Georgia make their final tournament debut against Türkiye before Cristiano Ronaldo looks for more records as Portugal take on Czechia.
Türkiye’s Yusuf Yazıcı, Portugal’s Rúben Dias and Georgia’s Guram Kashia
Matchday 1 of UEFA EURO 2024 concludes with the first two games in Group F, with Georgia cast as underdogs on their tournament debut against Türkiye before Cristiano Ronaldo bids to add to his 130 international goals when Portugal take on Czechia.
We preview the action in Dortmund and Leipzig.
Turkey vs Georgia (Group F, Dortmund)
Türkiye are without a win in five games as they kick off their campaign against newcomers Georgia, but Vincenzo Montella’s side do not lack ambition as they kick off their finals in Dortmund. As forward Yusuf Yazıcı put it: “Our goal is to reach the semi-final at least, just as we did at EURO 2008.”
Georgia may not be aiming quite that high, but as he considered how he would address his team-mates before kick-off, captain Guram Kashia felt inspired: “I will say this one thing: that we deserve to be where we are and that we should definitely enjoy this tournament and the game. But make no mistake: we, the players, will do our very best and we will show what we can do.”
Key stat: Georgia should not feel too comfortable if they make it to half-time with the game goalless; 11 of Türkiye’s 14 EURO goals have come after the break.
Portugal vs Czechia (Group F, Leipzig)
Cristiano Ronaldo will appear at a record sixth EURO if he takes the field in Portugal’s opener, with his team-mates determined to exceed expectations. “We’ve got to approach this EURO being prepared to outdo ourselves, and not to beat specific opponents,” said defender Rúben Dias. “If we have this mission of outdoing ourselves, we can achieve our full potential.”
Czechia’s Tomáš Holeš feels honoured at the prospect of trying to stop ‘CR7’ from adding to his world-record international goal tally. “Playing against him would be a dream come true for me because I’ve been watching him my whole career,” said the Slavia Praha man. “He’s the biggest star of my generation together with [Lionel] Messi, so I am looking forward to facing him.”
Key stat: Portugal won all ten of their qualifiers, scoring the most goals (36) and conceding the fewest (two) of any side involved.