EM test match, Sunday, 09.06.2024
The final week is underway! The European Championship 2024 finally kicks off on June 14, so it’s high time for the participants to test their form one last time. One of the absolute outsiders will be doing just that on Sunday.
A nation that is taking part in a major tournament for the first time ever is a guest in Podgorica and wants to recharge its batteries. Will that work? In my Montenegro-Georgia tip, I’ll tell you why I’m betting on a rather low-scoring game and why our European Championship bookmakers are finding it so difficult to name a favorite at all
Georgia at a European Championship, even though they only won twice in qualifying? It still sounds a bit surreal, but we’ll actually be seeing the debutants in Germany soon!
Spain, Scotland and Norway were better in qualifying Group A, with only Cyprus leaving the Georgians behind. You’ve probably read it a few times by now: It’s up to the Nations League to make it to the European Championship anyway
This is how the underdogs qualified for the play-offs, which took place in March 2024. While most of the other European champions were busy testing in the spring, the tension was high in Georgia.
In the semi-final, a 2:0 win over Luxembourg was celebrated and the European Championship dream was alive. The final was against Greece, and after 120 minutes it was still not clear who would win one of the last tickets to the tournament
Georgia actually held their nerve in the penalty shoot-out and now face a historic June. It is one of the biggest underdogs in the competition, with no one receiving higher odds (well over 400.0) from our European Championship betting providers.
The Georgians will test their form for the first time on Sunday. Or as you could put it: They take their last chance to assemble the perfect eleven before the trip to Germany.
The team will have a tough time in Group F, with Portugal, Turkey and the Czech Republic awaiting them. There are at least two stars in the team, one lurking at the front, the other keeping watch at the back.
Keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili plays for Valencia FC, while winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, whose market value is estimated at 80 million, laces up his boots for Napoli.
Of course, the two players alone cannot win against Montenegro. In 2009, both previous head-to-head encounters took place, with Montenegro narrowly winning 2:1 in the World Cup qualifiers and drawing 0:0 in the second match.
If the bookmakers have their way, the two teams will go toe-to-toe this weekend. The odds reach an average of 2.60 to 2.65 – from the home side’s point of view.
Montenegro will be somewhat envious of their opponents, as they would also have liked to celebrate their participation in the European Championship. Georgia scored eight points, Montenegro eleven – and still nothing came of it.
Hungary and Serbia were too strong, with the Falcons only leaving Lithuania and Bulgaria behind in qualifying. Only three victories were achieved; far too few to have a realistic chance in the end.
A few days ago, the nation even kept up well with one of the big names. In the test in Belgium, they lost 2-0, with the underdogs defending a narrow 1-0 lead deep into injury time.
A fine shot from Kevin De Bruyne and a penalty, Montenegro were able to claim that they had their opponents well under control. In March, they had already shown that they could well have made it to the European Championship.
2:0 against Belarus and 1:0 against North Macedonia, so all three international matches this year were not particularly offensive and on top of that there were no goals on either side
Georgia’s national team will make history in a few days’ time when they play in their first ever major tournament. Before that, they will play their only test match of 2024 against Montenegro.
It is hard to predict how the Falcons will perform, as they are unfortunately not allowed to travel to Germany. They put up a good fight in the 2-0 defeat to Belgium, but conceded the second goal very late on from the spot.
Since the Georgians were able to keep a clean sheet in their play-offs against Luxembourg and Greece, I don’t expect the two teams to go toe-to-toe, but instead I’m betting on them:
2.5 goals is the final score:
