Euro 2024 Wrap: Georgia stun Portugal to reach last-16 while Slovakia set up date with England in knockout stages

Georgia have reached the last-16 of Euro 2024 following a stunning 2-0 win over Portugal in Group F. 

Already qualified Portugal made eight changes from their 3-0 victory over Turkey last weekend but still had the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix and Diogo Dalot starting for them against Willy Sagnol’s Georgia.

And their decision to rest many key players came back to haunt them as early as the second minute when Napoli attacker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring.

While the Georgians had to withstand expected Portuguese pressure, they doubled their lead before the hour through Georges Mikautadze’s penalty. 

That win secured third place, qualifying in a group that saw Turkey come second. 

The Turks claimed a 2-1 win over Czechia in a hot-tempered clash that yielded 18 cards being issued by referee Istvan Kovacs. 

Two were red cards, one to Czechia’s Antonin Barak during the game and another was shown to substitute Tomas Chory after tempers flared following the full-time whistle.

As far as the game went, Hakan Calhanoglu opened the scoring for Turkey in the 51st minute. 

Their lead was wiped out 15 minutes later when West Ham’s Tomas Soucek equalised for Czechia. 

But former Everton striker Cenk Tosun won it in second half injury time for Turkey as they sealed a date with Austria in the last-16. 

Meanwhile, Slovakia claimed a draw against Romania to secure their place in the knockout stages of the tournament. 

But they will be left rueing their inability to hold onto a lead after Ondrej Duda handed his side a 24th-minute lead. 

Razvan Marin equalised for Romania from the penalty spot soon after to seal top spot and their reward for that is a tie with the Netherlands in the last-16. 

Slovakia will play Gareth Southgate's misfiring England. 

Elsewhere, Belgium were held to a drab scoreless draw against Ukraine. 

Domenico Tedesco’s secured qualification for the next round in doing so but faced the wrath of their fans after the game who were far from pleased with their display. 

They will now face a daunting showdown against France after failing to top their group.

Remarkably, all teams in Group E finished on 4 points, although Ukraine were the only team to miss out on qualification by virtue of their inferior goal difference. 

Last-16 Draw: Spain v Georgia; Germany v Denmark; Portugal v Slovenia; France v Belgium; Romania v Netherlands; Austria v Turkey; England v Slovakia; Switzerland v Italy.