EURO 2024: Georgia upsets Portugal to enter Round-of-16
Georgia booked a spot in the Round-of-16 of EURO 2024 after scoring a 2-0 upset win over Portugal on Wednesday.
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Georgia upsets Portugal in EURO 2024
Georgia pulled off the biggest upset by FIFA rankings in European Championship history.
Ranked 74th, Georgia stunned the sixth-best Portugal, which also featured Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting lineup.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia kicked off the match with an early goal, striking a low shot past Diogo Costa in the 2nd minute.
The Napoli forward’s goal came from a careless pass by Antonio Silva, who would commit another error after the break.
This time, Silva committed a foul in the box that was awarded as a penalty after a VAR check.
Georges Mikautadze, who assisted Kvaratskhelia to open the scoring column, converted his penalty kick in the 53rd minute.
Mikautadze’s free kick made him the top scorer at Euro 2024 so far with three goals.
Portugal employed most of their second unit inside the pitch, and only left three starters.
Georgia made sure to frustrate Portugal, especially Ronaldo, as the Al-Nassr star failed to score for the first time in the group stage of a major international tournament.
Ronaldo, who became the first European in history to make 50 appearances at major tournaments, received a yellow card for arguing.
Round-of-16 now complete
Georgia made their major tournament debut count by securing a spot in the Round-of-16.
Willy Sagnol’s side will now take on Spain, who remains undefeated in EURO 2024.
Meanwhile, Portugal already qualified in the last 16 before their last Group F match.
With Georgia’s win, Portugal will face Slovenia in the Round of 16, England will match up against Slovakia, and Romania will take on the Netherlands.
EURO 2024 HIGHLIGHTS
- Germany outclass Scotland in 5-1 opening fixture
- EURO 2024 RESULT – SWITZERLAND EDGED HUNGARY IN THE OPENING GROUP GAME
- EURO 2024: BELLINGHAM HEADER LIFTS ENGLAND PAST SERBIA
- EURO 2024: SLOVENIA SPOIL ERIKSEN MOMENT FOR DENMARK
- WEGHORST SALVAGES NETHERLANDS VS POLAND
- ITALY HUMBLES ALBANIA DESPITE YIELDING QUICK GOAL
- SLOVAKIA STUNS BELGIUM AFTER LUKAKU GOALS RULED OUT
- WOBER OWN GOAL LIFTS FRANCE TO WIN AMID MBAPPE INJURY
- EURO 2024: PORTUGAL THUMPS TURKEY AMID RONALDO SELFIE CHAOS
- EURO 2024: SPAIN BEATS ALBANIA TO FINISH PERFECT IN GROUP B
- EURO 2024: ENGLAND TOPS GROUP C DESPITE 0-0 DRAW WITH SLOVENIA
- EURO 2024: DENMARK REACHES ROUND-OF-16 AFTER DRAW WITH SERBIA
Embracing underdog mentality
Sagnol embraced their underdog mentality, stating that he has no expectations from his squad other than to fight.
Nonetheless, the French coach knows that Georgia made the entire nation proud with their gutsy performance.
“When you’re the small team, you know you have nothing to lose,” he said. “The only thing we said before the competition is whatever happened, we don’t want any regrets after the competition, the regret of maybe not having played our football or maybe not having enjoyed the competition as much as we should have done.”
“So, you have no weight on your shoulders. It’s difficult when you’re France, when you’re England, when you’re Spain, when you’re Portugal, because you’re under pressure, because people expect you to win.”
“The only responsibility we had was to make the Georgian nation proud of their players. And I think we’ve done it the best way.”
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