Greece put five goals past Kazakhstan in their Euro 2024 qualification playoff semifinals. Can Greece hit another high-five against Georgia in the finals of qualification?
Georgia reached the playoff final by defeating Luxembourg 2-0. Like Greece, Georgia qualified for the Euro 2024 tournament playoffs thanks to their performances in the UEFA Nations League.
Georgia and Greece played eight times previously in all competitions. The Greeks won six and drew two games against Georgia. Their last meeting was in September 2021 in World Cup qualifying. Greece won the match 2-0.
Hello 🇬🇪 Just landed 🛬 #justlanded #Georgia #ethnikiomada pic.twitter.com/F9rOAZSzGX— Ethniki Omada (@EthnikiOmada) March 24, 2024
Hello 🇬🇪 Just landed 🛬 #justlanded #Georgia #ethnikiomada pic.twitter.com/F9rOAZSzGX
Greece’s 5-0 win over Kazakhstan saw four different goal scorers get onto the score sheet along with one own goal. An Anastasios Bakasetas’ penalty got the Greeks up and running.
Dimitrios Pelkas added a second goal in the 15th minute, and Fotis Ioannidis scored the third in the 37th minute.
The game was put out of reach in the 40th minute thanks to Dimitrios Kourbelis’ goal. An own goal was scored by Kazakhstan late in the second half.
Georgia’s Budu Zivzivadze scored on either side of halftime against Luxembourg. His second goal came just 13 minutes after Luxembourg’s Maxime Chanot got sent off.
Greece’s Georgios Masouras leads the team in goal scoring with five goals in qualifying. Masouras is likely to once again line up on the right side of Greece’s front three.
Perhaps the biggest name in the Greek team is Liverpool left-back Kostas Tsimikas. He will start at left-back for Hellas.
Georgia’s star player is Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The winger has four goals in Euro 2024 qualifying. Kvaratskhelia missed the semifinal win over Luxembourg due to a yellow card suspension. He is set to return to the team for the final match versus Greece.
Outside of Kvaratskhelia, Georgia are short on star players. The squad is made up of players from clubs across Europe.
Captain Guram Kashia has 111 caps, and the 36-year-old will likely make it 112 against Greece. He plays club football for Slovan Bratislava.
Greece head coach Gus Poyet will hope his team, mostly made up of European-based players, can storm to another victory. Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos will start in net.
Panathinaikos forward Ioannidis should lead the front three. He has only nine caps but scored in the semifinal.
So, which team will qualify for the Euro 2024 tournament? Our score prediction is for a high-scoring game, as Greece produce a 2-1 win, and qualify for the Euros.