Next in our Euro 2024 Fantasy team previews, we take a look at Georgia in Group F.
Despite finishing fourth in a five-team qualifying pool, some success in the latest Nations League allowed them to try the play-off route.
From there, a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Greece secured the former Soviet republic their first-ever spot in a major international tournament. But a tricky group awaits them.
In these country-by-country guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each nation, taking a stab at predicted line-ups, reviewing the road to Germany and more.
To do this, we’ll be calling on the help of correspondents from each nation. Here, we enlist the services of X user @GeorgianFooty.
And new to these team previews is a Premium Members section detailing the official Opta data from Euro 2024 qualification. This data has recently arrived in our Members Area, so sign up today to gain access to the all-important stats you need for this summer’s Euro Fantasy game.
All prices given are from the official Fantasy Euro 2024 game.
THE ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 5 | +20 | 21 |
| 2 | Scotland | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 17 |
| 3 | Norway | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 11 |
| 4 | Georgia | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 18 | -6 | 8 |
| 5 | Cyprus | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 28 | -25 | 0 |
- Play-off results: Georgia 2-0 Luxembourg, Georgia 0-0 Greece (won 4-2 on penalties)
These debutants will certainly begin Euro 2024 as underdogs. The sole nation to qualify with a negative goal difference, none of the others accumulated as few as eight points or conceded more goals (18). Georgia allowed the sixth-most shots (156) of all 53 competitors, at a rate worse than the likes of Andorra, Malta and Kosovo. Amongst all that, a heavy 7-1 home loss to Spain wasn’t ideal.
Not that Willy Sagnol’s side will care. Having previously topped Nations League C Group 4, they got to skip all March friendlies and instead battle for one of the final available spots.
Without superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (€7.0m) due to suspension, a Budu Zivzivadze (€5.0m) brace overcame Luxembourg in controversial circumstances. By keeping another clean sheet five days later against Greece, Nika Kvekveskiri‘s (€4.5m) winning spot kick caused scenes of delirium in Tbilisi.
Of course, it means that only Cyprus and Luxembourg were defeated in open play.
QUALIFICATION IN NUMBERS
- Most starts: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Guram Kashia (10)
- Most goals: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (4)
- Most assists: Giorgi Chakvetadze (3)
- Clean sheets: 3 from 10
UNDERLYING STATS
MOST RECENT INTERNATIONAL LINE-UPS
21/03/2024 – Luxembourg (h)
[3-5-2] Mamardashvili; Kverkvelia, Kashia, Dvali; Kakabadze, Chakvetadze (Kvekveskiri 77), Kochorashvili (Kankava 87), Kiteishvili, Shengelia (Tsitaishvili 72); Zivzivadze (Kvilitaia 87), Mikautadze (Davitashvili 77)
26/03/2024 – Greece (h)
[3-4-3] Mamardashvili; Kverkvelia, Kashia, Dvali; Kakabadze, Kiteishvili (Kvekveskiri 104), Kochorashvili, Shengelia (Tsitaishvili 86); Chakvetadze (Davitashvili 104), Zivzivadze (Mikautadze 75), Kvaratskhelia (Kvilitaia 109)
UPCOMING FIXTURES
| Date | Competition | Opposition |
|---|---|---|
| 9 June | Friendly | Montenegro (a) |
GROUP FIXTURES
- 18 June: Turkey
- 22 June: Czechia
- 26 June: Portugal
HOW FAR WILL THEY GET?
The rest of this article below is completely free to read but requires a Fantasy Football Scout user account for access – you can get yours at no cost here
STAY TUNED FOR MORE EURO 2024 COVERAGE!
A reminder that we’ll be covering the European Championship in great detail this summer.
Part of that coverage will be the usual team-by-team guides on all competing 24 nations in Euro 2024.
But we’ll also have team reveals, strategy guides and much more. The official UEFA Fantasy game will be the main game we’re covering, which you read about below:
There’ll also be £500+ worth of prizes if you join our mini-league! Click the below to sign up:
If you want to be part of our coverage and are a fan of one of the countries competing, do get involved via the below:
10 months, 1 day agoKvara's on fire, your defense is terrified!