Turkey vs Georgia LIVE: Euro 2024 result and reaction after Arda Guler wonder goal
Turkey 3-1 Georgia: Fans clashed in Dortmund after heavy rain saw leaks at the Westfalenstadion leaving supporters drenched, before the game of the tournament unfolded on the pitch
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Teenager Arder Guler’s superb long-range strike helped Turkey to a victorious start to their Euro 2024 campaign with a 3-1 win over tournament debutants Georgia amid a fevered atmosphere in Dortmund.
Mert Muldur gave Turkey a deserved lead in the 25th minute, smashing a swerving volley past helpless Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili from the edge of the box. Georgia, playing their first major international tournament, equalised in the 32nd minute when Georges Mikautadze turned Giorgi Kochorashvili’s cross past Mert Gunok, who should have done better in covering his near post.
The 19-year-old Guler, coming into the tournament fresh from a run of goals for Real Madrid, scored after 65 minutes, curling an unstoppable shot into the top corner. Georgia pressed for a late equaliser but, with Mamardashvili coming up for a series of corners, Kerem Akturkoglu broke away and passed into an empty net in added time to make it 3-1.
Follow all the reaction below, which continues with updates from Portugal vs Czechia in Group F
Match stats and head-to-head
This is Georgia’s first major international tournament, so of course two sides have never met in international competition, though they have faced off in three friendlies and two World Cup qualifiers between 2002 and 2012.
The first meeting came in August 2002, when Turkey won 3-0 in a friendly, before World Cup qualifiers in September 2004 (which ended 1-1) and March 2005, in which Turkey ran out 5-2 winners.
Georgia’s only win against Turkey came in February 2007, when they won 1-0 in another friendly.
The two sides have not met since 2012, when Turkey ran out 3-1 winners thanks in part to goals from ex-Bayern Munich midfielder Hamit Altintop and recently appointed Borussia Dortmund manager Nuri Sahin.
Euro 2024: Turkey and Georgia fans clash in Dortmund
Euro 2024: Turkey vs Georgia
Good afternoon!
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of Euro 2024. There are two matches taking place today with the first being a Group F clash between Turkey and Georgia.
Turkey underperformed at Euro 2020 after being backed as that tournament’s dark horses and will want to improve this time around. However they come into the competition in rotten form and will hope to build some momentum against Georgia today.
For their part, Georgia are playing in their first ever European Championship. They came through the play-offs to make it into the tournament proper and have been placed in a group they can potential get through. To do so they would need to get a positive result against Turkey this evening.
Kick off is at 5pm and we’ll have all the build-up throughout the day so stick with us.
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