Georgia heads to the knockout rounds of Euro 2024 in its first appearance at a major tournament.
Georgia stunned Group F winners Portugal 2-0 on Wednesday to clinch third place in the group and a place in the round of 16. With victories in their first two games of the tournament, Portugal rested seven players who had started in those games. Players like Bruno Fernandes, Pepe, Rafael Leao and Joao Cancelo started the game on the bench.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo started and the Portuguese were still big favorites. And they weren’t linked to Georgia for long.
Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the second minute to put Georgia up 1-0. Georgia doubled their lead in the 57th minute with a Georges Mikautadze penalty. The penalty was awarded after a lengthy video review that ultimately awarded Georgia the penalty.
Georgia qualified for its first European championship on penalties in a playoff match against Greece. Georgia drew 0-0 with Greece and neither team scored in extra time. However, Georgia won the penalty shootout 4-2 and earned one of the final three spots in the 24-team tournament.
It briefly looked like Georgia might finish second in Group F, but Turkey scored late to claim a 2-1 victory over Czechia. That was Turkey’s second victory in the tournament and it finishes ahead of Georgia with six points. Georgia scored four thanks to the draw against Czechia.
Slovenia, the Netherlands and Slovakia are also making progress
With 24 teams in the tournament and 16 teams advancing to the knockout rounds, the four best third-place finishers advance to the round of 16. The Netherlands and Slovakia also earned four points in group play along with Georgia, while Slovenia earned three. Slovenia advanced ahead of Hungary thanks to a neutral goal differential. Hungary had a goal differential of -3.
Georgia’s victory means they will play Spain on June 30 on the second day of the round of 16. The knockout matches begin on Saturday with Germany against Denmark and England against Slovakia.
The Netherlands will play against Romania and Slovenia against Portugal.
Romania won Group E on Wednesday, drawing against Belgium, while Ukraine drew with Slovakia. The four teams in that group finished with four points, but Romania and Belgium each had a +1 goal difference. Slovakia had a neutral goal differential and finished third, while Ukraine’s -2 goal difference meant they became the first team to finish fourth in a European Championship group with four points.
Euro 2024 draw and odds
-
Spain vs Georgia
-
Germany against Denmark
-
Portugal vs Slovenia
-
France vs Belgium
-
Romania vs Netherlands
-
Austria vs Türkiye
-
England vs Slovakia
-
Switzerland vs Italy
As you can see, the top half of the stand is loaded. Spain, Germany, Portugal and France were the next four favorites behind pre-tournament favorite England. And only one of them will be able to reach the final.
England, meanwhile, has no excuses not to advance to the final for the second consecutive European Championship. Yes, England have struggled mightily so far in the group stage, with two drab goalless draws following a 1-0 win to open the tournament. But England have far more talent than any other team on their side of the draw. And bettors still like the Three Lions’ chances.
England remains the BetMGM favorite to win the tournament at +400, while Spain is at +450 along with Germany. France has also not been impressive so far and is at +500 ahead of Portugal at +650.
There is a big gap with the Netherlands at +1200, and then Italy is at +1600 and Austria at +1800. No other team has better odds than +2800 to win the tournament.
