Why Portugal vs. France for Euro 2016 title will be a final for the ages

What a strange edition of the Euro it’s been.

It’s been weird. Like, 2002 World Cup weird. Euro 2004 weird, even.

Remember all that?

South Korea and Japan? When defending World Cup winner France went out in the group stage without scoring a single goal and Argentina didn’t make it through either? When South Korea beat Italy and then Spain to reach the semifinals? And Turkey did the same on the other side of the bracket – before they both fell to Germany and Brazil, respectively, by a single goal? When the United freaking States of America was robbed of a goal by Germany in the quarters, kept out with a handball, that might have sent it into the semis? That was nutty.

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But not as odd as when Greece somehow reeled off consecutive wins over France, the Czech Republic and the host country Portugal two years later to claim the Euro. Recall that? It remains the single-greatest upset in international soccer. The starless Greeks bunker-and-countering their way to one of the most unlikely titles in sports. Until the Leicester City thing happened in the Premier League last season, of course.

Then there was this Euro 2016, which will surely be remembered for being up there in these high regions of zaniness. Just imagine: The Netherlands – like in 2002 – didn’t even qualify, in spite of the expansion to 24 teams; unloved Italy outfoxed mighty Spain in the round of 16; Wales battered Belgium in the quarterfinals; Iceland – Iceland! – knocked out England; Portugal reached the final in spite of winning just one game in regulation, and not until the semifinals

If somebody were to look at the matchup for this Euro final, it’ll look unremarkable. Portugal vs. France, it’ll read. Ho-hum. The Germany-France semifinal didn’t raise any eyebrows, unlike the Portugal-Wales one. But all of that would mask an unusual series of occurrences, twisting and twirling turns of events.

So now one game remains and it could be a classic final.

Portugal was a strong outsider going into this tournament, albeit not a serious contender. Yes, it had the best player in the tournament in Cristiano Ronaldo. And while he isn’t what he was, he’s still great. An all-time great. As a striker now, rather than a winger. And Portugal figured out how to get the most out of him and fit the orange battering ram into a series of shifting game plans that ruthlessly expose their opponents’ weaknesses.

It took the Portuguese some time to get going, especially with Ronaldo swan-diving below his typically stratospheric standards. They tied all of their group stage games. Portugal only beat Croatia in extra time, the 117th minute in fact. They then vanquished Poland on penalties. Wales was trumped 2-0 with timid tactics, aimed at negating counter-attacks and hoping Ronaldo would do nifty stuff at the other end. He did, heading in the first goal and taking the shot that Nani deflected for the other.

France, the home side, was one of the teams to beat going into the tournament. But they started off disappointingly, needing a late Dimitri Payet wonder goal to even beat Romania in their opener. They went from disappointing to serviceable in a 2-0 win over Albania and a meaningless 0-0 tie with Switzerland; from serviceable to solid in a rollicking round of 16 second half in which they erased a deficit against Ireland; and then from solid to magnificent against Iceland in the quarterfinals, hammering the Vikings 5-2. Germany was perhaps the better team for most of their semifinal. But Les Bleus got a fortuitous – although correct – penalty kick and then capitalized on a series of defensive errors when Die Mannschaft was forced to press forward.

Slowly, the French grew into the tournament, as the eventual champions tend to do. Forward Antoine Griezmann arrived as a true star. The defense held up. Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud proved a tolerable replacement for suspended striker Karim Benzema, who was kicked off the team for assisting in the attempted blackmail of a teammate over a sex tape. Payet demonstrated that his West Ham form was no fluke. So did N’Golo Kante. Paul Pogba cemented his reputation as one of the best central midfielders in the game – at age 23. Fellow center mid Blaise Matuidi finally got some love. And maybe they’re all a dynasty in the making.

Somehow, this final will be made into a Ronaldo-versus-Messi thing. Since the former will get a second chance at winning a major trophy – after losing that 2004 final as a 19-year-old – something the latter has still not accomplished and probably won’t, since Messi announced his retirement from the Argentine national team.

And, sure, it’s a worthwhile subject.

But it would also obscure what promises to be a glorious game between teams that have been good and savvy and lucky – the holy trinity required for success at a major tournament such as this one. This first 24-team Euro has been imperfect. The group stage was more or less a wash, eliminating just a third of the field after 36 games. We could probably have done without the round of 16 as well – save for that Spain-Italy game.

Yet Sunday’s final should deliver. One of the greatest players the game has ever seen and a team perfectly calibrated to optimize his impact. Against one of the international game’s rising superpowers.

For the undisputed championship of Europe.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.