Euro 2024: Spain thrash Georgia to reach quarters; Bellingham and Kane score as England progress
Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo all scored as Spain came from behind to beat surprise packages Georgia 4-1 at Euro 2024 on Sunday and set up a blockbuster quarterfinal against hosts Germany.
Robin Le Normand’s own goal gave Georgia a shock lead in the 18th minute of this last-16 tie to send their noisy supporters wild in Cologne.
It was the first goal Spain had conceded at the competition but they came back to equalise six minutes before the interval courtesy of Manchester City midfielder Rodri.
Ruiz then headed home in the 51st minute and Williams ran through for the third before substitute Olmo made sure of the win as La Roja stayed on track to become European champions for the fourth time.
Spain now take on Germany in the last eight in Stuttgart on Friday in a repeat of the Euro 2008 final, which they won 1-0 to begin their golden era of dominance in international football.
Luis de la Fuente’s team are looking to bring back the glory days and they were expected to brush Georgia aside.
They would have ultimately won by a far greater margin had they converted more of their chances, with 16-year-old winger Lamine Yamal squandering several opportunities in his attempt to become the youngest ever goal-scorer at the Euros.
Georgia are ranked 74th in the world, 66 places below Spain. Willy Sagnol’s team lost twice to Spain in qualifying, going down 7-1 at home and 3-1 away.
Yet they still qualified for their first major tournament and then made it to the knockout stages with a stunning 2-0 win over Portugal. They now go home with their heads held high despite eventually crumbling here.
They have a lively attacking partnership between Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze that is a danger for any opponent, and Giorgi Mamardashvili has been one of the best goalkeepers at the tournament.
England were 86 seconds away from an embarrassing Euro 2024 exit until Jude Bellingham’s stunner inspired a 2-1 extra-time win over Slovakia in the last 16.
Bellingham, only 21 on Saturday, showed his talismanic quality yet again to haul England level with their first shot on target in the 95th minute.
His superb bicycle kick from a long throw-in beat Martin Dubravka to cancel out Ivan Schranz’s first-half opener and send the tie to extra-time.
Harry Kane then stepped up 50 seconds into the additional 30 minutes to nod home Ivan Toney’s flick and give England a victory which sets up a quarter-final with Switzerland next Saturday – kick-off 5pm – which had looked almost impossible only moments earlier.
The pressure had been building ever since Schranz fired Slovakia into a first-half lead with his third goal of the tournament. The Slavia Prague winger was allowed to stride forward from midfield past Marc Guehi to meet David Strelec’s ball into the box before beating Jordan Pickford one-on-one.
Kane was guilty of wasting a rare clear-cut opportunity when he nodded Foden’s free-kick past the near post, while Declan Rice was unfortunate to hit only the base of the post with an excellent 25-yard drive.
Instead it was left to Bellingham to pick up the pieces with seconds remaining, before Kane showed his own captain’s quality in extra-time to give England – and Southgate – a stay of reprieve for another six days.
