Fans claim Cristiano Ronaldo decision gave France a major advantage before Les Bleus sent Portugal crashing out of Euro 2024 on penalties

Fans claim Cristiano Ronaldo decision gave France penalty advantage

• France beat Portugal 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out to reach the Euro 2024 semis
• Cristiano Ronaldo had appeared to allow France to go first in the shoot-out
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Fans have questioned Cristiano Ronaldo for appearing to allow France to take first in their Euro 2024 penalty shoot-out as Portugal were sent crashing out of the tournament.

Penalties were required to separate France and Portugal following a goalless draw in their last eight tie - a repeat of the Euro 2016 final.

Ronaldo appeared to have won the toss with fellow captain Kylian Mbappe, with the 39-year-old reportedly allowing France to take first in the shoot-out.

France would ultimately emerged as 5-3 winners on penalties, with Joao Felix seeing his effort come back off the post.

Fans questioned why Ronaldo had allowed France to take first, suggesting his decision had given Portugal's rivals a major advantage.

'Why did Ronaldo let France go first? The first normally wins lol,' one fan posted on social media.

'If Ronaldo let France go first after winning the toss he handed them a 20% swing in probability of winning,' another claimed.

A third wrote 'Ronaldo let them go first even though first shooters win 71% of the time???????'

Previous research has indicated that teams that go first in international shootouts have a 20 per cent greater chance of winning.

The research was produced by a scientist who analysed 1,000 professional penalty kicks.

The swing it claimed to be due to shooting second placing players under greater pressure, making them more likely to miss their spot kick.

The gap, however, has reportedly reduced over recent years according to Geir Jordet, professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences.

Jordet, the author of the recently-published book, 'Pressure: Lessons from the Psychology of the Penalty Shoot-out' claimed ahead of Euro 2024 the balance between shooting first and second was almost even.

The study, covering men's competitions over an 11 year period, found teams shooting first during shootouts on 48.83 per cent of the time.