Newcomers Georgia stage historic Euro shock by beating Portugal 2-0

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany: Georgia staged the biggest upset in Euro history with a 2-0 win over Portugal on Wednesday (Jun 26) to stride into the knockout phase of their first major tournament, thanks to an early Khvicha Kvaratskhelia strike and a Georges Mikautadze penalty.

The win, albeit against a largely second-string Portugal who had already made it into the next round, represented the greatest result for Georgia since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Played out in front of tens of thousands of raucous Georgia fans, it was also the biggest shock based on rankings which put the team rated 74th in the world against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal who were ranked sixth and were European champions in 2016.

Having come a disappointing fourth in their Euro qualifying group, Georgia had to take a circuitous route to Germany, first by winning their group in the less glamorous Euro Nations tournament and then defeating Greece in a playoff.

But there was nothing undeserved about the way coach Willy Sagnol, the former Bayern Munich and France defender, and his side claimed a third-place finish in the tournament's Group F and set up a last-16 meeting with three-time Euro winners Spain.

When those two sides met last September in the qualifying stage for the tournament in Germany, Spain thrashed Georgia 7-1 in Tbilisi.

Georgia's win also means that England will line up against Slovakia, Romania take on Netherlands and Portugal face Slovenia in the round of 16. Hungary, who had been in contention for a spot in the next round, were edged out.

In the other Group F match on Wednesday, Türkiye booked their place in the last 16 with a 2-1 win over 10-man Czech Republic, who now head home.

Georgia, the tournament