Georgia booked a place in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 in its debut at a major tournament, with a 2-0 victory over Portugal on Wednesday in the biggest upset according to FIFA rankings in Euro history.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's early goal and a Georges Mikautadze penalty gave Georgia, ranked 74th in the FIFA rankings, victory over already qualified Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal is ranked sixth in the world and was European champion in 2016.
Slovakia's victory (48th) over Belgium (3rd) earlier in this tournament previously held the distinction of biggest upset.
The victory, albeit against Portugal, which had already advanced to the next round, also represented Georgia's best result since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Georgia, coming off a disappointing fourth place in its Euro qualifying group, had to take a circuitous route to Germany, first winning its group in the less glamorous UEFA Nations League tournament and then defeating Greece in a playoff
But there was nothing unearned about the way coach Willy Sagnol, a former Bayern Munich and France defender, and his team claimed a third-place finish in the tournament's Group F and set up a round of 16 meeting with three-time winners Spain. of the Eurocup.
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When the two teams met last September in qualifying for the tournament in Germany, Spain beat Georgia 7-1 in Tbilisi.
Georgia's victory also means England will face Slovakia, Romania will face the Netherlands and Portugal will face Slovenia in the round of 16. Hungary, which had been competing for a place in the next round, was eliminated.
In the other Group F match on Wednesday, Turkey booked their place in the round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over a 10-man Czech Republic, who now return home.
Georgia, the tournament debutants, took the lead in the second minute when Napoli winger Kvaratskhelia ran away after a careless pass from António Silva and fired a low shot past Diogo Costa in the Portugal goal.
Ronaldo, one of only three Portugal starters who also played in the 3-0 win over Turkey on Saturday, stretched and toiled for every ball as he sought to become the oldest goalscorer in a European Championship at the age of 39. years.
But Georgia defended as if its life depended on it and sought to catch up with Portugal on the counterattack. In the 53rd minute, Silva compounded his previous mistake by committing a foul in the area that was awarded as a penalty after a VAR check.
Mikautadze, who had set up Kvaratskhelia to open the scoring early on, directed his penalty past Costa, making him Euro 2024's top scorer so far with three goals.
Ronaldo was booked in the first half for arguing and showed frustration when he was substituted after the break, kicking a water bottle. It is the first time in his long career that he has failed to score in the group stage of a major international tournament.
Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili made late saves to keep Portugal at bay, and at the end of the match the rest of the team and coaching staff ran onto the field to jump and dance in front of their fans.
The celebrations were fully deserved. Georgia came close to drawing with Turkey, but lost 3-1 in their first match and missed a great opportunity to beat Czechia a few days later in a 1-1 draw, leaving them perilously close to elimination, until Wednesday's historic night in Gelsenkirchen.
Information from Reuters and ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
