PARIS — Among the 90,000 soccer fans watching the final of the European Championships on huge screens set up in front of the Eiffel Tower, it was Portugal’s supporters who were jumping in jubilation at the end, as their team won, 1-0.

The French were subdued. But while it would have been better to win, many there said that the soccer tournament, which was held in France, had been a rare moment of unity in a divisive time and that they could be proud of making it to the final.

“Only soccer can do this,” said Amir Hallouz, 20, who had come from the Paris suburb of Colombes with a group of friends to watch the game. “It brings everyone together.”

Mr. Hallouz gestured at the crowd of people: They were white and black, a few were Asian and some were Arab. But they were all speaking French, a reminder of just how international the country is. Many had come in mixed groups, refuting the frequent image in the media that there is a white France and a nonwhite France, and that the two are separate.