Day 4 of UEFA Euro 2024 was filled with more thrilling action, albeit with just two games taking place.
In the first contest, France had to work hard in order to achieve a result against Austria.
Later in the day, it was Georgia who surprised many with a really competitive performance against the evergreen dark horses, Türkiye.
This first match between France and Austria began as expected, with the French looking to open up the Austrian defence. After struggling to really create many clear-cut opportunities, they found a breakthrough just seven minutes from the half-time whistle. Following a wonderful defensive display up until that point, and even managing to threaten at the other end, the Austrians were unfortunate in the manner in which they conceded the opening goal of the game. Kylian Mbappé put in a cross from the right-hand side which deflected off Maximilian Wöber to end up in the back of the net.
Although Les Bleus enjoyed a single-goal advantage heading into the break, Austria were always in the game but just couldn’t create sufficient clear-cut chances. France had the chance to double their lead early in the second half, but Mbappé missed a glorious opportunity after going one-on-one with the Austria goalkeeper, shooting the ball wide of the post.
In all, Austria edged the possession stats (52%) but took just six shots as opposed to France’s 14.
Despite winning this match, the Men in Blue will be sweating over the fitness of Mbappé, who suffered a broken nose in this encounter. They play the Netherlands next, while Austria take on Poland.
Also watch: Olivier Giroud to replace Kylian Mbappé after nose injury?
The second game of the day was a thrilling encounter, and it was Türkiye who started the better of the two sides. They hit the post within the first 15 minutes and were eventually rewarded for their efforts in the 25th minute when Mert Müldür struck a sweet volley from the edge of the penalty area to give his team the lead. With his side on top, Kenan Yildiz managed to put the ball in the net only to find out that he was in an offside position moments after the opener. Georgia found their equaliser before the break through Georges Mikautadze, marking their first-ever goal in a major international tournament.
With the game poised beautifully for the second half, it was Türkiye who were on the front foot once again. They found their lead through a stunning long-range effort from young talent Arda Güler. Georgia had their moments before the game’s conclusion, hitting the post on a couple of occasions, but the Turks added another goal deep into stoppage time to kill the game.
In what is probably the match of the tournament so far, Türkiye enjoyed 56% possession and took 22 shots compared to their opposition’s 14. The team in red managed eight shots on target, while their own keeper was tested on five occasions.
After winning this match, Türkiye next face Portugal, while Georgia are up against Czechia.
How the Euro 2024 points table looks after these games:
Group D Group F
| Teams | Played | GD | Points | Teams | Played | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 1 | 1 | 3 | Türkiye | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| France | 1 | 1 | 3 | Portugal | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Poland | 1 | -1 | 0 | Czechia | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Austria | 1 | -1 | 0 | Georgia | 1 | -2 | 0 |
Also read: UEFA Euro 2024 Sponsors
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