Georgia, pictured with captain Anzor Mekvabishvili, held out a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands to advance to the quarter-finals. © ANSA / DAVID MDZINARISHVILI
At the U21 European Championships in Georgia and Romania, two more quarter-finalists have been determined. Hosts Georgia and Belgium got through their groups.
27. June 2023
From: cst
Co-hosts Georgia are the biggest surprise of the tournament. Starting as rank underdogs, the Caucasians didn’t lose a game against Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. On Tuesday, Georgia managed a 1-1 draw against the Oranje juniors to even secure group victory. Portugal advanced to the quarter-finals as the second team. Tiago Dantas decided the game against Belgium (2-1) with a penalty in the 89th minute.
Spain and Ukraine were already confirmed as quarter-finalists before the final summit. So it was all about winning the group and for a long time it looked like the Eastern Europeans could take first place. In the 90th minute Abel Ruiz managed to equalize for Spain. Both teams finish the group stage with 7 points – however, Spain (goal difference 6:2) scored one goal more than Ukraine (5:2) and is therefore the group winner.
U21 European Championship: Tuesday’s results
Netherlands 1-1 Georgia
Portugal 2-1 Belgium
Croatia 0-0 Romania
Spain 2-2 Ukraine