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The captain was forced from the field with a knee injury in the first half but returned to the touchline to watch Eder's dramatic late winner Cristiano/Twitter Homeward bound! The Portugal team celebrate on the plane Cristiano Ronaldo  and  Portugal  are jetting home following their stunning  Euro 2016 triumph. The captain was left in tears as  he left the final on a stretcher just 24 minutes into the game after suffering a knee injury. But he later returned to the touchline to encourage his team-mates through the rest of the match, as they stunned host nation France with Eder's late goal to claim the trophy. And Ronaldo posted pictures on his social media accounts this morning as he and his teammates head home to Lisbon and what are expected to be spectacular scenes. Speaking after the game on Sunday evening Ronaldo revealed just how much finally achieving success with his national team meant to him. "No one believed in us," he sa...

 Against Hungary Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score at four consecutive Euros and a recorded 17th appearance at the tournament Photograph: Robert Ghement/EPA O ne microphone in a lake, one rescue act, two European Championship records and one press conference that showed where the balance of power lies between himself and Uefa; another day in the life of Cristiano Ronaldo. Or, as the man himself put it when asked about becoming the first player to score at four consecutive Euros and a record 17th appearance at the tournament: “That comes naturally.” State-of-mind stories gained credence when footage emerged of Ronaldo taking a television reporter’s microphone and throwing it into a lake during the team’s pre-match stroll in Lyon. Moody or not, his reaction against Bernd Storck’s emerging team was outstanding as he spared Portugal the ignominy of an early exit with two goals and one assist. Hungary were equally impressive, and the ease with which they tr...

There are more people in Topeka, Kansas than in Iceland, and yet the frozen rock on top of the world has produced a country that's playing with the world's best in the European Championships. Their underdog story is longer than 90 minutes. Iceland tied Portugal in their Euro 2016 debut, but let's be honest. Iceland beat Portugal. Portugal has the eighth-best team in the world, per the latest FIFA rankings, and they have the world's highest-paid player, Cristiano Ronaldo. Iceland has the 175th-biggest population, 1/30th as large as Portugal. Portugal's capital, Lisbon, has 200,000 more residents than the whole of Iceland. This month, 27,000 Icelandic fans, or roughly 8 percent of the nation's population, made their way to Saint-Etiennefor the game against Portugal, where they went nuts for their tiny nation's proud team. Iceland's goalkeeper works as a music video director. One of their coaches is a dentist. And yet Iceland held str...

Off we go: The Stade De France gets ready for the opening ceremony of Euro 2016 The start of  Euro 2016  is so close you can almost touch it. That's right, after months of waiting, the action gets going in Paris tonight, when France take on Romania at the Stade de France. The hosts are favourites to lift the crown on home soil and feature a squad packed with talent, but they face plenty of competition if they are to add a third European Championship title to their list of honours. But before the action gets underway, we have an opening ceremony to contend with. Plenty of pre-match razzle-dazzle will be on display - but who will be leading the cheers? Here's all you need to know. When does it take place? The opening ceremony takes place before  France  take on Romania in the tournament's first match on Friday 11 June. LIVE:   Follow all the build-up ahead of the big kick-off here Gallery: The Stade de France gets ready for the opening cere...