Euro 2024 Daily | The one thing lacking was a true underdog. Enter Georgia

GEORGIA ON OUR MINDS

The group stages of Euro 2024 are over, and what fun it’s been. There have been long-range screamers and last-minute winners. Thrilling young superstars have emerged, and legions of fans have brought colour and joy to every ground. England have also taken part. The one thing lacking was a true underdog story, a team for neutrals to rally behind. Aside from the melee of Group E and Austria (who are nobody’s underdogs) topping Group D, the final standings are not far off what most of us might have guessed at the start.

Enter Georgia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament (74th, one place below Northern Ireland) who turned heads with their feisty, full-throttle approach in a wildly entertaining 3-1 defeat to Turkey and a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic. A motley crew drawn from 18 different domestic leagues, W1lly Sagnol’s side emerged on the big stage with a clear identity and a big opportunity: victory over already-qualified Portugal would guarantee a last-16 place. Sagnol, a Big Cup winner as a player with Bayern Munich and World Cup finalist with France, urged caution. “I mean, it’s Portugal. It’s a fantastic team with a lot of top, top players … but if there is a little chance to qualify you can be assured my players will do everything.”

They delivered on his promise. With barely 60 seconds played, Antonio Silva presented the ball to Georges Mikautadze, who set up Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to drill the ball into the bottom corner. The Georgia fans behind the goal, coiled in nervous anticipation, went ballistic. It was a spine-tingling moment – and a blessed relief for this email, having sat through England 0-0 Slovenia and Belgium 0-0 Ukraine. Portugal pushed for an equaliser but were repelled by keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili until the hapless Silva conceded a penalty, converted emphatically by Mikautadze to kill the game off and send Georgia through to face Spain, a team who beat them 7-1 in qualifying.

Yes, about that: Georgia qualified through a playoff path made up of teams from the third tier of the Nations League, which meant their actual qualifying campaign (where they won two games out of eight, both against Cyprus) didn’t matter much. In the playoffs, they defeated Luxembourg and then Greece, on penalties, in Tbilisi. Having enjoyed several slices of luck to reach the finals, they also benefited from landing in Group F – meaning they knew exactly what was needed in their final game, which happened to be against a team who were already through. So, do the plucky Crusaders, everyone’s new second-favourite team, deserve to be here? In theory, perhaps not; but on the pitch, they do.

Mikautadze, recently relegated from Ligue 1 with Metz, is the tournament’s top scorer, the elastic Mamardashvili is its star keeper and in “Kvaradona”, they have a superstar who can elevate his teammates. Beating any Portugal side on this stage, regardless of the circumstances, is an incredible achievement for a nation of less than four million people (for some context, the Instachat account for Cristiano Ronaldo’s new fragrance, CR7, has 10 million followers). It was Ronaldo who opened Dinamo Tbilisi’s academy in 2013, when Kvaratskhelia was just another wide-eyed youngster watching on. Back then, Georgia were sliding into triple figures in the world rankings; nights like this were beyond the realms of fantasy.

Uefa created the Nations League partly to open up qualifying spots to emerging teams, and nobody has made better use of it than Georgia. They have only lost once in 18 games in the competition, moving up from the fourth tier to the second, where they will next face the Czechs, Ukraine and Albania. The top flight is a realistic target – but nobody on the streets of Tbilisi is thinking about that. “This is the best day in the lives of Georgians,” Kvaratskhelia said after the final whistle. “We just made history. Even if there is just a 1% chance, we proved you can make it happen.” Spain, consider yourselves warned.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Oh, it’s a rest day. But you can still join our writers for the latest news here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

As the attacker begins his 87th feint in his run-up … new Ifab rules for penalties in 2026: goalkeepers must have their backs turned at the time of the shot. In case of a save, an indirect free-kick” – France keeper Mike Maignan gets fresh and funky after being told his penalty save from Robert Lewandowski didn’t count, leading to a retake which whistled past him after the striker took an age tap-dancing his way to the ball.

EURO 2024 DAILY LETTERS

I have lived here on the Silver Coast 60km north of Lisbon for 15 years. By now I am a familiar face in the local town and just this morning my barber saw me and dashed out of his salon to gleefully tell me how dreadful England are. So I was especially pleased with the Portugal v Georgia result. I think I will go for a haircut today” – Martin Reece.

Your comments about Glastonbury not showing the England men’s football team on Sunday (yesterday’s Euro 2024 Daily, full email edition), brought to mind a similar circumstance at the Cambridge Folk Festival two years ago. The Lionesses were playing the second half of their Euros final when Billy Bragg was due on the main stage. He’d watched the first half and was just managing to hold it together when he suddenly said: ‘That England flag is really distracting.’ He then explained he was really nervous and asked if he could have a score update. A few minutes later a ripple went around the crowd and we knew they’d won. Billy then led us in a rendition of what should be our English anthem, Jerusalem. It was wonderful” – Jane Beer.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Jane Beer. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.

A MESSAGE FROM THE MAN

Big Website is offering Euro 2024 Daily readers a special discounted rate for our all-access digital subscription which, we’re told by the higher-ups, is the top level of support and gives you unlimited access to the app and ad-free reading. Get in! So click here to get 50% off the usual price for the first three months [and to see the full terms and conditions]. What are you waiting for? Become a Big Website ultra now!