Portugal will not defend its European Championship title.
The Portuguese were eliminated at the round of 16 stage on Sunday by Belgium, with Thorgan Hazard scoring the game's only goal in a 1-0 result. The game might have been costly for the Belgians, as they lost Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard to injury during different stages of the match.
Injuries aside, Belgium did what it had to do to put away a motivated Portuguese side that outshot their opponents 23-6. That meant play was at times scrappy and at others opportunistic for the Red Devils, who made the most of their few chances.
In fact, the younger Hazard's goal was his team's lone shot on target. During a rare stretch of Belgian superiority, he struck in the dying minutes of the opening half by latching onto a pass from just outside the Portugal penalty area and smashing a swerving shot past goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
Despite a frenzied second half by Portugal, the Belgians would not break. A few near-misses — including a shot off the post inside the final 10 minutes of play — would be as close as the Portuguese would get as Belgium hung on for the clean sheet.
With the win, Belgium moves on to face Italy in the quarterfinals on July 2.