From the get go, the Czech game plan was extremely obvious, sit back in a low block, frustrate Portugal and play out a draw, if they nick a goal following a successful counter-attack, that is a bonus.
And, that was almost how it played out.
Roberto Martinez's side launched a handful of promising attacks inside the first ten minutes with Cristiano Ronaldo coming the closest with a header wide of the post.
Portugal continued to probe the Czech backline, enjoying the majority of the possession. Following a counter-attack at pace, Bruno Fernandes swung in a dangerous low cross in from the right but Rafael Leao could not quite latch onto the cross.
Towards the end of the half, the Portugese began to open up the Czechia defence and Ronaldo found himself one vs one with Jindrich Stanek; however, the goalkeeper got the better of Portugal's top goalscorer.
Martinez's team went in at halftime in disbelief they were not leading in this game.
The second half began in much the same fashion but when Lukas Provod let fly from 25 yards to score an absolute screamer and open the scoring, it shocked the Portuguese into action.
Wave after wave of Portugal pressure finally told as it forced the Czech's into a silly error that produced a Robin Hranac own goal.
Substitute Francisco Conceicao sealed a narrow victory for one of the favourites to lift the trophy, when he fired past Stanek a couple of yards out from goal.
Here are the player ratings from the final game of matchday one.
Portugal
Diogo Costa - 5
Did not have to make any real saves. The Porto goalkeeper could not do anything about the goal, it was a superb strike.
Ruben Dias - 6
Only called into action defensively once or twice, the Manchester City defender was forced to put more emphasis on his offensive abilities this evening.
He put in a good cross in the second half.
Pepe - 6
Again, there was minimal for the veteran centre-back to actually do. However, the 41-year-old did win back possession on a few occasions to restart attacks.
Nuno Mendes - 8
Caused chaos down the left side for Czechia. Provided the width in attack, delivered a lot of crosses, and was not afraid to drive at the opposition backline either.
Very influential in the breaks at pace, the Paris Saint-Germain defender created the goal with his back-post header.
Diogo Dalot - 4
Succumbing to the Czech low-block, he found it particularly difficult to find a way through down the right side. He made a few crosses that came to nothing and had an attempt at goal that sailed over the bar.
Bruno Fernandes - 8
Constantly looking to create something when he got on the ball. He made an excellent line-breaking pass to get Bernardo Silva in behind on the right side, deserved an assist when he played through Ronaldo, who could only manage to hit the goalkeeper.
Vitinha - 9
Kept things ticking in the heart of the midfield, lots of quick forward passes, broke the line himself when he combined with Ronaldo, and tested Stanek from range.
Delivered the ball back-post for Mendes to head at Stanek and force the error.
A performance that was very pleasing on the eye.
Joao Cancelo - 5
Pivotal to Portugal in attack, he was looking to drift into the midfield and play almost like a No. 10 at points. His starting position was very high.
However, the efficiency of his crossing needed improving. The Barcelona full-back’s standout moment was a cute first time pass to slip Silva through on goal in the second half.
Bernardo Silva - 7
Involved in the build-up for the goal, Silva made the pass to Vitinha to cross to Mendes.
Caused the Czechia defence a lot of problems in and around the penalty area. Tested Stanek with a number of efforts and whipped across some mean crosses.
The main criticism for the Manchester City midfielder was his final ball, which was not very good tonight.
Despite his not so tender age of 39-years-old, Ronaldo remains Portugal's biggest threat. While, he squandered a header and one vs one in the first half, his movement to get into those positions and read the game was very impressive.
He demonstrated a great athletic ability to get on the end of several crosses from wide areas, and he tested the keeper from set pieces and open play.
In a match like that, his leadership was also vital.
Rafael Leao - 7
In the first quarter of an hour, Leao's sheering pace and lightning feet caused the Czechia defence all kinds of problems down the left. He kick-started two or three attacks.
Apart from coming narrowly close to latching onto a cross that went across the face of goal, he did very little after that - other than get booked in the 63rd minute.
Substitutes:
Diogo Jota - 7
Thought he scored the winner when his header found the back of the net, but it was ruled out owing to Ronaldo being in an offside position.
Got into some good positions in and around the box, injecting a bit of energy into a tiring Portuguese team.
Goncalo Inacio - 5
Came on for Dalot in the 63rd minute, but did little of note.
Nelson Semedo - 4
Introduced too late on to make an impact
Pedro Neto - 7
Despite coming on in the final minute of normal time, it was his break down the left that lead to the winner.
It was a case of right place at the right time for Conceicao, as his tap-in sealed victory for Portugal.
Czechia
Jindrich Stanek - 5
Stanek made a good save to deny Ronaldo from close range in the closing stages of the first half, but he should have done better with the goal.
Vitinha delivered to the back post, it was headed down by Mendes, and the goalkeeper pushed it into the path of Hranac, who could not react in time. He needed to hold it.
Vladimir Coufal - 7
Had an extremely tough job dealing with Cancelo and Leao in the first half, yet he did a fine job. With players of that quality, they will always get chances but the wing-back worked well with Tomas Holes to keep it as tight as possible.
He even found some space on the overlap down the right to cross for Patrik Schick, who could not connect from six yards out.
Elements of complacency crept into his performance in the second half, he put his team in danger when he was dispossessed by Silva and shot at goal.
Responsible for the Czech goal, cutting back and teeing up Provod.
Tomas Holes - 6
Worked together with Coufal to nullify the Portuguese threat for the most part. Dealt with wave after wave of crosses from the wide areas, and made several ball recoveries to relieve the pressure.
Robin Hranac - 6
He could do nothing about the own goal. Stanek parried at the feet of Hranac, who could not evade the ball as it rebounded off him and into the empty net.
The heart of a resolute back three that were only penetrated thanks to two self-inflicted errors.
Ladislav Krejci - 6
Isolated and targeted by Portugal at times throughout the game, defended well and deserves praise for a good performance under extreme pressure.
David Doudera - 7
Provided some excellent demonstrations of extremely calm defending, the highlight being a wonderful chest down from a left-wing cross for his keeper to collect.
Chased what seemed to be a lost cause down the left, which would eventually lead to the Czechia goal.
Pavel Sulc - 4
Very little influence on the game, spending the evening chasing shadows and being pretty non existent.
Struggled to keep up with the pace of the match and looked bloated when substituted.
Tomas Soucek - 8
Despite a clumsy challenge on Fernandes, coming through the back of the midfielder when contesting a high ball, the West Ham player was a pivotal part of the Czech resistance for 70 minutes.
Not only that, he also broke up play a few times, even starting a counter-attack in the opening stages of the second half.
Frustrated the Portuguese with some professional pauses throughout the game to break up the momentum Portugal had been building.
Also dragged a tired shot wide of goal.
Lukas Provod - 8
Scored a screamer from absolutely nowhere. Received the pass from Coufal and took a touch before guiding the ball across Costa and into the far corner. It was Czechia’s first shot on target.
Patrik Schick - 3
Neat combination play with Soucek at the beginning of the match tricked the Czech faithful into thinking they were going to play on the front foot, however, it was downhill from there for Schick.
Whenever you are part of a team that plays in a low block it is vital the forward players are efficient in possession in the final third, but the Bayer Leverkusen striker gave the ball away on a couple of occasions.
He was also booked and justifiably withdrawn from the game after 60 minutes.
Jan Kuchta - 3
Received no service for the time he was on the pitch, isolated up front, even when attacking Schick could not pick out a pass to bring his partner into the match.
Substitute s:
Ondrej Lingr - 6
Already posed more of a threat than Kuchta within two minutes of coming on.
Mojmar Chytil - 6
Partnered Lingr and was doing his best to disrupt the Portuguese backline, moving the ball quickly and trying to pick up threatening positions.
Antonin Barak - 6
Entered proceedings with intent, improved the tempo and intensity of the Czech midfield. He was very tenacious and won the ball back a few times to turn over possession.
Petr Sevcik - 4
Failed to have the impact of Provod, who he replaced.
Tomas Chory - 3
Introduced too late on to make a difference.
