The group stage of Euro 2024 is in the books and the action in Germany has given us plenty of drama, thrills and upsets.
So far we’ve seen some of the favourites limp into the knockout phase (hello to England and France), big hitters such as Germany, Portugal and Spain take care of business with little fuss and also a couple of surprise packages.
Austria are winning plaudits as a dark horse after they topped a group containing France and the Netherlands, but the best underdog story of the tournament so far is that of tournament debutants Georgia.
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Willy Sagnol’s side began their campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Turkey, a thrilling match which will be a contender for the best game of the tournament. They then claimed a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic before scoring after 90 seconds in a stunning 2-0 win over a much-rotated Portugal side to book their place in the last 16.
Remarkably, the Georgia football team did not exist until after Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo turned five years old in 1990 following the dismantling of the Soviet Union and they were not admitted into FIFA until 1992.
After 14 failed qualification attempts, they made it to Euro 2024 and will now face Spain for a place in the quarter-finals.
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And while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will start as huge underdogs for the clash in Cologne on Sunday, if they believe in omens then they could be in for yet more success in Germany.
When it comes to European Championship upsets, they don’t come any bigger than Greece’s 2004 triumph and that’s where the coincidences line-up. If you look at Georgia’s group stage performance – a win, a draw and a defeat, with four goals scored and four conceded – then you’ll notice it’s exactly the same as Greece’s Group A performance in 2004.
And omen fans will also point out that Georgia and Greece’s group stage win both came against Portugal.
Greece would go on to stun the footballing world that summer, seeing off defending champions France in the quarter-final before an extra-time win over the Czech Republic. The final saw them down Portugal on home soil again to complete the biggest-ever shock win in major tournament history.
Georgia’s route to the final looks equally unlikely as they could potentially have a run consisting of Spain, Germany and then France to make the Berlin showpiece on July 14, but no one expected Greece to triumph 20 years ago…
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