Euro 2024 playoffs: History for Georgia after shootout win over Greece

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The 24-team field for this summer’s European Championship will be cemented Tuesday, as the last three tournament berths are being decided by the qualifying playoffs. Below, we’re tracking the results of the all-or-nothing playoff finals that’ll decide which nations seal last-gasp spots at the marquee event in Germany and which ones narrowly miss out.

Path A

ONGOING: Wales 0-0 Poland

Match in extra time.

Path B

Ukraine 2-1 Iceland

Ukraine showed incredible determination to secure its place at Euro 2024. After staging an epic late comeback in their playoff semifinal win over Bosnia and Herzegovina last week, the Ukrainians showcased their fighting spirit once more on Tuesday, overturning a halftime deficit to defeat Iceland 2-1 and reach this summer’s tournament.

Albert Gudmundsson, Iceland’s most dangerous player, opened the scoring with a sensational solo goal in the 30th minute, maneuvering around multiple defenders before unleashing an unstoppable shot from outside the area. But Ukraine took control after the break, equalizing nine minutes into the second half courtesy of a similarly splendid effort from Viktor Tsyhankov. Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk delivered the winner with a low strike into the bottom corner in the 84th minute, sending the predominantly Ukrainian crowd inside Poland’s Wroclaw Stadium into a frenzy; Ukraine continues to play its “home” matches elsewhere due to the ongoing Russian invasion. Both second-half tallies were set up by Georgiy Sudakov, the ascendant 21-year-old Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder who’s catching the eye of Europe’s top clubs.

Sergiy Rebrov’s team will now slot into Group E at Euro 2024, a favorable quartet that features Belgium, Slovakia, and Romania.

Path C

Georgia 0-0 Greece (Georgia wins 4-2 on penalties)

Georgia qualified for a major tournament for the first time as an independent nation after beating Greece in a penalty shootout in Tbilisi. The first of three playoff finals was high on energy and low on quality for the majority of the contest, with just a single shot on target between the teams after 90 minutes.

Georgia, which separated from the Soviet Union in 1991, survived a scare in the 102nd minute when Konstantinos Mavropanos smacked the crossbar with a leaping header off a corner kick. It then withstood the injury-forced departure of star player Khvicha Kvaratskhelia before going to penalties. Giorgi Mamardashvili saved the first of Greece’s spot-kicks, and Nika Kvekveskiri dispatched the decisive goal into the bottom left corner to send the 55,000 in attendance into rapture.

Georgia will face Turkey, Portugal, and Czechia in Group F, while Greece must wait to make a first major tournament appearance since 2014.

Completed Euro 2024 groups

With the Euro 2024 draw being conducted months before the completion of the playoff matches, Tuesday’s participants already knew their assigned groups and opponents should they reach the tournament.

Match schedule (kickoffs in ET)

• June 14: Germany vs. Scotland – 3 p.m.
• June 15: Hungary vs. Switzerland – 9 a.m.
• June 19: Germany vs. Hungary – 12 p.m.
• June 19: Scotland vs. Switzerland – 3 p.m.
• June 23: Switzerland vs. Germany – 3 p.m.
• June 23: Scotland vs. Hungary – 3 p.m.

Match schedule (kickoffs in ET)

• June 15: Spain vs. Croatia – 12 p.m.
• June 15: Italy vs. Albania – 3 p.m.
• June 19: Croatia vs. Albania – 9 a.m.
• June 20: Spain vs. Italy – 3 p.m.
• June 24: Albania vs. Spain – 3 p.m.
• June 24: Croatia vs. Italy – 3 p.m.

Match schedule (kickoffs in ET)

• June 16: Slovenia vs. Denmark – 12 p.m.
• June 16: Serbia vs. England – 3 p.m.
• June 20: Slovenia vs. Serbia – 9 a.m.
• June 20: Denmark vs. England – 12 p.m.
• June 25: England vs. Slovenia – 3 p.m.
• June 25: Denmark vs. Serbia – 3 p.m.

Match schedule (kickoffs in ET)

• June 16: Wales or Poland vs. Netherlands – 9 a.m.
• June 17: Austria vs. France – 3 p.m.
• June 21: Wales or Poland vs. Austria – 12 p.m.
• June 21: Netherlands vs. France 3 p.m.
• June 25: Netherlands vs. Austria – 12 p.m.
• June 25: France vs. Wales or Poland – 12 p.m.

Match schedule (kickoffs in ET)

• June 17: Romania vs. Ukraine – 9 a.m.
• June 17: Belgium vs. Slovakia – 12 p.m.
• June 21: Slovakia vs. Ukraine – 9 a.m.
• June 22: Belgium vs. Romania – 3 p.m.
• June 26: Slovakia vs. Romania – 12 p.m.
• June 26: Ukraine vs. Belgium – 12 p.m.

Match schedule (kickoffs in ET)

• June 18: Turkey vs. Georgia – 12 p.m.
• June 18: Portugal vs. Czechia – 3 p.m.
• June 22: Georgia vs. Czechia – 9 a.m.
• June 22: Turkey vs. Portugal – 12 p.m.
• June 26: Georgia vs. Portugal – 3 p.m.
• June 26: Czechia vs. Turkey – 3 p.m.

The top two teams from each group, along with the four best third-placed finishers, advance to the knockout stage of the competition, which opens June 29.

The Euro 2024 final takes place July 14 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.