Georgia is heading to the knockout rounds of Euro 2024 in its first major tournament appearance.
Georgia defeated Group F winners Portugal 2-0 on Wednesday to take third place in the group and a spot in the Round of 16. With wins in the first two matches of the tournament, Portugal rested seven players who were in those matches started. Players like Bruno Fernandes, Pepe, Rafael Leao and Joao Cancelo all started the match on the bench.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo started and the Portuguese were still major favourites. And they were not connected to Georgia for long.
Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the second minute to put Georgia 1-0 up. Georgia doubled their lead in the 57th minute after a penalty from Georges Mikautadze. The penalty was awarded after a lengthy video review that eventually awarded Georgia the penalty.
Georgia qualified for its first European Championship on penalties in a play-off match against Greece. Georgia drew Greece to a 0–0 draw with neither team scoring in extra time. However, Georgia won the shootout 4-2 to earn one of the final three spots in the 24-team tournament.
Georgia briefly looked like it could finish second in Group F, but Turkey scored late on to secure a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic. That was Turkey’s second win in the tournament and the country finished six points ahead of Georgia. Georgia scored four thanks to a draw against the Czech Republic.
Slovenia, the Netherlands and Slovakia are also making progress
With 24 teams in the tournament and 16 teams advancing to the knockout rounds, the top four third-place teams will advance to the Round of 16. The Netherlands and Slovakia, along with Georgia, also scored four points in group play, while Slovenia scored three points. Slovenia advanced ahead of Hungary on a neutral goal difference. Hungary had a goal difference of -3.
Georgia’s victory means that it will play against Spain on June 30, on the second day of the round of 16. The elimination games start on Saturday with Germany vs. Denmark and England vs. Slovakia.
The Netherlands plays against Romania and Slovenia against Portugal.
Romania won Group E on Wednesday with a draw against Belgium, while Ukraine drew with Slovakia. All four teams in that group finished with four points, but Romania and Belgium each had a goal difference of +1. Slovakia had a neutral goal difference and finished third, while Ukraine, with a goal difference of -2, became the first team to finish fourth in a Eurogroup with four points.
