Georgia stuns Portugal in massive upset to reach Round of 16 at Euro 2024

Georgia pulled off one of the biggest upsets in European Championship history on Wednesday, beating Portugal 2-0 and advancing to the last 16.

The Georgians needed a win to reach the knockout stage at Euro 2024 and got their opening goal after only 93 seconds. Georges Mikautadze intercepted a poor pass and set up Khvicha Kvaratskelia to score with a low shot.

Antonio Silva gave away the ball before the first goal and gave away a penalty for the second, tripping Luka Lochoshvili inside the penalty area. Georges Mikautadze hit the spot kick low and past Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa in the 57th minute at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Georgia advanced in its debut at a major tournament as one of the best third-place teams. Portugal had already qualified from Group F after winning its first two games.

The Georgians will next face Spain on Sunday in Cologne, while Portugal plays Slovenia on Monday in Frankfurt.

Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo, who felt he deserved a penalty in the first half, kicked away a water bottle when he was substituted in the 66th minute.

Ronaldo was given a yellow card for his protests after his penalty appeal was turned down. He wanted the decision after his shirt was pulled in the area by Lochoshvili as a cross came in. No foul was given.

With Portugal already qualified, Ronaldo was one of only three players kept in the lineup from the previous 3-0 win over Turkey, along with Costa and midfielder João Palhinha.

Portugal created little in the second half as Georgia's defence sat deep, but the 2016 champions had chances in added time. Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili kept Georgia's two-goal lead intact with saves from Nelson Semedo and Diogo Dalot, while Francisco Conceição narrowly missed the target.

At the final whistle, Georgia's players sprinted off the bench to embrace Mamardashvili in a huddle and leapt with joy in front of their raucous fans.

Turkey beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in the other group match. The Turks also advanced while the Czechs were eliminated.

Georgia's victory also eliminated Hungary, which finished third in Group A.

Belgium also reaches knockout stage

Belgium got the best out of a 0-0 draw at the European Championship on Wednesday, advancing to the last 16 while Ukraine became the first team with four points in a group to be eliminated.

The downside for the Belgians is they will next face France and Kylian Mbappe at Euro 2024 on Monday in Duesseldorf.

All four teams in Group E finished with four points. Romania ended up first, followed by Belgium and Slovakia. Ukraine was last on goal difference.

Romania and Slovakia drew 1-1 in Frankfurt and both advanced to the knockout stage.

The third-ranked Belgians nearly had a different ending when Ukraine substitute Ruslan Malinovskyi tried to score directly from corner late in the match. Belgium goalkeeper Koen Casteels managed to save the effort at the near post.

The Belgian fans booed the team at the end of the game at Stuttgart Arena, while Ukrainian supporters showed their appreciation to the national team.

Ukraine had another good chance to score late in the match when Georgiy Sudakov got through the Belgian defence but shot right at Casteels.

Belgium, which lost to Slovakia in its opening game, struggled to get its offence going again with Romelu Lukaku failing to make the most of his team's best chance in the first half.

Romania 1, Slovakia 1

Romania and Slovakia got the 1-1 draw that sent both teams into the Round of 16 at the European Championship on Wednesday, with the Romanians topping Group E ahead of Belgium.

During a thunderstorm and pounding rain midway through the second half, both teams chased a winning goal in a frenetic spell of play despite the tied score suiting them both.

Romania advanced atop the group with Slovakia in third because second-place Belgium drew 0-0 with last-place Ukraine, which is eliminated. Belgium will play France in the Round of 16.

Slovakia led in the 24th minute when Ondrej Duda directed a powerful header down into the corner of the net.

Razvan Marin levelled in the 37th from a penalty awarded after a two-minute video review to decide if Ianis Hagi was tripped inside the area.

Romania will now play in the knockout round for the first time since Euro 2000 when Hagi's father, national soccer icon Gheorghe, was captain in the No. 10 jersey now worn by his son.

When the soccer anthem "Freed From Desire" played after the final whistle, both sets of fans were singing and jumping in celebration with the players. Romanian fans far outnumbered the Slovaks with yellow-shirted supporters in about two thirds of the Waldstadion area.

Romania's reward is going into what shapes as the weaker half of the knockout bracket, separated until the final from in-form Spain and Portugal plus France and Germany.

Next for Romania is playing a third-place team in Munich with a five full days rest before that game on Tuesday.

Belgium plays France in a standout pairing on Monday in Duesseldorf. Slovakia could face Spain on Sunday in Cologne.

Allocating the four third-place teams in the Round of 16 bracket will be confirmed after Group F games finish later Wednesday.

Pre-game speculation across Europe had been that Romania and Slovakia could contrive a draw to ensure both advanced.

That idea was banished by the energy of both team's early attacks in 27 Celsius (81 Fahrenheit) heat before the storm rolled in, then their commitment through the sweeping rain.

The Slovaks took a first-half lead for the third straight game and the 24th minute was the longest their fans had to wait.

From a high cross, Duda put power into his header back across goal beyond the dive of goalkeeper Florin Nita.

Hagi had wasted Romania's clearest shooting chance before his direct running led to the penalty.

Turkey 2, Czech Republic 1

Cenk Tosun finally ended the tension when he scored in stoppage time to send Turkey into the knockout stage of the European Championship with a 2-1 win over 10-man Czech Republic on Wednesday in Hamburg.

With the Czechs chasing a goal that would have put them through at Turkey's expense, Tosun, a substitute, eluded two exhausted defenders on the left and fired a fierce shot inside the far post.

It set off a wave of celebrations among most of the fans in Hamburg's Volksparkstadion, though it also led to a flare-up between players and substitutes who had run onto the field. Czech forward Tomas Chory was shown a red card after the tumult, and team captain Tomas Soucek and Turkey's Arda Guler were both shown yellow.

It had been a busy night for Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs, who sent off Czech midfielder Antonin Barak in the 20th minute. Barak earned his first yellow card for a tactical foul in the 11th, then the next for a stamp on Salih Ozcan's foot.

It encouraged Turkey to attack in waves. Kenan Yildiz, Hakan Calhanoglu and Guler were causing serious problems for the Czech defence.

The Czech attack was without star player Patrik Schick, who failed to recover from a calf muscle injury. Schick was booked for protesting on the bench. It was to be his only contribution.

Calhanoglu broke the deadlock with a low shot inside the far post in the 51st. Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek had made a brilliant save to deny Mert Muldur but wasn't able to stretch for Calhanoglu's powerful strike.

Stanek was unable to continue with an apparent shoulder injury from his initial save. Bayer Leverkusen reserve goalkeeper Matej Kovar went on in his place.

Soucek equalized in the 66th after a goalmouth scramble in which the ball was cleared off the line. A VAR check confirmed goalkeeper Mert Gunok was not unfairly hindered.

The Czechs needed another goal to progress, but Tosun's late strike ended their hopes.

The Czech Republic finished bottom of Group F behind Georgia.

Turkey finished runner-up with six points.