Georgia makes its debut at a major soccer tournament when the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people plays Turkey in Group F at the European Championship. The other teams in the group are Portugal and the Czech Republic. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) in Dortmund. Here’s what to know about the match:
Match facts
Georgia is the only debutant at Euro 2024, though it still
has a pedigree at the tournament. Three Georgian players were in the Soviet
Union team that won the inaugural title in 1960.
The country has celebrated the national team being on the
big stage for the first time by releasing commemorative stamps and putting
special coins in circulation for the occasion.
Expect to see Georgia relying heavily on Khvicha
Kvaratskhelia, the undoubted superstar of the team after his exploits for
Napoli over the last two seasons — including winning the MVP in its Serie A
title-winning season of 2022-23.
Turkey was many pundits’ highly fancied outsiders at the
last Euros but flopped, losing all three of its group games and scoring just
one goal. The national team has gone more under the radar this time, despite
topping a qualifying group containing Croatia.
Former Italy striker Vincenzo Montella is Turkey’s coach,
somewhat by accident. He ended up in the job in September 2023 having been
working in Turkish club soccer as coach of Adana Demirspor for the previous two
years.
Team news
Arda Guler, a 19-year-old playmaker at Real Madrid, is set
to be the beating heart of Turkey’s team for the first time at a major
tournament — and is expected to star for the national team for years. İrfan Can
Kahveci and Cenk Tosun have been training separately ahead of the game while
defender Ozan Kabak was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining an ACL
injury in the warmup games.
Georgia coach Willy Sagnol has been working with “almost a
full complement” of players at the team’s training camp in Austria before
heading to Germany, the country’s soccer federation said. No specific injuries
have been disclosed.
Georgia has one squad member who plays in the United States
— Atlanta United winger Saba Lobhanidze.
By the numbers
A moped driver traveled 4,000 kilometers (about 2,500 miles)
over 12 days to deliver a Georgian flag covered in messages of support from
people back home to the team at its training base in Germany on Saturday.
Kvaratskhelia, who is aged 23, has scored 15 goals in 30
games for Georgia.
Turkey hasn’t won any of its last five games, the most
recent being a 2-1 loss to Poland in a warmup for Euro 2024.
What they’re saying
“We all need to try to create another miracle and reward our
support with more beautiful days.” — Georgia midfielder Nika Kvekveskiri.
“Euro 2020 was disappointing for us. We were a young team
back then, and we still are. We are well-prepared for this tournament ... I
believe we are ready for this tournament.” — Turkey defender Merih Demiral. -AP