Defending champions Portugal have crashed out of the Euro 2020 tournament after they were beaten by Belgium at the round of 16 stage. Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates were on the receiving end of a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Belgium who are the number one ranked team in the world.

Belgium qualified for the round of 16 stage after winning all their three group games against Russia, Denmark and Finland to finish at the top of Group B. On their part, European champions Portugal were drawn in Group F alongside Euro 2020 tournament favourites France, Germany and Hungary and they went on to finish in third position with four points from their three group matches with Cristiano Ronaldo netting five times in those game. Portugal scored three times in the last six minutes to beat Hungary 3-0 in their opening game at the tournament before a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Germany preceded a 2-2 draw with world champions France in their last game in the group.With his five goals, Cristiano Ronaldo was able to set a new record for the most goals at the tournament. He has scored 14 goals in the history of the tournament.

In their last 16 encounter on Sunday night, Portugal suffered defeat to Belgium thanks to the strike from Borussia Dortmund winger Thorgan Hazard just before the half-time interval. Another Borussia Dortmund player in Raphael Guerriero came closest to scoring the equaliser for Portugal in the second half after his shot hit the post. Belgium thereafter held on to their slim lead to book a quarterfinal clash with Italy.

The reward for Belgium after beating Portugal is a last eight clash with the Italians for a place in the semi-finals. Italy had earlier sealed their place in the quarterfinals on Saturday after beating Austria 2-1 at the end of extra time.