Postpublished at 69 mins
Turkey 2-1 Georgia
Orkun Kokcu with a chance to put Turkey two goals clear but he is off balance when the ball is played into him and he can only send it wide.
Teenager Arda Guler scored on his European Championship debut as Turkey broke Georgia's hearts with a thrilling Group F victory in Dortmund.
Right-back Mert Muldur gave Turkey the lead in the 25th minute with an outrageous volley into the top corner, leaving Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili no chance.
But seven minutes later, Georges Mikautadze scored Georgia's first goal in a major tournament after expertly guiding Giorgi Kochorashvili's cross into the near corner.
In the 65th minute, Real Madrid forward Guler became the third teenager to score on his Euros debut with a sublime, curling strike into the top corner from 25 yards.
Georgia, also playing in a Euros for the first time, fought valiantly and almost snatched a leveller.
Having shown plenty of heart and skill, Willy Sagnol's side came close when Kochorashvili missed a late opportunity, having earlier hit the bar.
And in a frantic finale, they struck the post and had a goalbound effort from Budu Zivzivadze blocked by the head of Samet Akaydin in the fifth minute of added time.
But Turkey sealed the success with the last kick of the game as substitute Kerem Akturkoglu broke clear and, with keeper Mamardashvili having come up for a corner, rolled a finish into an empty net.
Dortmund's famous yellow wall became the red wall as Turkish fans celebrated wildly after their side - on manager Vincenzo Montella's 50th birthday - picked up a valuable three points.
Turkey will look to make it two wins on the bounce on Saturday when they face Portugal, while Georgia play the Czech Republic.
After becoming the first Turkish player to win the Champions League in June when Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund, Guler certainly lived up to the hype that followed him into Euro 2024.
He showed glimpses in the first half of the talent that labelled him the "Turkish Messi", but it was in the second period when he stole the spotlight.
In true Messi-style, Guler picked up the ball on the right side of the pitch and cut in on his left foot before unleashing an unstoppable strike into the top corner – leaving spectators in awe in the pouring Dortmund rain.
At 19 years and 114 days, he became the youngest player to score on his debut in the competition, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo's previous record of 19 years and 128 days set against Greece in 2004.
His dazzling display showed why Real handed Guler a six-year contract and turned down loan offers last summer when they signed the youngster from Fenerbahce.
The goal also gave Turkey the edge in a close contest and he will now look to remain a driving force for a side that reached the Euro 2008 semi-finals.
Defeat was harsh on Georgia, who created history was created after Sagnol’s men beat Greece in a penalty shootout in the play-off final back in March.
The French boss insisted his side would "give it everything" in their first major tournament - and that was exactly what they did from the first minute.
They will take plenty of positives into their next game, despite leaving Dortmund with no points.
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| |
4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0 |
|
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| |
4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
|
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| |
3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| |
4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
|
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| |
4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
|
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| |
4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
|
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| |
4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
|
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| |
2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| |
4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| |
5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| |
6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
|
Manager: Vincenzo Montella
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Willy Sagnol
Formation: 3 - 5 - 2
Manager: Vincenzo Montella
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Willy Sagnol
Formation: 3 - 5 - 2
UEFA European Championship
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All competitions
All competitions
Türkiye have won three of their five meetings with Georgia in all competitions (D1 L1), with this their first encounter since a 3-1 friendly win in May 2012. Georgia’s only previous victory came in a friendly in February 2007 (1-0).
This is Georgia’s first ever game in a major international tournament. Since 2012, three of the eight nations to debut at the European Championship have won their first ever match (D1 L4), with Ukraine beating Sweden in 2012, Wales beating Slovakia in 2016 and Finland beating Denmark in 2020.
Türkiye are taking part in their sixth UEFA European Championship, but this is the first time they have qualified for the tournament in three consecutive editions. Their best result so far is a semi-final in 2008.
Türkiye have lost six of their last seven matches at the UEFA EURO (W1). They have also kept only one clean sheet in their last 12 matches at the tournament, in a 2-0 group stage win against Czech Republic at EURO 2016.
11 of Türkiye’s 14 goals at the UEFA EURO have come after half-time. Indeed, 10 of those have come in the second half of matches, with Semih Sentürk scoring their other such goal in the second half of extra-time against Croatia in 2008 – the latest goal ever scored at the EURO (121:01).
Including qualifying play-off matches, among the 24 teams that have qualified for UEFA EURO 2024, only Ukraine (25 years, 273 days) had a younger starting XI on average than Türkiye during qualifying (26 years, 83 days).
This is the second time Türkiye are facing a side taking part in their first game at the European Championship, previously losing 1-0 to Croatia in EURO 1996.
Georgia manager Willy Sagnol will become the first ever French coach to manage a foreign nation at UEFA EURO tournament. Sagnol played five times at the tournament for France across EURO 2004 and EURO 2008.
Hakan Çalhanoğlu was involved in the most open play shot-ending sequences of any Türkiye player during EURO 2024 qualifying (47). The sequences he played a part in generated 5.43 expected goals, also the most of any teammate.
In EURO 2024 qualifying (including play-offs), no player made more successful dribbles than Georgia’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (44). He averaged 4.8 successful dribbles per 90 minutes, the best ratio of any player (min. 500 minutes).