Georgia stunned Group F winners Portugal to reach the last 16 of Euro 2024. Check out the best facts, stats and Opta data with our Georgia vs Portugal stats page.
For many, Georgia will have been seen as little more than the likely also-rans of Euro 2024 coming into the tournament. A point and a couple of praiseworthy performances later, they’d probably graduated to ‘plucky underdogs’ – but surely no one saw this coming?
Needing to beat the star-studded Portugal on Matchday 3 to make it through to the knockouts, it’s fair to say their chances of continuing in Germany looked minimal. Even a point would have earned them more plaudits regardless of them going home early.
And yet, their key players stood up like never before, their 2-0 win over Portugal taking the tournament debutants through to the last 16, making it their first ever qualification for the knockout stages of a major international tournament as an independent nation.
It’s a remarkable achievement considering they were actually quite poor in qualifying and only made it to the tournament by virtue of their performances in the UEFA Nations League and subsequent success in the play-offs.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Georges Mikautadze and Giorgi Chakvetadze were the chief architects of Wednesday’s success in Gelsenkirchen, and whatever happens next, they and their teammates will have firmly stamped their names into Georgian football history on a memorable night.
Portugal’s confirmed status as group winners even before a ball was kicked unsurprisingly led to almost wholesale changes from coach Roberto Martínez – obviously Cristiano Ronaldo managed to retain his place, though, and this was still a very talented group of players that Georgia defeated.
Had Ronaldo not played, Portugal might have named their youngest ever European Championship starting XI considering this was their second youngest (25 years, 328 days). With João Neves (19y 273d), Francisco Conceição (21y 195d), Gonçalo Inácio (22y 298d) and António Silva (20y 240) all in the lineup, this was the first time in Euros history that they’d named four or more players under the age of 23 from the start.
But it was one of those young players who gifted Georgia an early lead. Silva’s careless wayward pass just inside his own half went straight to Mikautadze, who weighted his through ball for Kvaratskhelia perfectly, and the Napoli star swept home left-footed into the bottom-right corner with just 92 seconds played.
The fifth-fastest Euros goal ever, the bulging of the net was greeted with an almighty noise that reflected Georgia’s proximity to what would be the greatest achievement in their footballing history: reaching the last 16 of the European Championship.
Fitting then that it was produced by talisman Kvaratskhelia and Mikautadze, who having netted in their previous two games became the first player to score or assist in each of his first three Euros outings since Gareth Bale in 2016.
The flipside to such an early goal of course meant a long time to hang on, and they were certainly subjected to pressure.
Portugal saw 73% of the ball in the first 15 minutes, while Ronaldo, João Félix and João Palhinha all went close or tested the excellent Mamardashvili in the Georgia net over the course of the first half.
In Kvaratskhelia, though, Georgia had someone capable of punishing Portugal almost singlehandedly. He breezed through the midfield towards the end of the first 45, leaving Neves in his dust and skilfully evading the attentions of Conceição before forcing Diogo Dalot to bring him down. That was one of three fouls he won prior to the break, and Portugal looked scared every time he built up a head of steam.
Mikautadze was a sidekick more than capable of being decisive too, as proven in the first two group games… and again here.
With Luka Lochoshvili winning a penalty following a clumsy – albeit soft – challenge from the somewhat unlucky Silva early in the second half, Mikautadze’s spot-kick couldn’t have been placed better as he slotted it just out of Diogo Costa’s reach in the bottom-right corner.
Cue bedlam.
Suddenly, a Georgia win actually looked probable. Georgia reaching the last 16 looked probable.
From then on, Portugal only really threatened a response in stoppage time with the game pretty much beyond them; Georgia coach Willy Sagnol seemingly felt comfortable enough that he opted to rest Kvaratskhelia for the final nine minutes, safe in the knowledge he still had Mikautadze giving the Portuguese defence plenty to cope with on his own.
The Metz striker was tireless, his movement off the ball helping Georgia stretch the game and his confidence in possession keeping defenders busy as he finished the game with six dribble attempts, a total bettered only by Félix (7).
Add to that the fact he’s got twice as many goal involvements (4) as anyone else in the tournament, it’s been a wonderful couple of weeks for the forward who is likely to be leaving Metz – having only just been re-signed by them permanently after being loaned back from Ajax – this summer following relegation to Ligue 2.
But this wasn’t just about the attackers. Mamardashvili provided such assuredness in his own penalty area behind a defence that battled relentlessly, while Guram Kashia seemed to be in the right place at the right time over and over again, his 10 clearances six more than anyone else on the pitch.
This was a collective effort, though, and it produced a night Georgia won’t forget in a hurry as they became the first Euros debutants to reach the knockouts since Iceland in 2016.
We just witnessed the greatest night in Georgian football – or, on the evidence of this, should that be the greatest night in Georgian football so far?
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Georgia vs Portugal stats from their Euro 2024 Group F clash at Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.
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 match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Georgia vs Portugal: Post-Match Facts
- Georgia have qualified for the knockout stages of a major international tournament for the very first time, picking up four points in Group F (W1 D1 L1). They are the first European nation to qualify from the group stage in their first major tournament (World Cup/Euros) since Iceland at Euro 2016.
- Cristiano Ronaldo has failed to score in the group stage of a major international tournament for the first time in his career. Prior to this tournament, Ronaldo had scored in all of the 10 group stages he’d played at (EURO 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 and WC 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022).
- This was Portugal’s first competitive defeat since December 2022 (0-1 v Morocco, FIFA World Cup 2022) and manager Roberto Martínez’s first competitive defeat in charge of Portugal, with them winning all of their 12 previous such matches under him.
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s goal after 01:32 is both Georgia’s fastest ever goal scored at the UEFA European Championship and the earliest Portugal have ever conceded in the competition.
- Georges Mikautadze has scored in all three of Georgia’s group matches, becoming only the ninth player to score in all three group matches at a European Championship, joining Michel Platini at Euro 1984, Alan Shearer Euro 1996, Hristo Stoichkov Euro 1996, Savo Milosevic Euro 2000, Milan Baros Euro 2004, Ruud van Nistelrooy Euro 2004, Gareth Bale Euro 2016 and Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2020.
- There have been four yellow cards handed out at Euro 2024 for simulation, with Portugal receiving three of those (75%). They received one in each of their three group games (Rafael Leão v Czech Republic and v Türkiye, and Pedro Neto v Georgia).
- João Neves (19y 273d), António Silva (20y 240), Francisco Conceição (21y 195d) and Gonçalo Inácio (22y 298d) all started for Portugal, making it the first time in their history that 4+ players under the age of 23 have started in the same match at the UEFA European Championship.
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