Turkey kicked off their Euro 2024 journey with a 3-1 victory against tournament newcomer Georgia in the opening match of Group F at the BVB Stadion Dortmund on Tuesday.
Mert Müldür started the scoring for Turkey in the 25th minute with a fantastic volley from the box’s edge.
Shortly after, Turkey believed they had extended their lead with Kenan Yildiz, but the goal was disallowed after VAR showed Yildiz was offside.
Georgia leveled the score through Georges Mikautadze, who made history by netting his nation’s first-ever European Championship goal.
In the second half, Arda Guler made history with the winning goal for Turkey. Guler seized the ball on the right side of the midfield, shifted left, and struck a left-footed curler into the net, stunning debutant Georgia.
By scoring, Guler became the youngest player to score on his European Championship debut (19 years and 114 days), breaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s record set in 2004 at 19 years and 128 days.
Kerem Akturkoglu sealed the game by slotting the ball into an empty net after the Georgian keeper ventured forward for a corner in the dying moments of the match.
