Published:
28.06.2024, ora 22:40
- Georgia won against Portugal in the final matchday of the group stage and qualified to the next round.
- Out of all the participant teams, Georgia is the lowest-ranked by FIFA.
On the 26th of June, during matchday 3, the last of the group stages of the Euro 2024, Georgia faced Portugal in front of a sold-out Veltins Arena, in Gelsenkirchen. The game ended with a score of 2-0 in favor of the Georgians, which resulted in their qualification to the next stage of the tournament.
In the official FIFA ranking, Georgia currently sits in the 74th position, which is the lowest out of all the teams that qualified for the 2024 Euro, therefore it can be said that their advancement is both a big and pleasant surprise for most fans. Even though Portugal is ranked in the 6th place, had almost 70% possession and more than 20 goal attempts, they could not score, losing their first match of this competition so far.
Portugal was already qualified, winning the first two matches, so their manager, Roberto Martinez (50 years old), opted for a different lineup than usual, giving chances to other players as well. Georgia had an amazing ambition and managed to secure their promotion through the 3rd spot of Group F. Unfortunately, they have a very difficult matchup in the Round of 16, where they will face Spain, which is thought by many a serious title contender.
The Path to Qualification
Georgia was part of Group A of the 2024 Euro qualification, alongside Spain, Scotland, Norway and Cyprus. They managed to finish in the 4th spot, achieving 8 points from 2 wins against Cyprus and 2 draws against Norway and Scotland.
Then, they had to face Luxembourg in the Semi-Finals of the qualification play-offs, where they comfortably won 2-0. Last but not least, a fiery Final against former Euro-winners Greece, which they beat on penalties, qualifying to the main tournament alongside Ukraine and Poland.
They were drawn in Group F, having Portugal, Turkey and the Czech Republic as their rivals. The win over Portugal and the draw against the Czechs secured a 3rd spot qualification. Now, they want to cause the upset of the tournament and try and challenge Spain for a place in the Quarter-Finals.
Many media outlets praise Kvicha Kvaratskhelia (23 years old) for the boost of confidence and strength of his national team, which qualified for its first-ever major tournament. The Georgian superstar is one of the best and highest-valued players in the world at the moment, due to the crucial role he played in last year’s historic Serie A title won by Napoli. He also scored the first goal of the match against Portugal. It happened in the 2nd minute when nobody expected it and it also won him the Man of the Match award in the end.
A Star is Born
The surprises that the national team of Georgia produced so far don’t stop here. The second goal of the game was a penalty, scored by one of the best players so far in this tournament, Georges Mikautadze (23 years old). The striker is the current top scorer of the competition with 3 goals, one in each game of the group stage. He also provided the assist for the first goal of the match, meaning he has 4 goal contributions in 3 matches, the most anybody has so far.
He also had pretty good stats during the regular season, where he played the first part at Ajax Amsterdam, where he didn’t play many games, before returning to his original club, FC Metz. Even though they were relegated to Ligue 2, the Georgian player scored 14 goals and assisted 4 times for the French club.
It’s safe to say that his value of only €15M will explode after this amazing European campaign and maybe even secure him a transfer to a better team, in a more competitive league.
