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Newcomers Georgia shock Portugal 2-0 to advance at Euro 2024
On Wednesday, Georgia upset defending champions Portugal 2-0 to go to the Euro 2024 knockout round, their first-ever major competition.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's early goal and Georges Mikautadze's penalty shot ended the contest.
The best outcome for Georgia was the victory, even if it came against a mainly inferior Portugal team that had advanced to the following round.
This has been the case ever since the nation separated from the Soviet Union in 1991.
However, Willy Sagnol—a former defender for Bayern Munich and France—and his team's third-place showing in Group F of the competition was well merited.
With their victory, they were now slated to play Spain, the three-time European champions, in the round of 16.
Georgia's victory also indicates that England will line up against Slovakia, Romania take on Netherlands and Portugal face Slovenia in the round of 16.
Hungary was eliminated, despite having a chance to advance to the next round.
After a thoughtless ball by Antonio Silva, Kvaratskhelia, the Napoli winger, raced away to give the tournament newcomers the lead in the second minute.
Then, he beat Diogo Costa with a low strike in Portugal's goal.
One of just three Portugal starters who participated in their 3-0 victory over Turkey on Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo, strained and stretched for each ball.
At 39 years old, he was attempting to become the oldest goal scorer at a European event.
However, Georgia attempted to catch Portugal on the break and defended as though their lives depended on it.
Silva made a second mistake in the 53rd minute, fouling in the penalty area, which resulted in a VAR check and the awarding of a penalty kick.
Mikautadze, who had earlier in the game set up Kvaratskhelia for the first goal, curled his kick past Costa to take the lead in goals scored at Euro 2024 with three.
Ronaldo received a booking for fighting during the first half, and when he was replaced during the interval, he acted irrationally, kicking out at a water bottle.
Giorgi Mamardashvili, the custodian for Georgia, produced last-minute saves to deny Portugal in the closing minutes.
Georgia's team and coaching staff ran onto the field to celebrate in front of thousands of supporters after the game.