These two nations provided the entertainment in the best game at Euro 2024 so far. Check out the best facts and do your own analysis with the Opta data on our Turkey vs Georgia stats page.
There was a lot of pressure on Arda Güler coming into Euro 2024. After a disastrous European Championship performance at the 2020 edition, Turkey were hoping that their teenage talent could be the cornerstone of their campaign this time around. His 65th-minute wonder strike to win this game provided evidence he could be just that.
After receiving the ball with his back to goal, Güler hit a powerful curling strike into the top corner from just under 30 yards out to win the game for Turkey in what was the best match of Euro 2024 so far. No game in these finals has provided as many shots (36) or shots on target (13), while all four goals were of top quality.
Güler’s goal meant that he became the youngest player to score on their debut appearance in the European Championship, and just the third teenager to do so overall after Ferenc Bene (for Hungary against Spain in 1964) and Cristiano Ronaldo (for Portugal against Greece in 2004).
Turkey had taken the lead via another of the goals of the tournament so far. After a cross was headed to the edge of the area by a Georgian defender, Turkey’s right-back Mert Müldür sent a rocket into the net past Giorgi Mamardashvili, who stood no chance. That was only Müldür’s second goal for his national side, and first since November 2021 versus Gibraltar.
Less than two minutes later, Kenan Yildiz thought he’d doubled their lead with Georgia in disarray at the back. However, Orkun Kökçü’s touch before the ball reached Yildiz meant that VAR deemed the scorer offside and the goal was disallowed. It was a stroke of luck that Georgia needed, as a 2-0 lead may have seen them fold – especially conceding twice in such a short space of time.
Georges Mikautadze enjoyed an excellent season in France, scoring 13 goals in 20 Ligue 1 games for Metz across 2024. We pinpointed him as one of our young players to watch at Euro 2024, and he showed why with a smart finish to equalise on 32 minutes.
Excellent work from Giorgi Kochorashvili on the right saw him twist and turn past Yildiz before sliding the ball to his striker, who slotted home first time with his right foot to score Georgia’s first ever goal in a major tournament.
Mikautadze’s goal changed the momentum of the game, with Turkey suddenly facing waves of Georgian attacks in the final 15 minutes of the first half. Giorgi Chakvetadze and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were at their menacing best on the break and Turkey would have been relieved to hear the half-time whistle.
While Georgia still posed a threat on the counter, Turkey wrestled back control of the match in the second half, with Güler’s goal the difference.
The talented Real Madrid youngster was at the heart of everything good for Turkey throughout the match. At 19 years and 114 days old, he became just the third teenager on record (since 1980) to create as many as five chances in a Euros match after Wayne Rooney and Pedri.
Georgia tried to force an equaliser late on, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t find it. With almost the last kick of the game and with Georgian goalkeeper Mamardashvili up for a corner, Kerem Aktürkoglu broke away from inside this own half to slot into an empty net to confirm all three points to Turkey.
Turkey provided entertainment at the last Euros, but not in a good way. Based on this evidence, 2024 will be very different.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Turkey vs Georgia stats from their Euro 2024 Group F clash at Westfalenstadion, Dortmund.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Turkey vs Georgia: Post-Match Facts
- Turkey’s Arda Güler (19y 114d) is the youngest player in the history of the UEFA European Championship to score on their first appearance, and just the third teenager to do so, after Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal against Greece in 2004 and Ferenc Bene for Hungary against Spain in 1964.
- Turkey have won their opening game of a UEFA European Championship finals for the first time, having lost each of their previous five such games.
- Each of the last three sides to compete in their first game at the UEFA European Championship finals – as an independent nation – have lost (North Macedonia in 2021, Serbia and Georgia in 2024) since Finland’s 1-0 win over Denmark in 2021.
- Turkey have won four of their six encounters with Georgia in all competitions (D1 L1), with this their first win in a competitive game against them since a 5-2 victory in a World Cup qualifier in March 2005.
- Arda Güler (19y 114d) is just the third teenager on record to create as many as five chances in a single game at the UEFA European Championship finals (since 1980), along with England’s Wayne Rooney against Croatia in 2004 (18y 241d) and Spain’s Pedri against Switzerland in 2021 (18y 219d).
- On what was his 25th cap for Turkey, Mert Müldür scored just his second international goal, and his first since November 2021 against Gibraltar.
- Georges Mikautadze, who scored Georgia’s first ever goal at the UEFA European Championship, has scored 10 goals in his 16 starts for the national team, while he’s scored in successive starts for the first time since June 2023.
- In Kenan Yildiz (19y 45d) and Arda Güler (19y 114d), Turkey became just the second nation at the UEFA European Championship to start two different teenagers in a game, after Hungary against Denmark in 1964 (Zoltán Varga and Ferenc Bene).
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.