When is it? How can you watch it? What are the possible line-ups?
Spain and Georgia meet in the Round Of 16 match at UEFA EURO 2024.
Spain and Georgia at a glance
When: Monday 01 July (03:00 GMT+8 kick-off)
Where: Cologne Stadium, Cologne
What: UEFA EURO 2024 Round Of 16
What do you need to know?
On paper, this may seem like a skewed contest. Spain, after all, have not been dubbed the favourites for nothing. The only team to win all three group games – including victory against holders Italy – they are also yet to concede a single goal, not to mention their convincing triumphs against Georgia in qualifying. Luis de la Fuente’s side prevailed 7-1 in Tbilisi, where Álvaro Morata hit a hat-trick and Lamine Yamal scored on his debut, before adding a 3-1 home success.
“There are no easy opponents at a EURO, but we’ll do our best to perform as well as we can,” said Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who struck for Georgia in that second game. “We’ll be there to fight and win.” The three-time European champions would do well to heed his words. Willy Sagnol’s debutants have caused a sensation in Germany, not least by beating Portugal 2-0 to progress. They also boast the group stage top scorer in Georges Mikautadze and, swept along by the fervour of their fans, they do not want their adventure to end.
Possible line-ups
Spain: Unai Simón; Carvajal, Le Normand, Nacho, Cucurella; Pedri, Rodri, Fabián Ruiz; Yamal, Morata, Williams
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: Carvajal, Le Normand, Vivian
Georgia: Mamardashvili; Tsitaishvili, Dvali, Kashia, Kverkvelia, Kakabadze; Kochorashvili, Kiteishvili, Chakvetadze; Kvaratskhelia, Mikautadze
Suspended: Mekvabishvili
Misses next match if booked: Gvelesiani, Kashia, Kochorashvili, Kverkvelia
Form guide
Spain:
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WWWWWD
Georgia:
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WDLWDW
Expert predictions
Graham Hunter, Spain reporter
It’s understandable that the outside world is holding its breath to see whether or not Georgia can pull off an Iberian double, having beaten Portugal. But Spain have that focused, intense, hard-nosed air about them right now, which, when allied to their talent and experience, means that La Roja should still be viewed as able to cope with the patent threat of a buoyant and thrilling underdog. De La Fuente’s team are here to win the whole thing, and tests like this simply need to be dealt with.
Vakhtang Bzikadze, Georgia reporter
Georgia have already achieved beyond their wildest dreams, but it seems we still don’t know the full extent of their potential. It’s one thing to beat a team who have already qualified from the group stage in Portugal, it’s another to win in the knockouts. Spain and Georgia have faced each other several times before, with La Roja winning 7-1 in qualifying. However, Georgia triumphed 1-0 in a friendly in June 2016, which should offer them hope of another historic victory.
Views from the camps
Luis de la Fuente, Spain coach: “We have massive respect for a rival who have had a brilliant tournament and performed superbly against Portugal. Georgia’s performance level keeps going up. We simply have to do what we always try to do – produce the best version of ourselves.”
Willy Sagnol, Georgia coach: “It was a very emotional moment to go through because we did the unexpected. We are very happy. Spain have had more time to recover, but it’s OK – I’m sure my players are well recovered and excited to get on the pitch. Spain are the clearly the best team in the competition till now. It’s impossible to get success, if you only think about defending. We want to show our opponents and Europe that we aren’t only good in defence, and can have the same kind of performance as we showed against Portugal.”