Danny Clark, 15 h ago
Georgia sensationally booked their place in the knockout stages of UEFA Euro 2024 after goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze fired the tournament’s lowest-ranked nation to a famous 2-0 win over Group F winners Portugal.
Targeting a first-ever major tournament win as an independent nation, Georgia made a blistering start with a breakthrough inside two minutes. Mikautadze latched onto a misplaced pass from António Silva, and the Georgian striker threaded a neat ball into the path of Kvaratskhelia, who finished superbly into the far corner. Unbeaten in their last 18 matches after scoring first, Willy Sagnol’s men looked to build on that early goal, but Portugal gradually grew into the contest, with Cristiano Ronaldo and João Palhinha both seeing powerful efforts thwarted by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Roberto Martínez’s heavily-rotated side continued to probe for an equaliser as the first half progressed, but clear-cut chances came at a premium as João Félix fired a long-range strike narrowly wide. Having restricted Portugal to little in terms of goalmouth action, Georgia came close to doubling their lead at the other end, as Kvaratskhelia’s inviting free-kick was glanced agonisingly wide by Giorgi Gvelesiani.
The opening stages of the second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with Georgia on the front foot and threatening in the final third. Diogo Dalot saw a curled effort tipped around the post for Portugal, but it was Sagnol’s side who made their pressure count when VAR deemed Silva to have tripped Luka Lochoshvili in the box. Mikautadze assumed the responsibility from the spot and stroked the resulting penalty into the bottom corner for his third goal of the tournament - giving Georgia vital breathing space heading into the final 30 minutes.
Portugal looked to up the ante in pursuit of a dramatic comeback late on, however, it never looked likely as Mamardashvili saved from Nelson Semedo, allowing Georgia to coast through the final minutes and set up a fascinating last-16 tie against Spain. As for Portugal, Martínez’s side will be desperate to bounce back in the knockout stages when they face Slovenia on Monday.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia)
James Hilsum, 15 h ago
Turkey sealed their place in the last 16 of the 2024 UEFA European Championship with a hard-fought 2-1 win against a gutsy, 10-man Czech Republic side who exit the competition without a group stage victory for only the second time in their history.
Ivan Hašek’s side knew that only a win would see them progress from Group F yet, when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia gave Georgia a shock lead in the other match against Portugal, the Czechs were suddenly propping up the table. With the threat of an early flight home looming large, they looked to strike early against their familiar foes, having tasted defeat against the same opposition at Euro 2008 and Euro 2016.
Lukáš Provod tried his luck with a stinging long-range effort, which was parried to safety by Mert Günok. That direct approach caused problems for the Crescent Stars, as Robin Hranáč headed over the bar after Tomáš Souček flicked on Vladimír Coufal’s long throw-in. However, all of that positive play was undone when referee István Kovács harshly decided to issue Antonín Barák a second yellow card for a largely innocuous challenge on Salih Özcan.
This understandably stemmed the Czechs' flow, and Turkey pressed forward with more intensity. Teenage starlet Arda Güler has a propensity for the spectacular, and looked to provide another goal for the showreel when he met Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s cross with an acrobatic strike that flashed just wide of the post. Despite the one-man disadvantage, David Jurásek’s angled attempt was pushed away by Günok to give Hašek’s men room for optimism at HT.
That quickly dissipated after the restart though when Çalhanoğlu broke the deadlock in the 51st minute. Barış Alper Yılmaz exploited space down the right flank and picked out Kenan Yıldız, whose shot was superbly saved by Jindřich Staněk before the ball found its way to the Inter Milan man to fire a wonderful drilled effort into the far corner. But the Czechs restored parity with a goal which Günok will not want to view back after dropping a routine catch while under pressure from Tomáš Chorý, allowing Souček to rifle home the loose ball.
Ultimately, though, the strike merely proved to be a consolation for Hašek’s plucky team, and Cenk Tosun inflicted more misery upon them in stoppage time with a clinical right-footed shot which he buried into the bottom corner. It was heartbreaking for the Czechs, who deserved more than a fourth-place finish. Meanwhile, Vincenzo Montella’s side secured second spot in the group to set up a clash against Austria next Tuesday in Leipzig.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Tomáš Souček (Czech Republic)
Adam Clancy, 19 h ago
Romania and Slovakia played out a 1-1 draw in their final Group E game at the 2024 UEFA European Championship, a result that sees both countries advance to the round of 16 despite having to deal with stormy conditions at the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt.
Despite knowing a draw would send both teams through, the two teams did not play it safe in the first half. Slovakia caused early problems from set-pieces, as Juraj Kucka should have done better with a free header that was comfortably kept out by Florin Niță. Lukáš Haraslín’s dangerous free-kick then somehow evaded everybody, but Kucka’s whipped cross soon led to the game’s opening goal. The 37-year-old found Ondrej Duda with a wonderful ball, and the Hellas Verona man headed back into the far corner, becoming the first Slovak to score in two separate Euros.
However, Romania bounced back quickly when they were awarded a penalty after a VAR check deemed Dávid Hancko’s foul on Ianis Hagi, on his first start for the Tricolorii in a major international tournament, to be inside the area. Răzvan Marin stepped up and made no mistake, lashing the penalty into the top corner and sending Martin Dúbravka the wrong way in the process. As such, the HT level scoreline suited both outfits.
Just as the heavens opened in Frankfurt, Romania almost completed the comeback, as Marin was denied his brace from a fine save by Dúbravka before Denis Drăguș curled just wide. However, Slovakia then had a great double chance of their own, with David Strelec forcing Niță to save with his foot prior to Haraslín firing inches wide of the far post after cutting inside.
The Falcons will be slightly disappointed not to win after taking the lead for the fifth consecutive match, but getting through to the knockouts remained the ultimate goal, while Romania will also be delighted to get it out of the group the Euros for the first time since 2000.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Răzvan Marin (Romania)
Sunil Midda, 19 h ago
In the first-ever meeting between the two nations, Belgium and Ukraine could not be separated as they laboured to a 0-0 draw, and after all four sides finished with four points in Group E of the UEFA European Championships, Dominic Todesco’s men finished second behind Romania on goals scored. Ukraine, meanwhile are the odd ones out, finishing bottom on goal difference with their heavy defeat to Romania on MD1 coming back to haunt them.
With all four sides in the group sitting on three points ahead of kick-off, everything was to play for. Belgium started in full control however, with a high press proving effective against a deep lying Ukraine defence. No matter how tight a defence, Kevin De Bruyne has always managed to unlock it and pick a pass throughout his career, and this was the case inside seven minutes after his expertly picked out Romely Lukaku, but his tournament of bad luck continued as he didn’t get enough on his shot to roll it past Anatoliy Trubin. After the fast start, Belgium began to become unstuck as the Ukrainian defence stood firm, frustrating their opponents. Serhiy Rebrov’s men began to grow into the game as the half wore on but created only half-chances that failed to test Koen Casteels in the Belgian goal - sending both sides goalless into the HT interval.
Both sides’ struggles continued after the break with neither goalkeeper being tested in their respective goals. Lukaku fashioned a chance just after the hour mark when cutting in from the right, but again, his tame effort was comfortably gathered by Trubin. Yannick Carrasco provided some much needed energy to the contest when introduced in the 62nd minute, and he almost broke the deadlock after cutting in from the left and rifled a shot from the edge of the box but Trubin made a strong stop. Ruslan Malinovskyi came the closest for Ukraine after his corner kick almost caught Casteels out and curled goalwards, but the goalkeeper made a last ditch save right on the goalline.
In the end, both sets of players failed to find the elusive goal, and Slovakia and Romania’s 1-1 draw in Frankfurt ensured that goal difference and goals scored were the decisive factors for qualification. Things do not get any easier for Belgium after stuttering their way to the Round of 16, with France up next.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)