Squawka
·26 June 2024
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Yahoo sportsSquawka
·26 June 2024
Georgia have impressed at Euro 2024 and secured their route into the knock-out stages with a famous win over Portugal. What are their remaining fixtures and potential route to the final?
Group F has given Georgia an interesting debut on the major international tournament scene, sitting alongside Portugal, Turkey and the Czech Republic. After a thrilling encounter with Turkey eventually resulted in a 3-1 defeat, qualification seemed unlikely – and even less so after a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic on Matchday Two. However, goals from Georges Mikautadze and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia handed Willy Sagnol’s men a famous win over Portugal in their final group game, securing a route through to the knock-out stages as one of the best third-placed teams.
Just how far can these underestimated debutants go this summer?
Georgia’s start to the tournament couldn’t have gone much worse as they succumbed to a 3-1 defeat to Turkey despite creating plenty of chances in Dortmund. Arda Guler’s wonderful strike put the Crescent-Stars ahead before Kerem Akturkoglu finished the game off on the counter-attack in the final seconds.
It seemed as though any realistic chances of Georgia reaching the knock-out stages were ended in Hamburg on Matchday Two as they played out a 1-1 draw with Czech Republic. A Georges Mikautadze penalty gave the Crusaders the lead just before half-time only for Patrick Shick to level things up after the break.
Surely the greatest night in Georgian football history occurred in Gelsenkirchen on Matchday Three when the Crusaders shocked the odds to beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal 2-0. Khvicha Kvaratshkelia fired his team into an early lead with a well taken goal before Georges Mikautadze’s penalty put the seal on things and sent Georgia into the knock-out stages against the odds.
Getting to the knock-out stages is already a remarkable achievement for Georgia who are playing in their first ever major tournament, so expectations will be low going into the Round of 16 game against Spain, who were the only team to win all three group stage games. The Crusaders will need to learn from their mistakes in qualifying though as they were beaten home and away by Spain, conceding 10 goals and managing just two in reply.