Euro 2024 news live – Ronaldo starts for Portugal as England face decision

The teams are out and the national anthems are being played.

Five minutes until kick-off in Dortmund…

Georgia substitute Giorgi Gvelesiani was shown a yellow card against the Czech Republic before he had even touched the ball.

The 33-year-old was brought on for the final few minutes, but jumped the gun as he entered the field of play without the referee’s permission.

This brought him a booking from Daniel Siebert, the German ref, but thankfully for Gvelesiani it didn’t prove costly.

Victory for Portugal or Turkey tonight would be enough to seal a round of 16 spot after both won their opening fixtures.

Both will fancy their chances, but only one can win. A little under 15 minutes to go until we get underway.

Roberto Martinez has changed things up, but he’s kept faith with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Portugal have moved to a back four, with Joao Palhinha coming into midfield, but it’s the same front three that started against the Czech Republic.

If Ronaldo can’t make the difference, might we see Diogo Jota a little earlier than last time out?

We’ve got a feeling Saba Lobzhanidze won’t be sleeping much tonight…

Georgia will need to beat Portugal on Wednesday to stand a chance of reaching the last 16.

A sitter for Georgia in the last 10 seconds!

Wow. It’s full-time.

And we’re still locked at 1-1 in Hamburg.

The Czech Republic, who play Turkey on Wednesday, have had the better of the second half, although goalscorer Patrik Schick has gone off with a calf issue.

With Portugal up next, you feel as if Georgia need the three points more here.

England star Jarrod Bowen spoke of his pride at how his dad and family members are following the Euros in a campervan.

And he joked there had already been a fallout “after five minutes” over driving. And he said he was relieved his dad Sam hadn’t turned up in the van at the team’s posh hotel.

He said: “Dad is in a campervan doing all the hours – there’s four of them. He just parks it up and I’ve told him to take the England flags down

“They’ve enjoyed long days and take turns but they’ve already fallen out over driving within five minutes. But for my family, me playing in my first tournament it’s the pinnacle.”

He said his partner Dani had been a great support. “Dani has been great travelling in and out.” He joked: “she doesn’t give me tactical advice though.”

And he said father in law actor Danny has regularly been in touch. He said: “My father in law messages me before every game and he says play with a smile on my face.”

And we’re level!

Patrik Schick scores by chesting the ball in at the back post, punishing Georgia for just missing a chance.

After scoring five goals at Euro 2020, it’s now six goals at the European Championship for Schick.

Here we go for the second 45 minutes in Hamburg.

And Georges Mikautadze converts!

Two goals in two games for Georgia’s No.22 and they’ll go into half-time with the lead.

Georgia have a the chance to take the lead on the brink of half-time.

Some would say it’s harsh on the Czech Republic.

We’re into injury time of the first half and there’s a penalty check for a potential handball by Robin Hranac.

The referee is going to the monitor…

The long throw-in pays off for the Czech Republic and Adam Hlozek prods home!

But replays show that as the ball cannoned back off Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili and onto Hlozek’s head, it also came off his arm – no goal.

Georgia have started the stronger side and are adamant that they should’ve had a penalty.

Zuriko Davitashvili has caused all sorted of problems for the Czechs and went down in the area as Robin Hranac attempted to keep up.

German referee Daniel Siebert wasn’t having it, though, and VAR agrees.

They were the upset of the opening round and now Belgium need to get back on the horse.

Romelu Lukaku had two second-half goals ruled out in their 1-0 defeat to Slovakia last Monday, while Kevin De Bruyne was largely anonymous.

They face Romania, who beat Ukraine 3-0 in their first game, in tonight’s 8pm kick-off.

Virgil van Dijk blamed the ‘English referee’ for ruling out team-mate Xavi Simons’ goal for the Netherlands against France.

Simons thought that he’d put the Dutch ahead on 69 minutes but with Denzel Dumfries stood in an offisde position next to French goalkeeper Mike Maignan, the goal was ruled out.

Liverpool star Van Dijk, who captains the Netherlands, told Optus Sport: “We scored a goal that is a fair goal. [Maignan] had no chance to get into that corner, but the English referee decided to disallow it.”

Read what Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman had to say here.

Portugal manager Roberto Martinez wasn’t happy with a question regarding Cristiano Ronaldo’s fitness ahead of today’s clash with Turkey.

Turning a question back onto a journalist during his press conference, an irked Martinez asked: “Can I ask you a question? Do you know how many minutes Cristiano played last season? Do you have experience?

“There is no other player in the history of football who has played six Euros. It is important to understand what a player brings. Cristiano brings experience, he brings opportunities to goal and a way to open spaces.

“Cristiano is in the national team because he deserves to be here. Just look at what he did and what he has done in recent competitions.”

Read the full story on Ronaldo here.

Kylian Mbappe is set to return to action in a friendly against German side Paderborn’s under-21s this afternoon.

The France captain missed last night’s 0-0 draw with the Netherlands, having broken his nose against Austria last Monday.

L’Equipe report that Mbappe is set to line up alongside other star who didn’t feature in Leipzig – just as Les Blues’ fringe players did on Wednesday and won 7-0.

Luke Shaw still isn’t training with the rest of England’s squad.

Despite being named on the bench against Serbia last Sunday, the Manchester United left-back appears to have suffered a setback which saw him miss the Denmark game altogether.

This morning, Shaw is continuing to train individually, with just three days until England face Slovenia in Cologne.

All four sides in Group E could be locked on three points heading into Wednesday’s finale.

That’s because yesterday Ukraine claimed a 2-1 win against Slovakia, who previously beat Belgium.

Should Belgium bounce back today with a victory over Romania, who themselves triumphed 3-0 when facing Ukraine last Monday, then every team would have three points.

Imagine that happening and then two draws…

Goal difference would no-doubt be key.

Poland now cannot qualify for the round-of-16 and guaranteed to finish bottom of Group D, despite being able to finish on three points.

That’s because even if they were to beat heavy favourites France in Dortmund next Tuesday, Robert Lewandowski and co would still finish below Austria on head-to-head, which comes before goal difference.

France and the Netherlands already have four points while Austria are also on three.

Hello and welcome to Saturday’s live Euro 2024 blog.

We’re now on day nine of the tournament and have reached the last triple-header.

But don’t worry, there’s still loads more action to come and today should be a cracker.

Let’s kick-off by looking at some reaction from last night.

Thanks for staying with Mirror Football for all your Euro 2024 needs today.

We’ll be back with you tomorrow for another bumper three-game day, so look forward to seeing you then.

Goodnight!

Tomorrow marks the final day with three matches at Euro 2024.

The final round of group fixtures will see groups kick off simultaneously, and then the round of 16 is split across four days.

So, for this bumper Saturday, what can we expect?

The first two games are in Group F, with Georgia against the Czech Republic at 2pm followed by Turkey against Portugal at 5.

Then, at 8pm, Belgium will look to get off the mark as they face Romania in Group E.

We’ll have all the build-up and updates throughout the day.

The BBC panel were debating that disallowed Simons goal long after the final whistle blew in Leipzig.

Trust the English officials to land themselves with a subjective decision after all the easy-to-argue semi-automated offsides we’ve seen in this tournament.

The rules are clear, but there was still a decision to be made.

Alex Richards is in Leipzig for Mirror Football, and here’s his report from a frustrating evening for both attacks.

VAR took centre-stage, but it wasn’t the only flashpoint in a game which had fleeting moments of quality.

Still, we’ll want to see more from both teams in their final group game and beyond.

It’s Kingsley Coman and Olivier Giroud on for France, with Dembele and Thuram off.

The Netherlands have also made tweaks, including the introduction of Gini Wijnaldum.

Still no Mbappe….. for now

Anthony Taylor has called the two captains over to explain what’s going on.

It’s a longer delay than most of the VAR calls so far in this tournament, but it’s more complicated than most.

The goal remains ruled out. Still 0-0

Xavi Simons finds the net… but it looks it won’t count.

The youngster finds the net, but Denzel Dumfries was standing in an offside position.

Was he blocking Mike Maignan getting there? That’s what the officials have to decide.

That’s two chances from close range for Griezmann and still no goal.

This time it’s N’Golo Kante who plays him in, but the forward doesn’t look in control at any point and allows Verbruggen to save.

Les Bleus are knocking at the door, with Aurelien Tchouameni the latest to come close.

They’re still waiting to find a way past Bart Verbruggen, though, with more than an hour gone.

No changes just yet, with The Nerherlands and France preparing for the second half.

One wonders how much longer it will stay that way…

They started really well Holland and have carried a threat.

But France have started to take a little more hold on the game and the Oranje fans in here are getting a bit narked at referee Anthony Taylor for giving fouls against their defenders. They are fouls, it’s not like he’s wrong or anything.

Griezmann’s movement has been outstanding, which is why he’s had three excellent chances as well as that early rocket. Yes he’s missed them, but if Holland don’t get to grips with him in the second half, he’ll get another at some point and you’d back him not to miss again.

I worry if this is still 0-0 at 65 minutes that they both settle and take the point. That’ll more than do France with Poland to play. It would do enough for the Dutch to keep Austria at arm’s length, but given they meet in their last game, it’s not the ideal result.

Two thirds of the way into the first half and it’s a close contest so far.

Both teams have mostly had half-chances, save for that Griezmann opportunity, but both will feel they’re close to having the magic needed to go in front.

Adrien Rabiot goes through on goal and has to shoot, but instead attempts to play in Antoine Griezmann.

France’s captain for the night can’t convert, though, and he then misses the target with a more ambitious effort moments later.

A quick burst from Frimpong almost has the Oranje in front inside a minute.

The winger bursts forward and free of Theo Hernandez, but a big right hand from Mike Maignan denies the Leverkusen man

He’s not in the lineup but Kylian Mbappe is here, looking like Zorro with his black mask on.

He wasn’t allowed to wear his tricolour mask we saw in training on Thursday, thanks to UEFA regulations.

But he’s managed to sneak a little flag on this one… even if he hasn’t snuck his way into the starting lineup.

Antoine Griezmann takes the armband. He wasn’t happy to be overlooked when Mbappe replaced Hugo Lloris as skipper, and no doubt it’ll be a source of great pride for France’s No.7.

It’s loud in Leipzig. Very loud. And very, very orange. It looks about 70-30 in the Dutch favour when it comes to the fans.

Almost time to see how France will cope without Mbappe…