Outsider Georgia has reached the quarter-finals of a U21 European Championship for the first time and is a possible opponent of the German team there.
In front of a record crowd of 43,004 spectators in Tbilisi, the co-hosts were able to beat the Netherlands 1-1 (1-1) to win the group with five points. Georgia would face Germany on Saturday should the defending champions still qualify for the knockout stages on Wednesday.
Portugal secured second place and thus also the ticket for the knockout stages with a 2-1 (0-0) win against Belgium, the former Bayern professional Tiago Dantas only scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. The Portuguese are now up against England, with Belgium and the Netherlands eliminated.
In Group B, Spain saved the group victory with a 2:2 (0:1) against Ukraine, who were tied on points. Abel Ruiz averted an impending duel with France in the quarter-finals with his equalizer in the 90th minute. The previously failed teams of Croatia and Romania drew 0-0, both ended the tournament without a win or a goal.
Former FC Bayern professional converts penalty kicks
Georgia took the lead after a nice solo by Zuriko Davitashvili (42nd). After Kenneth Taylor equalized (45+6), the Dutch pushed for the winning goal, but it didn’t want to fall – at the final whistle there was boundless cheering in the almost sold-out stadium.
Never before had more fans watched a U21 European Championship game, only on Saturday did Georgia raise the record to 41,887 in a 2-2 win over Belgium.
The Portuguese, who were under pressure to win, took the lead through Joao Neves (56th) before Belgium could dream of the quarter-finals thanks to Yorbe Vertessen’s equalization (65th). Tiago Dantas, who made two Bundesliga appearances for Bayern in the 2020/21 season, converted a penalty just before the end.