Georgia vs Czechia facts

Georgia and Czechia meet for the first time at Hamburg's Volksparkstadion in the second round of Group F games at UEFA EURO 2024.

This is the only Group F fixture that has not previously been played.

Both sides are aiming to bounce back from opening defeats on 18 June. Georgia's first ever game in a major tournament ended in a 3-1 loss to Türkiye at the BVB Stadion Dortmund despite Georges Mikautadze having levelled at 1-1; Czechia conceded in the 92nd minute to go down 2-1 to Portugal at the Leipzig Stadium, Lukáš Provod having given them a 62nd-minute lead before a Robin Hranáč own goal seven minutes later.

EURO facts

Georgia

Georgia are making their finals debut at EURO 2024 – the only side that have not previously appeared in the tournament.

Willy Sagnol's team are the 36th nation to feature at a UEFA European Championship.

Georgia beat 2004 champions Greece to reach the finals, prevailing 4-2 on penalties in Tbilisi on 26 March after a goalless 120 minutes at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Nika Kvekveskiri converting the decisive kick.

The Georgians had overcome Luxembourg 2-0 in the Path C play-off semi-final thanks to a goal in each half from Budu Zivzivadze.

Georgia finished fourth in EURO 2024 qualifying Group A, collecting eight points from their eight games, their two wins both coming against Cyprus (2-1 a, 4-0 h). They also suffered two heavy defeats against Spain (1-7 h, 0-6 a) and ended behind the three-time European champions plus Scotland and Norway.

Under Vladimír Weiss, Georgia were also fourth in their EURO 2020 qualifying section, again on eight points, finishing behind Switzerland, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland in Group D.

Sagnol has been Georgia coach since 2021, succeeding Weiss after four years in charge.

This is Georgia's first game at the Volksparkstadion.

Czechia

European champions as part of Czechoslovakia in 1976, defeating West Germany on penalties in a famous shoot-out thanks to Antonín Panenka's iconic spot kick, Czechia have featured in every tournament since the separation of Czechoslovakia. This is their eighth successive appearance.

Runners-up to Germany on debut in 1996, they were also semi-finalists in 2004 and have reached the quarter-finals in two of their last three tournaments.

At EURO 2020 Czechia were third in Group D behind England and Croatia, finishing level with the latter on four points. They impressively beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the round of 16 but then lost 2-1 to Denmark in the last eight.

Patrik Schick was the joint top scorer in the tournament with five goals, level with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Schick was also awarded Goal of the Tournament for his long-range strike against Scotland in the group stage.

Czechia qualified for EURO 2024 as Group E runners-up, finishing level with section winners Albania on 15 points but behind on head-to-head record. They qualified with a 3-0 home win against Moldova in their final fixture.

Jaroslav Šilhavý oversaw qualifying but left his post in November 2023 with Ivan Hašek appointed as his successor.

Czechia have played twice before at the Volksparkstadion, losing both games without scoring and conceding five goals. They went down 2-0 against eventual champions Italy in the 2006 FIFA World Cup group stage and were beaten 3-0 by then-holders Germany in 2018 World Cup qualifying on 8 October 2016.

Links and trivia

Current Czechia goalkeeper coach Radek Černý played 90 minutes in each leg as Slavia Praha were beaten on away goals by Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup second qualifying round (3-1 h, 0-2 a). Matúš Kozáčik, now Černý's assistant, was Slavia's reserve goalkeeper in both matches.