Georgian national football team earns int’l media praise for Euro 2024 performance after exit

The Georgian national football team received widespread praise for their performance at the ongoing European Championship in Germany after their exit following the last 16 knockout round defeat to Spain on Sunday.

Fox Soccer, MARCA, The Guardian, BBC, Reuters published positive reviews of the squad’s performances at their first-ever European Championship and first qualification for the playoff round of the tournament.

• Georgian national football team exits Euro 2024 after last 16 defeat to Spain

What is a surprise is how much they will be missed, how far they came. Seven sheets were strung across the stand spelling out the word BELIEVE in big red, capital letters and for a while they really did”, an article by The Guardian said on the team’s exit.

Giorgi Kochorashvili had already described this as ‘a beautiful, unbelievable film’, and that was before they scored the opener on 18 minutes. They did not truly fall until the 75th, and they did so seeking a way back into a game they refused to give up on”, the review of their 4-1 defeat to Spain added.

Eurosport said the team’s “fairytale run never looked like continuing here - despite the opener - but they head home from their first major international tournament with their heads held high and memories of group success and that famous victory over Portugal”.

MARCA, Spain’s national daily tabloid sport newspaper, said “[t]he 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”.

BBC’s report on the team’s tournament exit said Georgia had “left Germany having earned respect from their opponents after a fairytale progression to the knockout stages in their debut major tournament [...] their supporters were certainly pleased with what they saw, remaining in their seats after full-time to chant to the backdrop of a drum and applaud the Georgia players”.

Reutres cited Georgian head coach Willy Sagnol as saying the team “failed to pull off more giant-killing against Spain on Saturday, but once the disappointment of defeat lifts, they will be overjoyed at how Euro 2024 went”.

The official Facebook page of the tournament posted photos of Georgian players with a caption “a tournament to be proud of”.

Fox Soccer posted on social media “Georgia put on a show in EURO 2024, can't wait to see them next time”.

National team players also received support from their respective clubs.

England’s Watford posted a supportive message for winger Giorgi Chakvetadze, expressing pride in his performance at the tournament.

Giorgi Kochorashvili's Spanish club Levante also acknowledged the historic result achieved by the team and congratulated the country and the midfielder with a congratulatory message in the Georgian language.

Spanish club Valencia praised Giorgi Mamardashvili for his outstanding performance as a goalkeeper, which the club said had made him a “part of the history of his country”.

Polish club KS Cracovia SA dedicated a special post to Otar Kakabadze, a right-back for the club, honouring his contribution to the national team’s journey at the tournament.

The Georgian squad qualified for the knockout round of the Championship as the best third-placed team in the group stage, where they finished behind Portugal and Turkey in Group F after defeating the former 2-0 in the final game of the round.

• Georgian national football team leads three team stats at Euro 2024

They also lost to Turkey on the opening matchday before drawing with Czechia.