedo, João Cancelo, Bernardo Silva & Jan Oblak (Benfica 2013/14)
Gonçalo Inácio, Nuno Mendes, Bruno Fernandes, João Palhinha & Andraž Šporar (Sporting CP 2020–21)
João Félix & Jan Oblak (Atlético de Madrid 2019–23)

Oblak joined Benfica in 2010, spending the next three seasons on loan elsewhere in Portugal before linking up with the Eagles' first team ahead of the 2013/14 campaign. He took over as first-choice goalkeeper in December 2013 and helped the club win the Portuguese Liga, Portuguese Cup and Portuguese League Cup – and reach the UEFA Europa League final, where they lost on penalties to Sevilla in Turin – in his only senior season before signing for Atlético de Madrid.

Oblak was a team-mate of Semedo in Benfica's B team and played with Cancelo and Bernardo Silva in both the B team and the senior side.

Šporar signed for Sporting CP in January 2020, making 13 league appearances the following season as the Lions won the title and coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 defeat of Braga in the Portuguese League Cup final on 23 January 2021. That proved to be the forward's penultimate appearance for the Lisbon side; a week later he joined Braga on loan for the rest of the campaign.

Šporar also enjoyed knockout success with Braga, making a late substitute appearance in a 2-0 win against Benfica in the Portuguese Cup final on 23 May 2021.

Penalty shoot-outs

Portugal's shoot-out record is W3 L2:
6-5 v England, EURO 2004 quarter-final
3-1 v England, 2006 World Cup quarter-final
2-4 v Spain, EURO 2012 semi-final
5-3 v Poland, EURO 2016 quarter-final
0-3 v Chile, 2017 Confederations Cup semi-final

Slovenia have never been involved in a competitive penalty shoot-out; indeed, their only shoot-out was a 4-3 win against China in the third-place play-off at the 2002 Lunar New Year Cup.