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Cristiano Ronaldo SCORES, but Germany picks up STATEMENT win vs. Portugal | Highlights | ESPN FC

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Germany needed a response, and they delivered it with four goals inside 45 minutes against the reigning European champions.

Group F had already been branded the “group of death,” and Saturday night in Munich lived up to that reputation. Germany, coming off a 1-0 opening loss to France, faced a Portugal side that had drawn 1-1 with Hungary and still carried Cristiano Ronaldo’s record-breaking scoring touch. What followed at the Allianz Arena was one of the wildest 90 minutes of the tournament — a 4-2 Germany win built on Portuguese self-destruction and a career night from an unheralded wingback.

• Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 15th minute off a Diogo Jota assist — his first career goal against Germany — before the hosts erased the deficit with two own goals in a four-minute span.
• Ruben Dias (35′) and Raphael Guerreiro (39′) both turned the ball into their own net, making Portugal the first European nation to concede two own goals in a single European Championship match.
• Kai Havertz (51′) and Robin Gosens (60′) extended the lead to 4-1 before Jota’s 67th-minute finish set the final margin, with Germany surviving a Renato Sanches strike off the woodwork to seal it.

Ronaldo Strikes First, Then Germany Unravels Portugal

Portugal came out of the blocks exactly as expected. Jota sprung Ronaldo on a blistering counterattack in the 15th minute, and the Juventus forward finished coolly for his first-ever goal against Germany in any competition. For a stretch, it looked like the same Ronaldo who had already been terrorizing Group F.

But Germany answered by attacking the width Portugal left exposed, with Robin Gosens becoming a persistent outlet down the left. His cross in the 35th minute forced Ruben Dias into turning the ball past his own goalkeeper under pressure, and four minutes later Joshua Kimmich’s low cutback deflected off Raphael Guerreiro and in. Two own goals in four minutes flipped the match on its head heading into halftime.

Gosens’ Statement Performance

Germany didn’t let up after the break. Havertz tapped in another low Gosens delivery in the 51st minute to make it 3-1, and nine minutes later Gosens got his own name on the scoresheet, heading home a Kimmich cross at the far post for 4-1. It capped a Player of the Match display that turned a must-win game into a rout.

Portugal became the first European nation to concede two own goals in a single European Championship match.

Jota gave the scoreline a more respectable look, steering in a Ronaldo cutback in the 67th minute to make it 4-2, and Sanches rattled the crossbar late with a thunderous strike that nearly made things interesting again. Germany’s defense held, and the result never seriously wavered from that point.

A History That Keeps Repeating

The win extended Germany’s streak to five straight competitive tournament victories over Portugal dating back to 2006 — a run that has spanned World Cups and European Championships alike. For Joachim Löw’s team, still trying to shake off criticism after their disappointing 2018 World Cup exit, the performance was less about redemption and more about survival: after the opening loss to France, anything less than three points would have left them staring at elimination from Group F.

Highlight packages of tournament games like this one have become must-watch viewing in their own right, the same way full-game breakdowns of marquee events such as the CFP National Championship between Georgia and Alabama draw eyeballs long after the final whistle. Germany’s collapse-then-comeback story against Portugal is exactly the kind of match that gets replayed for years.

Germany’s win puts them back in contention to escape Group F, setting up a final group match against Hungary back at the Allianz Arena, while Portugal will need results against France in Budapest to guarantee their own passage. Ronaldo, now with two goals in the tournament, still sits in the mix for the Golden Boot — but on this night, it was Robin Gosens’ name filling up the box score, not his.