Portugal reached the playoffs, Georgia earned their first points, and Mbappe returned to the field: how did the ninth day of Euro 2024 go?

France forward Kylian Mbappe played his first match after an injury received in the first round of the Euro 2024 group stage against Austria. RMC Sport reports this.

The French national team players, who were not involved in the match with the Netherlands (0:0), held a friendly match with the second team of the German Paderborn, which took place in the format of two halves of 30 minutes. Mbappe entered the field wearing a special protective mask and scored a double.

On June 18, it was reported that Mbappe could miss the remaining matches of the Euro 2024 group stage. In the opening game of the tournament against Austria, he suffered a broken nose.

The Georgian national team scored the first points at the Euro

In the first match, Willy Sagnol’s team lost to Turkey (1:3); to continue the fight for reaching the playoffs, the Georgians needed to score points in the second match against the Czech Republic. At the end of the first half, the Georgian team took the lead: the penalty awarded for the Czech footballer’s handball was converted by Georges Mikautadze.

In the second half, the Czech team played more actively, and Patrik Schick restored equality by finishing. After that, the Czech Republic was close to victory, but Georgian national team goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili played great, saving 11 goals. The last time Irishman Shay Given made so many saves at the Euro was in 2012. At the same time, Georgia even had a chance to win; in the last seconds, Saba Lobzhanidze shot from an advantageous position above the goal.

The Portuguese national team guaranteed itself first place in the group, Ronaldo is again the record holder

Another match in Group F pitted Portugal against Türkiye, who won their first matches of the tournament. In the 21st minute, Bernardo Silva put the Portuguese ahead with a shot from outside the penalty area, and seven minutes later, Turkish national team defender Samet Akaidin scored the most curious own goal of the tournament. The football player passed the ball to the goalkeeper without looking, the pass was inaccurate and the ball crossed the goal line.

In the second half of the game, the Turks failed to score, and the Portuguese scored another goal. Cristiano Ronaldo went one on one with the goalkeeper, but did not become greedy, but rolled the ball into the empty goal of Bruno Fernandes. He set the final score of the meeting, and Ronaldo set two records at once. Firstly, the veteran of the Portuguese national team played his 19th Euro match in a row, the previous achievement belonged to the Italian Leonardo Bonucci (18 games). Secondly, the pass to Fernandes became the seventh assist for Ronaldo at the European Championships. This is also an absolute record.

Portugal, thanks to the victory, guaranteed itself first place in the group. The meeting in the last round against Georgia will not have tournament significance for the team.

The Belgian national team won its first victory at the Euro

In the first round, the Belgian team sensationally lost to Slovakia, but in the second match the team pleased the fans with a victory. Already in the second minute of the match against Romania, Youri Tielemans brought the Belgians ahead with a shot from the penalty area. The advantage of the favorite in the second half was consolidated by team captain Kevin de Bruyne.

The score could have been higher, but Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku’s goal was flagged for micro-offside. This is the third time this has happened to the striker at this Euro, while he still has no goals to his name. Before the last round, the situation in Group E is the most confusing. All four teams – Belgium, Romania, Ukraine and Slovakia – have three points each. Everyone can either reach the playoffs or stop fighting in the tournament.

Polish fans rioted in Berlin

Law enforcement agencies in the German capital reported that police used physical force, pepper spray and batons to pacify overly violent Polish fans. As a result of the riots, some people have been arrested.

A clash between fans and law enforcement officers occurred near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The Poles threw stones and bottles at the police. In addition, it became known that during the match between the national teams of Poland and Austria, one of the Polish fans fell from a three-meter height. He received serious injuries and was hospitalized. As a result of this meeting, Poland lost its chances of reaching the playoffs.