Euro 2024: “Best day in their lives” as Georgia stun Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo

In March, the streets of Tbilisi became the centre of an impromptu procession to celebrate an incredible Georgia success as they reached a first major tournament.

Now, they’ve gone one step better and reached the Euro 2024 knockout stage.

It came through an upset of the highest order, overcoming the odds to stun Portugal 2-0 in their final group-stage game and write a new chapter in their nation’s history.

Star man Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had no doubt of the result’s magnitude. “This the best day in the lives of Georgians,” he said.

The Napoli forward clung to the shirt of Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo in his post-match news conference – the same Ronaldo whose side had been frustrated in defeat, having been undone defensively and misfired in the final third.

Georgia are ranked 68 places below Portugal in Fifa’s rankings and completed the greatest upset by that metric. Portugal manager Roberto Martinez conceded their unfancied opponents had shown an “incredible belief” and “deserved the credit”.

The euphoric post-match celebrations will live long in the memory as emotional players and supporters sung and danced together.

“Everyone is so happy and we just made history, nobody would believe that we would make it happen and we would defeat Portugal,” said Kvaratskhelia.