At the beginning of the tournament, France would have seen winning the Euro 2016 title on home soil as their destiny. Having done so well to reach the final, only one team – Portugal – led by one man – Cristiano Ronaldo -- stand in their way to achieving the ultimate glory.
Get the live blog of the Euro 2016 final HERE
After a bit of a nervous start to their Euro 2016 campaign – remember that brilliant individual performance from Dimitri Payet, who won his team the match with a sumptuous late goal? – France have looked a different team once the knockout stages have begun.
Get the live streaming information of the Euro 2016 final HERE
Against the Republic of Ireland, they put on a wonderful attacking show in the second half, before Iceland were handed a beating by the marauding Les Bleus. Germany were then taught the difference between efficiency and dominance in the semifinal, leading to this final match, the match that everyone – well, at least the home support -- wanted to see France in.
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"Sunday will not be a normal day, even if we want it to be," France midfielder Blaise Matuidi told reporters. "The final of the European Championships will be an exceptional moment for us and we have to make the most of it.
"We have to say to ourselves that this is the final step to climb. We want to be full of joy at 11 o'clock or midnight ... I'm not going to hide it, I am tired. But I'm excited and happy the match is coming round so quickly. Waiting a week for it would have been difficult."
While France have impressed with their attacking football, Portugal have found a way to carve out the results necessary to keep them in the tournament. After two difficult outings against Croatia and Poland in the last 16 and quarterfinals respectively, Portugal finally found something resembling attacking style in the semifinal, when goals from Ronaldo and Nani ended Wales' brilliant Euro 2016 run.
Nani and Ronaldo have netted six of the eight goals Portugal have scored in the tournament – France have 13 goals in Euro 2016, which just goes to show how much the Portuguese have struggled in front of goal – and, therefore, it goes without saying how important the front two are for their team.
Both the forwards had solid games against Wales, with Ronaldo, in particular, coming up with the goal when Portugal desperately needed it. The Real Madrid superstar will again be Portugal's go-to man, and if he can deliver, then a lot of French hearts could end up being broken.
Euro 2016 final schedule: France vs Portugal.
Date: Sunday, July 10.
Time: 9 p.m. local time (12.30 a.m. IST, 8 p.m. BST, 3 p.m. ET).
Venue: Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
TV listings: India: Sony Six/HD and Sony ESPN/HD. Portugal: RTP1 and Sport TV1. France: TF1 and Bein Sports 1. UK and Ireland: BBC One. USA: ESPN. Canada: TSN and RDS. Australia: Bein Sports Australia 1. Latin America: DirecTV Sports. Germany: SRF, ARD and ORF1. China and Hong Kong: CCTV and LeTV. Middle East and North Africa: Bein Max 1, 2 and 3.Singapore: Eleven Singapore, ABS-CBN and Singtel. Malaysia: Astro SuperSport.Thailand: Channel 3 and CTH. South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa: SuperSport.
