We are into the knockout stages of the 2024 European Championship and some shocks in the group stage mean we have some newcomers to the round of 16.
The game between Spain and Georgia will be played on the 30th of June at the Rhein Energie Stadion in Cologne.
The Spanish finished top of Group B on 9 points while the visitors finished third in Group F on 4 points.
💪🏼🇩🇪 Die Gewinner!!#VamosEspaña | #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/07wEYYXv2e— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) June 27, 2024
💪🏼🇩🇪 Die Gewinner!!#VamosEspaña | #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/07wEYYXv2e
Spain come into the match on the back of a 1-0 win over Albania in their final group game. Spain had already qualified and could afford to rotate their starting XI but there was no drop in performance as they scored the winning goal in the 13th minute.
The victory over Albania means Spain have won each of their 5 most recent fixtures in all competitions.
There have been wins over Italy and Croatia at Euro 2024, the latter of which was an excellent 3-0 victory plus friendly wins over Andorra and Northern Ireland prior to this tournament.
Trends show Spain have been strong defensively in recent matches and they have kept a clean sheet in 4 of their last 5 games in all competitions.
Spain have yet to concede a goal at the 2024 EURO . Spain have won 6 of their last 7 EURO 2024 games with the only defeat coming via a penalty shootout against Italy in the 2021 semi-final.
Georgia arrive at the Rhein Energie Stadion having recorded one of the most memorable nights in their history by beating Portugal 2-0 in their final group match.
Portugal had already qualified as group winners so made a lot of changes to their team but Georgia were excellent and opened the scoring in just the 2nd minute. Georgia doubled their advantage from the penalty spot in the 57th minute.
The win over Portugal means Georgia are undefeated in 5 of their 6 most recent fixtures in all competitions. There have been wins over Luxembourg and Greece in EURO 2024 qualifying, the latter of which was via a penalty shootout, plus a 3-1 friendly win over Montenegro.
This is the first time Georgia have played at the EURO 2024 and they have seen plenty of goals. There have been 8 goals across their 3 matches at an average of 2.66 goals per game.
Looking ahead to the team news and Spain can welcome Rodri back to their midfield following suspension. The Spanish are likely to go with a front three of Alvaro Morata, Nico Williams, and Lamine Yamal.
Georgia will be without suspended midfielder Anzor Mekvabishvili following his yellow card against Portugal. However, he was unlikely to start the game and Georgia will go with the same starting XI as the win over Portugal.
This will be a special night for Georgia but Spain have been ruthless in this tournament and our algorithm has them as the clear favourites to win.
The fairytale could end abruptly for Georgia in this game and our prediction is a 3-0 win to Spain.