Georgia stunned the soccer world on Wednesday at Euro 2024. By delivering a gigantic 2-0 win over Portugal in Gelsenkirchen, Georgia not just delivered a huge Group F upset over the heavily favoured Portuguese, they reached the round of 16 as well. To put Georgia’s win over Portugal into perspective, Portugal is ranked sixth in the world and Georgia is 74th. The 68 rank difference is the largest in Euro history where the lower seed beat the higher seed. The previous largest upset also came at Euro 2024 as the 48th ranked Slovakia beat the third ranked Belgium 1-0 in Frankfurt on June 17.
Who scored for Georgia?
The Georgian goal scorers were Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze. Kvaratskhelia scored the fifth earliest goal in European Soccer Championship history (the second minute), and Mikautadze scored in the 57th minute on a penalty. For Kvaratskhelia, who plays for Napoli in Serie A, it was his 16th international goal for Georgia in 33 games. Mikautadze, who plays for Metz in France, now has 13 goals in 28 games.
Who also advanced on Wednesday?
Turkey, Romania, Belgium, and Slovakia also moved on. Turkey defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in Hamburg on goals by Hakan Calhanoglu of Inter Milan, and Cenk Tosun of Besiktas. Calhanoglu and Tosun are both German natives. Calhanoglu scored in the 51st minute and Tosun scored in the 94th minute to break a -1 deadlock.
In Group E, Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine all head identical 1-1-1 records. On Wednesday, Ukraine and Belgium tied at zero in Stuttgart, and Slovakia and Romania tied at one in Frankfurt. When it came to goals for and against, Ukraine was eliminated as they were a -2. Romania and Belgium were both +1, while Slovakia was zero.
What are the round of 16 matches?
On June 29, Italy (1-1-1, second in Group B) plays Switzerland (1-0-2, second in Group A) in Berlin and Germany (2-0-1, first in Group A) plays Denmark (0-0-3, second in Group C) in Dortmund.
On June 30, England (1-0-2, first in Group C) plays Slovakia (1-1-1, third in Group E) in Gelsenkirchen, and Spain (3-0, first in Group B) plays Georgia (1-1-1, third in Group F) in Cologne.
On Canada Day, France (1-0-2, second in Group D) plays Belgium (1-1-1, second in Group E) in Dusseldorf, and Portugal (2-1, first in Group F) plays Slovenia (0-0-3, third in Group C) in Frankfurt.
Finally on July 2, Romania (1-1-1, first in Group E) plays Netherlands (1-1-1, third in Group D) in Munich, and Austria (2-1, first in Group D) plays Turkey (2-1, second in Group F) in Leipzig.
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