The rivalry between the two countries goes back to 1581, when King Henry of Portugal died with no heir, thus triggering a succession crisis, where the main claimants to the throne were Philip II of Spain and António, Prior of Crato.

The Portuguese, courtesy of their long-standing alliance, aligned themselves with Great Britain, while the Spaniards, through the Pacte de Famille, allied themselves to France.

In a game where both teams must win to qualify for the knockout stage, Portugal won the game 1-0 as half time substitute Nuno Gomes scored a goal from 20 yards, giving Portugal their first ever victory against Spain in a major tournament, eliminating Spain on goals scored, and handed the other knockout berth to Greece.

Spain dominated the game with a ball possession ratio of 62% and several opportunities, but had to endure a pair of missed chances by the Portuguese in the first half, including one by Hugo Almeida which nearly resulted in a goal.

The only goal of the match came on the 63rd minute: David Villa picked up a brilliant pass by Xavi, having his first shot saved, but then lifted the rebound into the roof of the net.

[13] In early minutes of first half, Spain missed an scoring opportunity as Álvaro Arbeloa shot a half-cleared ball by Bruno Alves just above the crossbar.

Halfway through first half Cristiano Ronaldo shot just waved past the Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas missing the goal by inches.

Ronaldo gave Portugal lead once again in 44th minute after Spanish keeper David de Gea was unable to handle the shot.

The first leg was played at Estadio Benito Villamarín on June 2 where the game ended 1–1, with Alvaro Morata of Spain and Ricardo Horta of Portugal scoring the goal in that match.

[19] The second leg was played at Estádio Municipal de Braga on September 27 in a game where both teams have to win to secure a spot in the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals.