Euro 2024: Ronaldo’s Yellow Card, Poor Refereeing Irks Portugal Fans In Shocking 2-0 Loss Against Georgia
Playing their first major tournament, not many had expected Georgia to beat the Ronaldo-led team to reach the knock-out stage of Euro 2024.

Georgia scripted a historic win against Portugal in the Group F match of the Euro 2024. Georgia stunned Portugal 2-0 to make it to the Round of 16.
Playing their first major tournament, not many had expected Georgia to reach the knock-out stage.
They lost to Turkiye 3-1 in their opening match and drew 1-1 against Czechia in the next game. Georgia had nothing to lose but everything to gain. A win against the group toppers Portugal would fetch them the three points needed to advance into the Round of 16.
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Georgia secured an early lead by scoring in the very beginning of the match. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia netted in the 2nd minute, which set the tone for Georgia’s impressive performance throughout the match.
Georges Mikautadze later converted a penalty in the 57th minute to give a 2-0 lead.
Portugal dominated possession in the match and had several opportunities to score goals. However, a resilient defense from the Georgian side and agile goalkeeping from Giorgi Mamardashvili denied them success.
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The match was however marred by two controversial incidents.
The first incident transpired in the first half when a Georgian defender Luka Lochoshvili pulled Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo’s jersey to stop him from progressing in their penalty box.
The Portuguese players protested as demanded for a penalty. In doing so, Ronaldo was shown a yellow card by the referee. Both the on-field referee Sandro Scharer and the VAR failed to recognize the foul.
In another incident in the second half, a Georgian attacker appeared to have dived in the opposition box after a contact with Portugal’s António Silva.
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Referee Scharer instantly awarded the penalty, infuriating the Portugal fans.
Several fans on social media lambasted Scharer for “poor refereeing” and even called him the 12th man.
After the historic victory, Georgia will meet 2010 world champions and three time Euro championship winners Spain in the next round in Cologne.