What makes a European Championship-winning side? In this whirlwind of a tournament – only expanded from eight teams to 16 for the first time as recently as 1996 – it’s often not the strongest side that wins, or even the one in the best form. So what were France and Portugal going into their semi-final in Brussels?

A cursory glance at the team sheets told us the significance of the match, even for a semi-final. Two sides stacked with established, burgeoning and in some cases under-appreciated world behemoths would be under pressure to deliver the moments that defined an era for their countries – and that, perhaps, defined their own careers too.

For Portugal, it was the moment for the Golden Generation to make good its promise. It had been heralded after the under-20 team won successive World Cups, in 1989 and 1991. The second victory was especially portentous; the tournament had been held in Portugal itself, and while Fernando Couto and João Vieira Pinto had appeared in ’89, a whole nucleus of glittering promise had shot around them two years later. Coach Carlos Queiroz had Luís Figo, Rui Costa, Jorge Costa and Capucho at his disposal. The under-20s retained their title against Brazil, in a final attended by an astonishing 127,000 people in the old Estádio da Luz. Six of that side were in Humberto Coelho’s Euro 2000 pick.

France’s pedigree wasn’t a secret or a connoisseur’s spot. The world champions may have surprised with the authoritative manner in which they garnered that title, brushing Brazil aside, also on their own patch, in a delirious Stade de France back in July 1998. The delivery of the victory, via a pair of emphatic headers by their midfield muse Zinedine Zidane, had revealed a decisiveness as powerful as an élan which was even more burgeoning by the time they reached Belgium and the Netherlands.

Aimé Jacquet, so frequently vilified as coach, had left vindicated, but his successor Roger Lemerre had even greater riches at his disposal. While Jacquet’s 1998 side never found its perfect 9, France now had striking options galore at its disposal. Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet had matured, the former recovered from an unsatisfying spell at Juventus with Arsenal, and the latter having topped 20 league goals in a season for the first time en route to the French title with Monaco. Meanwhile Nicolas Anelka had ended a trying first season at Real Madrid in triumph, with a Champions League win. Bordeaux’s Sylvain Wltord was another capable option.

Still, it was Portugal that had made short work of their route to the Stade King Badouin. Coelho’s men cantered to first place in Group A, coming back from two down to beat England and winning against Romania, before trouncing an uncommonly-poor Germany side in the final fixture. A pair of Nuno Gomes goals made short work of Turkey in their Amsterdam quarter-final.

Defeat for Lemerre’s side in the final game of Group D, 3-2 to the Netherlands, had given them a potentially much-trickier path to the final, however. The coach might well have had cause to regret his approach; France led twice against the Dutch, via Christophe Dugarry and Wiltord, with an almost-entirely second-string side, led by stand-in skipper Marcel Desailly.

Frank Rijkaard’s Netherlands had been at full strength, and you could understand his reasoning – not just in terms of finishing top of the group, but in maintaining momentum, an especially crucial element in such a short-form competition.

So while a stylish France were sweating through a tight quarter-final against Spain in Bruges, Rijkaard and company were at home in Rotterdam hammering hapless Yugoslavia 6-1, which included a Patrick Kluivert hat-trick. Zidane shone again, but after Youri Djorkaeff had given France the lead, only a desperate penalty miss by the magnificent Raúl in the closing stages had spared Lemerre’s men extra-time.

With both sides weighed with the baggage of destiny in Brussels, the semi-final opened in a fractious, foul-ridden expulsion of nerves, as Portuguese and French alike faced up to the responsibility yawning in front of them. It spread all over the pitch; Rui Costa fouled Thierry Henry, and was then hacked down himself by Lilian Thuram, before the French full-back was scythed over by Dimas.

Yet the splintered pattern of play suited Portugal more than it did France; a curious twist to events, perhaps, given the considerable muscle in Lemerre’s midfield, compared to the silkiness of their counterparts. The pressing of Coelho’s side rendered France imprecise, and Fabien Barthez charged from his goal to slice away a couple of unconvincing clearances.

France could at least dig in. Henry, despite being switched into the centre for his new club, retained the ability to stretch play on both sides for France, and when he threatened to carve Portugal open down the left, only a brutal – and illegal – intervention by his Premier League rival, Everton’s Abel Xavier, stopped him closing on goal.

But Portugal were ready to fight fire with fire. As the quarter-hour mark approached, Zidane was pickpocketed by Costinha, who narrowly failed to slip in Gomes. Portugal’s striker didn’t have to wait long for his next chance though. After Didier Deschamps had fired France’s first effort on target straight at Vitor Baia, Les Bleus’ captain was badly caught out in the 19th minute. Sergio Conceição picked the dawdling Deschamps’ pocket some 25 yards from goal, and toed the ball towards Gomes, who spun to fire a sumptuous left-footer past Barthez and into the corner. It was Portugal’s first shot on target, and how they had made it count.

Figo and Rui Costa showed the appetite to go for the jugular at once. The Barcelona man burst past Laurent Blanc, only to see his shot deflect up kindly into Barthez’s arms. Then Rui Costa’s super step-over took the centre-back out again, but he hit his shot into the side-netting.

On the touchline, even the generally inscrutable Lemerre betrayed a hint of concern. His team looked lethargic. Zidane was the one exception, with his first starry burst taking him past three before he fed Henry, whose firm shot was deflected over the top. But when Zidane next broke free, he lifted his head dismayed to find only Anelka in support. With Portugal leading at the interval, Lemerre had work to do.

If the coach’s influence was often diminished in popular wisdom, it was because of the extraordinary personality of his players. The French gait, as they emerged for the second period, made it clear that they meant to wrest back control of the match. Thuram sought Anelka on the right. The number 9 and headed for the byeline, spun away from Vidigal and sent the ball towards Henry in the middle. Henry’s first touch took him away from Jorge Costa and Couto, and gave him the room to drive past Baia and into the corner, levelling the match.

In subsequent years, Thuram described his brace against Croatia in the 1998 World Cup semi-final - his only two goals for his country – as “my Miles Davis moment”, but that shouldn’t diminish the attacking influence that he so frequently brought to bear. He surged forward again here, sending a super pass in behind Jorge Costa towards Anelka. The central defender pushed the striker to the ground, escaping with just a yellow card with the suspicion Anelka’s run was taking him wide. Costa, alongside the immaculate Couto, was performing admirably, but was being stretched to the very limit of his physical capacities.

That could be said for this Portugal side as a whole. Couto lunged full-length to block another Anelka cross after he was freed by Zidane’s next run. Zizou then curled a beautiful cross just beyond Anelka’s attempted diving header, and Baia brilliantly tipped around Emmanuel Petit’s left-foot piledriver as France pushed hard.

Yet Portugal stayed strong. As the 90th minute began, Xavier hammered a header goal-bound from Figo’s beautiful free-kick delivery, but Barthez leapt to tip over. These two wholehearted side faced extra-time after a wonderfully intense 90 minutes, which featured 43 fouls and not a single offside, underlining the influence of both sides’ midfield runners on the match.

One of those, looking fresh as a daisy, intended to bend the occasion to his will. Zidane was omnipresent, heading over from substitute Robert Pirès’ cross, then dribbling through Portugal again, into the area where he was blocked off desperately by a combination of Baia and Jorge Costa.

It was draining, with the high physical engagement of the match compounded by the tension of knowing that one slip would finish it, with the Golden Goal rule in place. At half-time in the supplementary period, there was a real lull in the crowd, as even the indefatigable Vieira showed the strain, emptying a bottle of water over his panting head.

João Vieira Pinto was the first to fail, picking up a caution for a late challenge on Thuram that would keep him out of a prospective final. Yet, in the spirit of this titanic struggle Pinto sprung straight back, accelerating past Vieira and Deschamps and driving narrowly wide of Barthez’s far post.

The end-to-end pace refused to abate. Zidane dribbled past four and looked to send Wiltord in, but substitute Rui Jorge heroically dived to clear. Then, in the 117th minute, came the moment that defined the game – and that for Portugal, defined the tournament. Wiltord played in Trezeguet. Baia bravely blocked, before the Bordeaux striker’s follow-up hit Xavier’s left-hand on the line.

It was a blur, all done in the blink of an eye. Guided by his assistant Igor Sramka, referee Günter Benko pointed to the spot, and all hell broke loose. Xavier, Gomes and an especially belligerent Pinto surrounded Sramka, while the noble Couto tried to drag his team-mates away. Figo tore off his shirt in disgust. The potential finality of the Golden Goal made such a decision even more pivotal, and Portugal couldn’t cope. Xavier had certainly left his hand by his side, and so a tight, but right decision had been reached. Yet the speed of the action balance of probability suggested it had been done by the means of at least partial guesswork; hardly a satisfactory conclusion.

And a conclusion it was. Zidane stepped up to nervelessly smash his penalty kick into Baia’s top right-hand corner, sending the Porto goalkeeper the wrong way, and to send France into the final.

The ramifications were extensive for Portugal, with Gomes, Bento and poor Xavier all heavily disciplined, and given international (and European club competition) bans of eight, six and nine months respectively. Quite how the combustible Pinto escaped sanction is puzzling. Xavier, whose involvement in the fracas appeared minimal, complained it did “great damage” to his career, costing him a move from Everton, but there were no such problems for Gomes, who left Benfica after Fiorentina coughed up a near-€17m fee. Meanwhile Figo walked out of one storm headlong into another, abdicating his position as crown prince of the Camp Nou to become Florentino Pérez’s first galáctico at Real Madrid.

France went on to fulfil their destiny, in even more dramatic fashion against Italy in the Rotterdam final. Zidane would have more triumphs to come, but Euro 2000 is a fitting and enduring pinnacle of a truly great era for him, and for France.