Portugal vs France Bet Builder Tips: Ronaldo & Mbappe to go shot for shot in Hamburg

Portugal and France both stumbled to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals after leaving it late against Slovenia and Belgium respectively, and the two 2016 finalists now meet with Les Bleus looking to exact revenge for that 1-0 defeat in Saint-Denis.

Read below for my Portugal vs France bet builder tips ahead of Friday's quarter-final tie at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg (20:00, BBC One), where world stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe are expected to play key roles once again.

Euro 2024 Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Euro 2024 page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this competition.

Portugal vs France Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Portugal vs France page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Cristiano Ronaldo 4+ shots (90 mins)

It will be a surprise to absolutely no one that Ronaldo has taken more shots (20, two in extra time v Slovenia) than anyone else at Euro 2024. The returns? A grand total of zero goals.

You'd have thought that after his first, or second, or maybe third, unsuccessful free-kick against the Slovenians, he may hand over duties to other capable performers, such as six-time Premier League winner Bernardo Silva, or Bruno Fernandes.

Yet, the 39-year-old egomaniac from Al-Nassr decided to take a fourth free-kick and, you guessed it, failed once again. Could he make amends from 12 yards? Nope, his effort was saved by Jan Oblak. Naff for his suffering teammates, but great for the first leg of this bet builder, as I back him to take at least four shots again in regulation time.

He's averaging five shots per game currently (4.5 per game in regulation time), after taking five against the Czechs, three against the Georgians, six against the Turks, and seven against the Slovenians.

Kylian Mbappe 3+ shots (90 mins)

Another player whose tournament is yet to really take off is Mbappe, whose only goal came from the penalty spot against Poland.

The Real Madrid-bound forward hasn't quite matched the selfishness shown by Ronaldo, but he is also averaging five shots per game - four v Austria, six v Poland, and five v Belgium.

Like his Portuguese counterpart, it seems unthinkable that he will be substituted, which means he has 90-plus minutes to land this selection.

Mbappe will be desperate to showcase his abilities and steer France to a first Euros triumph since 2000, so I think he will be going all out on Friday and firing off shots as per.

Antoine Griezmann 2+ shots (90 mins)

Mbappe's teammate, Antoine Griezmann, could also feature highly among the top shooters in Hamburg after averaging 2.5 shots per game so far in Germany.

Grizemann has registered at least two shots in all three of his starts (two v Austria, five v the Netherlands, and two v Belgium), while he also managed to get one in during his 29 minutes of action off the bench against Poland.

France need their senior stars to step up on Friday, and Griezmann is certainly one of them. Joint-top scorer at Euro 2016, the Atletico Madrid ace has a fondness for this competition, and I'm backing him to trouble the Portuguese backline this week.

Under 2.5 total goals (90 mins)

Having said all of the above, backing at least nine shots from those three players alone, I still don't think we're in for many goals in Hamburg.

France are really doing their best to make England look like an entertaining side; all four of their games so far have seen two or fewer goals, with a couple of 1-0 wins over Austria and Belgium sandwiched either side of a goalless draw with the Netherlands and a 1-1 with Poland.

Didier Deschamps' side were also held to a 0-0 in their final pre-Euro 2024 friendly game against Canada, and I'm not banking on them suddenly springing into life on Friday.

Portugal, meanwhile, enjoyed an entertaining start to the tournament, coming from behind to dramatically beat the Czech Republic 2-1 before swatting Turkey aside 3-0.

However, a much-changed line-up lost 2-0 to Georgia, and it looked like any momentum they had built up in the first two games had gone when they were held to a goalless draw by Slovenia in the last 16, only edging past them after penalties.

Not that it's wholly relevant, but four of the last five head-to-heads between Portugal and France - dating back to September 2015 - have ended with one or fewer goals scored - not a great omen considering the recent travails of both teams.

Offers

Euro 2024 – Extra Time Anytime Goalscorer Offer – Knockout Stages: Place a bet on the Anytime Goalscorer market on any Euro 2024 Knockout match and if your player scores in Extra Time we'll pay you out as a winner.

Euro 2024 - Extra Time To Be Carded Offer - Knockout Stages: Place a bet on the Player to be carded market on any Euro 2024 Knockout match and if your player is carded in Extra Time we'll pay you out as a winner.

Build your own PickYourPunt bet (3/1+) of 4+ legs on Portugal v France and get 100% of your stake back in Free Bets if it loses. (Credited within 48 hours).

You can read all our latest Euro 2024 Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.