Thorgan Hazard’s strike allowed Belgium to surpass the defending champion and reach the quarter-finals, where they will face Italy.

Defending champion Portugal was eliminated from the 2020 European Cup in a 1-0 loss to Belgium on Sunday. Belgium will face Italy in the quarterfinals next.

The strike of Thorgan Hazard in the 43rd minute won Roberto Martinez’s team, who underwent huge pressure from the Portuguese in the second half.

But due to the lack of a finishing touch, Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese team that won in Paris five years ago have come to an end.

Portugal had an eye-catching start, and Diogo Jota wasted a great opportunity in the sixth minute. After Renato Sanchez broke through from midfield and found him in a promising position on the left, his shot went wide.

As Fernando Santos’s team continued to exert pressure, Ronaldo then tested the Belgian goalkeeper Thibo Courtois with a low free kick.

But Belgium entered the game as Kevin De Bruyne became more and more influential, and they took the lead three minutes before the intermission.

Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to the loss of the European Cup in the round of 16 against Belgium [Thanassis Stavrakis/Pool via AFP]

A clever passing action ended with Thomas Munier feeding Hazard, who turned evilly and shot past Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio with a messy foot.

After three minutes of intermission, De Bruyne limped away due to injury. Belgium suffered a blow. Santos tried to bring in Bruno Fernandez and João Felix from the bench to attack his team. Energize.

Ronaldo cut from the right and found Jota in the penalty area, but as Belgium is trying to contain the opponent, the forward’s efforts once again deviated from the target.

Belgium made fewer and fewer counterattacks, and Portugal was eager to equalize in the last 10 minutes.

Courtois hit a thunderous Ruben Dias header from a corner kick, and then Rafael Guerrero scored the first goal from the edge of the penalty area.

In stoppage time, Portugal created the last chance, but Felix’s shot flashed past Courtois’ right post.

Belgium will face Italy Beat Austria 2-1 on Saturday, July 2nd in Munich. The Italian has remained unbeaten in the past 31 games.

Axel Witsel of Belgium celebrates after the game [Alexander Hassenstein/Pool via Reuters]