Euro 2024: Georgia shocks Portugal to book Round 16th berth

It was David v Goliath affair as minnows Georgia defeated the much fancied Portugal 2-0. The group stage has experienced so many incredible moments but this one will go down as the best.

Ranked 74 in the world by FIFA, Georgia has never won any game at any major tournament as the night was a historic one for them.

Napoli forward Kvaratskhelia scored with just two minutes played to put Georgia ahead. 23-year-old impressive forward Georges Mikautadze laid the ball to Kvaratskhelia and he shot the it to the right bottom corner. It was an unbelievable moment for every Georgian as they got off to an incredible start.

As expected, Portugal took control and created the chances but failed to score. With 11 attempts on goal in the first half, the Selecao could have done better with their finishing.

Georgia ended the half with a 1-0 lead. Willy Sagnol’s Georgia has been fearless and bold in their opening two games and they were expected to continue with the same approach in the second half.

Kiteishvili won a penalty in the 58th minute after VAR intervened. Starman Georges Mikautadze duly converted it to double the minnow’s lead.

Georgia ended the game 2-0 to book their place in the Round 16.

Turkey lived it late to defeat 10 men Czechia 2-1 to finish second in the group. Fiorentina’s Antonin Barak got his marching orders in the 20th minute after receiving his second yellow card much to the disappointment of the Czech Republic fans.

With even a man down, Turkey struggled to break their opponents down as Czech looked solid amd well organised.

Hakan Cahanoglu got the opening goal in 51 minutes. Surprisingly, the unbreakable Czechia equalised through Thomas Souček in the 66th minute.

Czech refused to be beaten as they wanted to enjoy many more days in Germany. However, 33-year-old Cenk Tosun fired Turkey into a 2-1 lead in the 94th minute to send Czechia home as they did in Euro 2008.