Euro 2024: Spain crush Georgia 4-1, England come back 2-1 vs Slovakia

Spain recovered from conceding an early own-goal to beat Georgia 4-1 for a spot in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals, ending one of the tournament’s most compelling underdog stories.

Goals from midfielders Rodri and Fabián Ruiz brought Spain back into the game after Robin Le Normand’s own-goal in the 18th minute had given Georgia a shock lead.

Nico Williams and Dani OImo took the game out of Georgia’s reach with two more goals late in the game as heavy rain fell.

Spain will play host nation Germany in the quarterfinals on Friday in Stuttgart.

The loss ends Georgia’s first-ever major tournament campaign, which included a 2-0 upset win over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.

Despite the lopsided score, Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili had another standout game with nine saves to prevent a rout.

Spain had beaten Georgia 7-1 in qualifying last year, but this game was a close contest until the last 20 minutes and testament to Georgia’s rapid improvement under coach Willy Sagnol.

Playing their fourth game of Euro 2024, Spain had yet to concede a goal all tournament.

That soon changed when Otar Kakabadze surged down the right flank for Georgia and crossed low. Le Normand chested the ball past his own goalkeeper, with the defender apparently distracted by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia arriving behind him to meet the cross.

Spain took its time to get back into the game, but Rodri — back from a one-game suspension — levelled the score in the 39th with a low shot from just outside the box.

Georgia remained a threat on the counter, including with an audacious shot from the halfway line by Kvaratskhelia, but Spain midfielder Ruiz made it 2-1 in the 51st when he rose unmarked to meet a cross from the 16-year-old Lamine Yamal.

Needing a goal, Georgia had to open up its compact defensive formation and conceded twice more as Williams scored in the 75th and substitute Olmo eight minutes later.

Bellingham saves England with outrageous 98th-minute overhead kick

England’s hopes to bring home a trophy after nearly 60 years were about to be shattered again as the team stayed down 1-0 almost till the end of the game in Gelsenkirchen.

One goal by Slovakia’s Ivan Schranz seemed enough to knock the Three Lions out early in the competition.

The Slavia Prague winger flashed a low shot into the bottom-right corner of the net in the 25th minute to seal a convincing start by the team led by former Napoli coach Francesco Calzona.

For so long it looked like being one of the most humbling defeats England had ever suffered — bringing back memories of their elimination at the hands of Iceland at Euro 2016.

Boos rang around the stadium in the first half as frustration grew among fans.

England’s hopes reignited in the second half as they took control of the game in search of a leveller.

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Phil Foden tapped the ball in from close range. But the VAR spotted he was offside and disallowed the goal.

It seemed all over till Jude Bellingham found an astonishing overhead kick that rolled past Slovakia’s goalkeeper to level the game 1-1 in the 98th minute.

Less than sixty seconds into extra time, Harry Kane nodded in the final 2-1 for England.

Despite reaching the next stage, however, English fans seemed far from happy about the way their team played against Slovakia, and during the whole tournament.

They obtained only one victory in the regular 90 minutes, beating Serbia 1-0 in their Euro 2024 opening game.

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The quarter-final against Switzerland next Saturday could be their toughest game yet, as their opponent have proved to be one of the best teams so far, particularly after comfortably routing Italy 2-0 in Saturday’s knockout.