Georgia v Portugal LIVE: Latest score and updates as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia stuns Portuguese with early goal


(REUTERS)

Georgia will take on Portugal in the final round of games in Group F as they look to make the last 16 in their first ever major international tournament appearance.

Portugal have two wins from two after a narrow victory against the Czech Republic was followed by a surprisingly easy win against Turkey, and they are now waiting to see who they will face in the last 16.

But Georgia, the lowest-ranked team at Euro 2024, need to pull off the shock of the tournament if they are to get the three points they’ll likely need in order to qualify, with Turkey already on three points and the Czech Republic also on one.

However, with Portugal already assured of first place in the group, there’s no better time to face the Selecao, with Roberto Martinez potentially naming a much-changed side as he looks to rest key players.

Follow all the latest updates and reaction to Georgia v Portugal below, as well as any news from the match between the Czech Republic and Turkey:

1719428664

GOAL! Georgia 1-0 Portugal

GOAL! Unbelievable scenes in Gelsenkirchen!

The game starts with plenty of Portugal possession and they get too relaxed – it comes to Silva, who dwells on it before playing a pass backwards without looking. It goes straight to Mikautadze, who carries towards goal and slips it through to Kvaratskhelia on the left. He takes a touch before blasting a shot across Costa and into the far corner!

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 20:04

1719428446

KICK-OFF! Georgia 0-0 Portugal

The Selecao get us underway in Gelsenkirchen.

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 20:00

1719428170

Euro 2024: Georgia v Portugal

Both sides are out of the tunnel at the Arena AufSchalke, and the national anthems are almost underway.

Will Georgia be heading home tonight, or will they spring the shock of the tournament so far and beat a much-changed Portugal side?

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 19:56

1719427809

Euro 2024: Georgia v Portugal

Portugal are already through as group winners tonight.

Georgia could go through with a win, with the minnows able to finish as high as second if the other result tonight was to go their way.

(Getty Images)

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 19:50

1719427509

Euro 2024: Georgia v Portugal

Around 15 minutes until kick-off in Gelsenkirchen.

A reminder that you can watch tonight’s game live on ITV1.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 19:45

1719427209

Form guide

Georgia qualified for their first major tournament through the Nations League route, having finished fourth in their original qualifying group.

They beat Luxembourg 2-0 to reach a final play-off, and then beat Greece 4-2 on penalties to secure their spot at Euro 2024. They played won warm-up game before the competition – a friendly against Montenegro, which they won 3-1.

The minnows served up one of the games of the tournament in their opening clash with Turkey, though they went on to lose 3-1. They responded well though, drawing with the Czech Republic last time out.

Qualification was a lot more straightforward for Portugal, who finished top of their group with 10 wins from 10.

The Selecao played three warm-up games earlier this month, with a 2-1 loss to Croatia sandwiched between a 4-2 win over Finland and a 3-0 victory against Ireland.

They laboured to a narrow 2-1 win in their group opener against the Czech Republic, though their second game was far more traightforward as Turkey put in a poor performance and Portugal strolled to an easy 3-0 win.

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 19:40

1719426909

Head-to-head

Portugal and Georgia have only met once before, and that was in a friendly in 2008. A Portugal side containing Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Pepe and Ronaldo won 2-0 on the night, with goals coming from Joao Moutinho and Simao.

Tonight marks what could be Georgia’s final game in their first ever appearance at a major international tournament, though they would qualify for the last 16 if they were to win.

The tournament’s lowest-ranked side have won the hearts of many after valiant performances against Turkey and the Czech Republic, though they have faced more shots (49) and more shots on target (20) than any other side in the opening two group games.

Georges Mikautadze has two goals so far for the minnows, and he could become the third player to score his team’s first three goals at a European Championship, after Gerd Muller and Hristo Stoichkov.

For Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo could become the oldest player to score at the Euros if he scores tonight. Luka Modric currently holds that record after netting against Italy a few days ago!

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 19:35

1719426609

Turkey v Portugal player ratings as Bernardo Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo thrive in confident display

Here are the player ratings from Portugal’s win over with Turkey, with Silva, Ronaldo and Fernandes particularly impressive.

Rafael Leao and Nuno Mendes combined on the left to set up Bernardo Silva’s first European Championship goal before a calamitous back pass from Samet Akaydin doubled Portugal’s lead before half-time. Cristiano Ronaldo then came to the party in the second half with a fine run in behind to break the offside trap. He received the pass, took the ball into the box then slotted it across to Bruno Fernandes for Portugal’s third.

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 19:30

1719426309

Pitch invaders, lookalikes and a steward’s slide tackle: Ninety minutes in the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo

If it had been thought that the cult of Cristiano Ronaldo was diminishing, you only had to listen to the man who is notionally supposed to be his superior. Portugal manager Roberto Martinez was asked about Bruno Fernandes’ goal in the 56th minute against Turkey, which to most people looking on would have just been a striker squaring to his teammate for an easy finish; think Brian McClair to Paul Ince in the 1994 FA Cup final. The only notable thing about it was that someone as intensely obsessed with his own scoring record as Cristiano Ronaldo had actually passed the ball, but that kind of surprise wasn’t really the emotion that Martinez was conveying. He was going for more.

“It is fantastic to have Cristiano, who is an out-and-out goalscorer who lives for the goal and then he gets in front of the goalkeeper, and he looks for the pass to Bruno Fernandes. It is a pure moment of Portuguese football, that should be shown in every academy in the world, and that means more than any goal.”

It does, but not in the bizarre manner that Martinez intended. This entire occasion at Westfalonstadion – which in any normal situation would have simply been a convincing win from a team asserting themselves as one of the best at Euro 2024 – was instead a case study in uber fame.

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 19:25

1719426009

The Cristiano Ronaldo circus provokes a serious question over Portugal’s Euro 2024 hopes

Here’s the report from Portugal’s second game…

As one man took centre stage in a circus, a properly serious team got on with the business of convincingly winning football matches around him. Is this to be the story of Portugal at Euro 2024?

Perhaps it really is the sign of a new team that, as a goal stood at Cristiano Ronaldo’s mercy, he shockingly passed for another player to score. It wasn’t the only moment where he threw back the years. There was also the moment when he beat a defender with a step-over to cross, something he hasn’t actually done in maybe a decade.

For all that, such contributions were largely at the fringes of a game, which was already won by the Selecao’s more influential modern players, though there is no doubting the main event of Roberto Martinez’s side.

After Ronaldo had passed for Bruno Fernandes to make it 3-0 against Turkey and secure top spot in the group, all of the players ran to the provider rather than scorer, the 39-year-old’s arms aloft. The Portuguese crowd sang his name more than anyone else.

Even the Turkish crowd, who deafeningly booed every opposition player when the teams were read out, stopped to raucously cheer the No 7. It was maybe a sign of what was to come. For all the hysterical noise Turkey made, some of it on the pitch, they were all too easily quietened.

Chris Wilson26 June 2024 19:20



Source link

Leave a Comment