Georgia v Portugal LIVE: Latest build-up and team news as Cristiano Ronaldo starts

Around 15 minutes until kick-off in Gelsenkirchen.

A reminder that you can watch tonight’s game live on ITV1.

Georgia qualified for their first major tournament through the Nations League route, having finished fourth in their original qualifying group.

They beat Luxembourg 2-0 to reach a final play-off, and then beat Greece 4-2 on penalties to secure their spot at Euro 2024. They played won warm-up game before the competition – a friendly against Montenegro, which they won 3-1.

The minnows served up one of the games of the tournament in their opening clash with Turkey, though they went on to lose 3-1. They responded well though, drawing with the Czech Republic last time out.

Qualification was a lot more straightforward for Portugal, who finished top of their group with 10 wins from 10.

The Selecao played three warm-up games earlier this month, with a 2-1 loss to Croatia sandwiched between a 4-2 win over Finland and a 3-0 victory against Ireland.

They laboured to a narrow 2-1 win in their group opener against the Czech Republic, though their second game was far more traightforward as Turkey put in a poor performance and Portugal strolled to an easy 3-0 win.

Portugal and Georgia have only met once before, and that was in a friendly in 2008. A Portugal side containing Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Pepe and Ronaldo won 2-0 on the night, with goals coming from Joao Moutinho and Simao.

Tonight marks what could be Georgia’s final game in their first ever appearance at a major international tournament, though they would qualify for the last 16 if they were to win.

The tournament’s lowest-ranked side have won the hearts of many after valiant performances against Turkey and the Czech Republic, though they have faced more shots (49) and more shots on target (20) than any other side in the opening two group games.

Georges Mikautadze has two goals so far for the minnows, and he could become the third player to score his team’s first three goals at a European Championship, after Gerd Muller and Hristo Stoichkov.

For Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo could become the oldest player to score at the Euros if he scores tonight. Luka Modric currently holds that record after netting against Italy a few days ago!

Here are the player ratings from Portugal’s win over with Turkey, with Silva, Ronaldo and Fernandes particularly impressive.

Rafael Leao and Nuno Mendes combined on the left to set up Bernardo Silva’s first European Championship goal before a calamitous back pass from Samet Akaydin doubled Portugal’s lead before half-time. Cristiano Ronaldo then came to the party in the second half with a fine run in behind to break the offside trap. He received the pass, took the ball into the box then slotted it across to Bruno Fernandes for Portugal’s third.

If it had been thought that the cult of Cristiano Ronaldo was diminishing, you only had to listen to the man who is notionally supposed to be his superior. Portugal manager Roberto Martinez was asked about Bruno Fernandes’ goal in the 56th minute against Turkey, which to most people looking on would have just been a striker squaring to his teammate for an easy finish; think Brian McClair to Paul Ince in the 1994 FA Cup final. The only notable thing about it was that someone as intensely obsessed with his own scoring record as Cristiano Ronaldo had actually passed the ball, but that kind of surprise wasn’t really the emotion that Martinez was conveying. He was going for more.

“It is fantastic to have Cristiano, who is an out-and-out goalscorer who lives for the goal and then he gets in front of the goalkeeper, and he looks for the pass to Bruno Fernandes. It is a pure moment of Portuguese football, that should be shown in every academy in the world, and that means more than any goal.”

It does, but not in the bizarre manner that Martinez intended. This entire occasion at Westfalonstadion – which in any normal situation would have simply been a convincing win from a team asserting themselves as one of the best at Euro 2024 – was instead a case study in uber fame.

Here’s the report from Portugal’s second game…

As one man took centre stage in a circus, a properly serious team got on with the business of convincingly winning football matches around him. Is this to be the story of Portugal at Euro 2024?

Perhaps it really is the sign of a new team that, as a goal stood at Cristiano Ronaldo’s mercy, he shockingly passed for another player to score. It wasn’t the only moment where he threw back the years. There was also the moment when he beat a defender with a step-over to cross, something he hasn’t actually done in maybe a decade.

For all that, such contributions were largely at the fringes of a game, which was already won by the Selecao’s more influential modern players, though there is no doubting the main event of Roberto Martinez’s side.

After Ronaldo had passed for Bruno Fernandes to make it 3-0 against Turkey and secure top spot in the group, all of the players ran to the provider rather than scorer, the 39-year-old’s arms aloft. The Portuguese crowd sang his name more than anyone else.

Even the Turkish crowd, who deafeningly booed every opposition player when the teams were read out, stopped to raucously cheer the No 7. It was maybe a sign of what was to come. For all the hysterical noise Turkey made, some of it on the pitch, they were all too easily quietened.

Having had a look at the standings, here’s a look at what each team needs to qualify.

Portugal: Are through as group winners with a game to spare. Portugal will play one of the four best third-placed teams in Frankfurt on Monday 1 July in the last-16.

Turkey: A heavy defeat to Portugal was a blow to Turkey’s goal difference but they can advance with a win over Czech Republic. A draw would be fine, too, and will be good enough for second place if Georgia fail to beat Portugal. Turkey would be knocked out if they lose to Czech Republic and Georgia beat Portugal.

Czechia: Will go through if they beat Turkey, either in second or as one of the best third-placed teams, with no other result good enough. If Czech Republic win and better Georgia’s result, they will finish second.

Georgia: They must beat Portugal. If Georgia and Czech Republic both win, it would go down to goal difference, with the Czechs currently one ahead. If Turkey win or draw, a Georgia win would only be enough for third, but it would be enough to go through as one of the best third-placed sides.

Ahead of the line-ups being released, here’s a reminder of how Group F stands as we head into tonight’s game.

1 (Q) – Portugal – 6 points, GD +4

2 – Turkey – 3 points, GD -1

3 – Czech Republic, 1 point, GD -1

4 – Georgia, 1 point, GD -2

GEORGIA XI: Mamardashvili; Gvelesiani, Kashia, Dvali; Kakabadze, Kochorashvili, Chakvetadze, Kiteishvili , Lochoshvilli; Mikautadze, Kvaratskhelia.

PORTUGAL XI: Costa, Silva, Pereira, Inacio; Dalot, Neves, Palhinha, Neto; Conceicao, Ronaldo, Felix.

Team news should be arriving at any moment now. Will Portugal make plenty of changes in a similar way to how Spain did in their win over Albania? Or will Roberto Martinez copy Julian Nagelsmann’s mantra of playing a foul-strength eleven in order to keep chemistry, fitness and form?

You’d expect Georgia to line up in a similar way to their first two games, with the only question mark being whether Chakvetadze comes back into the starting line-up.