Georgia v Czech Republic LIVE: Updates and team news ahead of Group F clash at Euro 2024

You’d be forgiven for having earmarked Turkey vs Georgia as the most low-key fixture of the Euro 2024 group stage. After all, the combined ranking of the teams was the most modest at the tournament so far, and Georgia entered Group F with no European Championship experience to their name. This game, though? It turned into something far beyond a football match.

But when that violence began, as water spilt through the roof of the arena and fans spilt from their seats to attack one another, questions arose. Would the game go ahead, and if it were to, would it even resemble a football match?

Lothar Matthaus is 63 now. And if that may depress those who remember him in his dominant prime, let alone those who conjure images of him as German football’s wunderkind of the early 1980s, it has an added pertinence. He played in the last European Championship that did not feature Cristiano Ronaldo.

There are other ways of illustrating Ronaldo’s age, of course: Francisco Conceicao, scored of the late winner in the first game of Ronaldo’s sixth such tournament, was one year old when played in his first and is the son of a rival for a berth on the flanks, in Sergio Conceicao. His first goal for his country came in a European Championship. So did Ronaldo’s, but they were separated by two decades.

Longevity can be an achievement in itself. Ronaldo’s feats are measured more in goals but the simple fact that, 20 years on, he is still there is a feat. He has become the great constant of tournament football, up to 11 in a row, with the possibility he may yet make it a dozen in the 2026 World Cup. There is a sense Ronaldo, with his chiselled physique, thinks ageing is for mere mortals.

His next birthday is his 40th and he has scored 50 goals in club football this season; in the Saudi league, admittedly, but factor in his 10 strikes in European Championship qualifying and his appetite remains unsated. If the 2022 World Cup suggested his could be an undignified departure from international football, he has since staged a comeback: a substitute in Qatar has been reinvented as a Portugal starter in Germany.

At some stage, though, Roberto Martinez will face the same dilemma that confronted Fernando Santos: whether Ronaldo retains that status.

When is Turkey vs Portugal?

The match will kick off at 5pm BST kick-off on Saturday June 22, 2024, at the BVB Stadion Dortmund.

It will be shown live on ITV and ITVX, with coverage starting from 4:15pm BST. You can find a full list of which channel is showing each match here.

If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our vpn round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.

Portugal take on Turkey in Dortmund on Saturday, with the Selecaolooking to consolidate their place at the top of Group F after beating the Czech Republic earlier in the week.

And Turkey, who won in a fascinating encounter against Georgia in Dortmund in their opening game, currently sit at the top of their group and could all but seal qualification to the next round with a win at the Westalenstadion, though their opponents will be strong favourites.

Real Madrid’s Arda Guler scored a wonderful second to announce his arrival on the international stage in their first game, and their main players – including Hakan Calhanoglu, Orkun Kokcu and Kenan Yildiz – will need to be on top form if they’re to get what would be a famous win.

When is Georgia vs Czech Republic?

The match will kick off at 2pm BST on Saturday, 22 June 2024, at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.

It will be shown live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with coverage starting from 1:30pm BST. You can find a full list of which channel is showing each match here.

If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.

Georgia face the Czech Republic in the first of the second round of matches in Group F, with both sides looking to for their first points of Euro 2024.

Georgia, who lost 3-1 to Turkey in a fascinating encounter in Dortmund in their opening game, are playing just their second ever match at a major international tournament. Despite the loss, they won many neutral fans for their attacking approach and brilliant performances from players including Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Georges Mikautadze and Giorgi Chakvetadze.

The tournament’s lowest-ranked side know that they need three points to stay in with a shout of qualifying for the last 16, and the game against the Czech Republic may present their best chance of points.

But they’re not out of contention yet, and with their most difficult opponents out of the way, they still stand a great chance of making the next round.

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of another day’s action at Euro 2024.

We start with an interesting game at 2pm BST, when Georgia – who gave us perhaps the tournament’s most entertaining game so far in their opener – face a Czech Republic side who were often disjointed and uninspired in their 2-1 opening loss to Portugal.

We then head to Dortmund for the second game of the day, where Portugal and Turkey will battle out to see who ends the day top of Group F.

And in the evening, attention turns to Cologne, where a surprisingly good Romania side take on a surprisingly poor Belgium.

They might have been to a major international tournament final in the not-too-distant past, but a tame start to the Euro 2024 group stage has been enough to start questions of team selection, adventurism and whether they really are among the favourites to triumph in Germany this summer.

Even though they’re still unbeaten after two games, and with the weakest team left to play, the performances haven’t been enough. They haven’t been convincing throughout. They haven’t shown that the best players are playing to their best form, and so there is room for criticism.

A clarification; reading the opening paragraphs, thoughts might turn to England and expecting that it’s written about them.

Except it’s not: that’s the situation facing France so far, World Cup finalists in Qatar but unimpressive in Germany and, let’s be clear, yet to score a goal themselves at the tournament following Austria’s match-winning own goal in their Group D opener.

Poland, meanwhile, look almost certain to be the casualties of the group of death, without a point, with only a meeting with France to come. For Robert Lewandowski, his entrance to the tournament delayed by injury, his exit could come early.

Robert Lewandowski had the air of a man contemplating what might have been and considering what comes next. When the final whistle blew, he ran his hands through his hair. He then stood in the centre of the Olympiastadion pitch, gazing into the skies. A ruminative trudge around to acknowledge the Poland fans followed.

He knew his Euro 2024 was in effect over before France and the Netherlands drew to confirm Poland’s exit. With something at stake, his competition comprised of half an hour on the pitch, bringing one booking, for a stray arm, no shots, and defeat to Austria. Lewandowski had spent the first half as a whisperer, going along the dugout to impart his wisdom. It was all he could do.

Or all he was allowed to, anyway. The oddity after a match that Ralf Rangnick had billed as a play-off was that Lewandowski did not start it. The presumption was that the thigh injury that ruled him out of the defeat to the Netherlands was the reason. Until manager Michal Probierz revealed: “Yes, he was fully fit and he has practised with the team.”