Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of Georgia breaks into the box whilst under pressure from Diogo Dalot of Portugal as Antonio Silva, Joao Neves and Francisco Conceicao of Portugal look on during the UEFA EURO 2024 group stage match between Georgia and Portugal at Arena AufSchalke on June 26, 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Georgia staged the biggest upset in Euro history with a 2-0 win over Portugal on Wednesday to stride into the knock-out 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 play-off.

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, Turkey booked their place in the last 16 with a 2-1 win over 10-man Czech Republic, who now head home.

Georgia, the tournament debutants, took the lead in the second minute when Kvaratskhelia, the Napoli winger, raced away after a careless pass by Antonio Silva and powered a low shot past Diogo Costa in Portugal’s goal.

Ronaldo — one of only three starters for Portugal who also played in their 3-0 win over Turkey on Saturday — stretched and strained for every ball as he sought to become the oldest goal scorer at a Euro tournament at the age of 39.

But Georgia defended as if their lives depended upon it and sought to catch Portugal on the break. In the 53rd minute, Silva compounded his earlier error by committing a foul in the box that was given as a penalty after a VAR check.

Mikautadze, who had provided the pass for Kvaratskhelia to open the scoring early on, steered his spot kick past Costa, making him the top scorer at Euro 2024 so far with three goals.

Ronaldo was booked in the first half for arguing and cut a frustrated figure when he was substituted after the break, kicking out at a water bottle. It is the first time in his long career that he failed to score in the group stage of a major international tournament.

Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili made late saves to keep Portugal at bay, and at full time the rest of the squad and coaching staff sprinted on to the field to leap and dance in front of their fans.

The celebrations were fully deserved. Georgia came close to snatching a draw with Turkey but lost 3-1 in their opening game and missed a great chance to beat the Czech Republic a few days later in a 1-1 draw, leaving them perilously close to elimination – until Wednesday’s historic night in Gelsenkirchen.

Italy’s Mattia Zaccagni celebrates scoring against Croatia in the group match of the Euro 2024 at Leipzig, Germany.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Luka Modric’s 55th minute seemed to send Croatia into the next round but Mattia Zaccagni’s late equaliser ensured defending champions Italy will play Switzerland in the round of 16

Mattia Zaccagni curled home a 98th minute equaliser as defending champions Italy booked a last-16 spot at Euro 2024 on Monday with a 1-1 draw against Croatia, whose tournament hopes were left hanging by a thread, and will next face Switzerland.

Luka Modric gave Croatia a 55th-minute lead, moments after missing a penalty, and that looked like sending them through before late substitute Zaccagni bent a stunning finish past the despairing dive of Dominik Livakovic into the far corner.

The result left Italy second in Group B on four points, with Croatia third but now playing an anxious waiting game to see whether two points will be enough to take them through to the knockout stage as one of the best four third-placed sides.

Spain, who topped the standings, beat Albania 1-0 to finish with a perfect record in their three games and leave the eliminated Albanians rock bottom with one point.

Albania’s loss also propelled sides not in action into the last 16 with England, France and the Netherlands now guaranteed to finish at least among the four best third-placed teams.

Italy had been rocked with defeat by Spain, which could have been more emphatic than the 1-0 scoreline, yet if there was some solace for Luciano Spalletti’s side heading into Monday’s match it was that Croatia had been even less impressive at the finals.

The Croats’ 3-0 loss to Spain and 2-2 draw with Albania had left them on the precipice and one of the main issues that had dogged them at the tournament – how to turn possession into a goal threat – re-emerged in the first half against Italy.

Croatia barely gave the Italians a kick for most of the first 20 minutes but it was not surprising that they only had Luka Sucic’s long range pile-driver, which was parried over by Gianluigi Donnarumma, to show for their efforts.

Italy looked far more purposeful with Mateo Retegui’s having a couple of half chances before Alessandro Bastoni had the best opportunity of the first half, meeting Nicolo Barella’s lofted ball to the far post with a header saved by Dominik Livakovic.

However, the second half was only minutes old when Croatia were awarded a penalty. Andrej Kramaric’s shot struck the outstretched arm of halftime substitute Davide Frattesi and while referee Danny Makkelie waved play-on the VAR sent him to have a look at the screen and he swiftly changed his mind.

Modric stepped up to take the spot kick but his effort was saved brilliantly by Donnarumma low to the keeper’s left, although it was only a momentary reprieve for Italy.

Seconds later, Croatia’s halftime substitute Ante Budimir’s header drew another superb save from Donnarumma but Modric was on hand to gobble up the rebound, which he fired into the roof of the net to atone for his penalty miss.

Italy pushed hard for a route back into the game and substitute Gianluca Scamacca was inches away from connecting with a cross in the 87th minute.

However, with Croatia’s fans starting to celebrate what they though would be a victory, Italy struck a devastating late blow.

(Reporting by Toby Davis; Editing by Kebn Ferris)

Atalanta’s hat-trick hero Ademola Lookman holds the trophy after his team won the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Ademola Lookman scored a stunning hat-trick as Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final on Wednesday to win just the second major trophy in their 117-year history and end the German champions’ remarkable unbeaten streak.

Lookman, who struggled to establish himself in the English Premier League with Everton, Fulham and Leicester City before reviving his career in Italy under Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, struck twice inside the first 26 minutes before sealing the win 15 minutes from fulltime.

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The victory ended Gasperini’s own two-decade long pursuit of major silverware as his side totally outplayed Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen – or ‘Neverlusen’ as they had been dubbed after going an incredible 51 games unbeaten.

But just as they did against Premier League heavyweights Liverpool and three-times finalists Olympique de Marseille in the previous two rounds, Atalanta didn’t give their opponents a sniff to mark their first European final with a famous victory.

“We needed to be attacking, it was not enough just to defend. We know these teams are great at attacking. Everyone was extraordinary,” Gasperini told Sky Sports Italia, referring to the teams his side beat to become the first Italian winners of the competition since Parma 25 years ago.

“The way we did it was the most important thing, we deserved it without a shadow of a doubt against such a strong team. Winning the Europa League is an extraordinary achievement.”

Leverkusen started the game looking decidedly unsure of themselves and some uncharacteristically sloppy play handed the first chance of the game to Gianluca Scamacca, who didn’t get enough on his header from a fine Matteo Ruggeri cross.

It was an early warning shot and the purposeful Italians struck within minutes when Davide Zappacosta was allowed far too much space down the right before Lookman beat a flatfooted Exequiel Palacios to the cut back to stroke home the opener.

Lookman was mobbed by his team mates and substitutes who were in dreamland 14 minutes later.

Another Leverkusen error gifted possession to the Nigeria forward, who skipped past one defender and curled a beautiful right-footed shot into the bottom-right corner from just outside the box.

Stunning strike

The stunned Germans showed brief flashes of how quickly they can turn it on in attack but little came of it and it was Charles De Ketelaere who came closest on the break as Atalanta did not show a shred of debut final nerves nor any effects from the absence of injured captain Marten de Roon.

Leverkusen swapped defender Josip Stanisic for top scorer Victor Boniface at halftime but it changed little as both sets of travelling fans continued to create the kind of Aviva Stadium noise matched only by some of the Irish rugby teams’ famous wins or memorable international soccer nights of years gone by.

Leverkusen had only failed to score once during the run that featured 42 wins in all competitions and 17 goals scored in or after the 90th minute, but the chances of another comeback faded away against the resolute Atalanta backline.

Lookman completely extinguished them on the counterattack with another stunning strike into the top corner, this time with his left foot to complete his hat-trick, the sixth in a major European final and first since Jupp Heynckes’ for Borussia Moenchengladbach in the 1975 UEFA Cup.

He was flung into the air by his team mates 15 minutes later when the final whistle blew and the Bergamo club ended the 61-year wait since their 1963 Italian Cup triumph.

“It’s one of the best nights of my life,” Lookman, who cradled the matchball as he collected his winners’ medal, told TNT Sports.

“It was an amazing performance from the team. We did it… We made history tonight.”