Georgia: L-W-W-W-L

Georgia come into the game having lost their opening match of the group stages 3-1 to Turkey, in a thrilling encounter in Dortmund.

The minnows had only played one warm-up game, which ended with a 3-1 victory over Montenegro.

The competition’s lowest ranked side had ensured qualification to their first ever major tournament with two play-off wins in March. They strolled to a 2-0 win against Luxembourg in the first round, before squeezing past Greece on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

Czech Republic: L-W-W-W-W

Before their disappointing 2-1 loss to Portugal, the Czech Republic had won five games on the bounce, including a 3-0 win over Moldova in their last qualifying game and wins against Armenia and Norway in March friendlies.

The Czechs played two warm-up games in the lead up to Euro 2024, with one ending in a 7-1 demolition of Malta and the other a much closer 2-1 win over North Macedonia.

This will be the first time that these two sides have ever met, with Georgia having qualified for their first ever major international tournament. The two have never played in friendlies either.

Georgia were unlucky at times in their loss against Turkey, with impressive performances from Giorgi Chakvetadze, Giorgi Kochorashvili and Georges Mikautadze, who scored Georgia’s first ever goal at a major tournament.

Head coach Willy Sangol, who made over 50 appearances for France during his playing career, said that his side were “a bit disappointed” after the loss to Turkey.

“A coach and players don’t always focus on the result, because if you only focus on the result you will always do mistakes.

“We can win sometimes without deserving the win and sometimes you lose but don’t deserve it.”

The Czech Republic also go into the game knowing that they need a win, with their head coach Ivan Hašek saying before the game that “it won’t be that wild of a game”.

“Georgia have players who can attack but they won’t open the defence. We really do want to attack, get set-pieces, and be dangerous.

“We didn’t attack that well in the first game, and that’s why we want to do it on Saturday.”

The Czechs have lost seven of the last 12 group games at the Euros, winning three and drawing two.

This preview is especially pertinent given Mikautadze’s performance in the opener.

There are few real stars around Europe who are truly unknown when it comes time for summer international tournaments summer anymore, at least not in the way used to be the case. 

Modern accessibility to more matches and footage than ever before means some of that surprise element has departed, even if players can still come from nowhere to have a great summer with their national team.

But even from countries with less prestige or history, if they have a genuinely top-tier player, they enter the tournament as known quantities, generally speaking. Georgia, at Euro 2024 in their first competition finalssince independence from the Soviet Union, at first seem a case in point.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was an unheralded signing in many ways when Napoli took him from Dinamo Batumi in his home nation - he was back there having previously been playing in Russia when the invasion of Ukraine began, thus allowing him to suspend his contract with Rubin Kazan. But within a few months, he was known everywhere.

And yet Georgia present a confusion of both the above statements: firstly, they do arrive with a relative unknown quantity in their ranks who can make an impression, and secondly, it may be this other player, not their best player in Kvaratskhelia, who offers their best route to cause an upset in Group F. Introducing, Georges Mikautadze.

Live coverage of the match begins in around 20 minutes, at 1.30pm BST. It will be shown live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer,

The match will kick off at 2pm BST, at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.

Georgia coach Willy Sangol has made just one change to the side that lost 3-1 to Turkey in their opening match.

Watfird’s Giorgi Chakvetadze is replaced by Bordeaux’s Zuriko Davitashvili.

The Czech Republic have made three changes to the team that started their opening loss to Portugal. David Jurásek comes in at left wing-back in place of Pavel Sulc, with Vaclav Cerny replacing David Douděra and moving to the right wing. Adam Hlozec comes in at left wing in place of Jan Kuchta.

GEORGIA XI: Mamardashvili; Kvirkvelia, Kashia, Dvali; Kakabadze, Mekvabishvili, Kochorashvili, Tsitaishvili; Davitashvili; Mikautadze, Kvaratskhelia.

CZECH REP XI: Stanek; Holes, Hranac, Krejci; Coufal, Soucek, Provod, Jurásek; Cerny; Schick, Hlozec.

As we wait for the line-ups to be announced, here’s a reminder of the Group F standings.

1 - Turkey - 3 points, GD +2

2 - Portugal - 3 points, GD +1

3 - Czech Republic - 0 points, GD -1

4 - Georgia - 0 points, GD -2

Fans and viewers may notice that Czech Republic are often being referred to as “Czechia” over the coming weeks, and officially listed by Uefa under the shorter name. Broadcasters, commentators and pundits have increasingly taken to using the name Czechia in the build-up to this tournament.

The country was named Czechoslovakia when first established in 1918 after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and this name was re-established when Nazi occupation ended after the second world war. In 1992, in the wake the fall of the Soviet Union, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were created as two independent states.

Czech Republic actually changed its preferred name to Czechia on 1 July 2016. The country’s government approved the new name as its English-language title, with the intention of promoting the usage to “reduce confusion for English speakers and enhance the the country’s identity and economy”, according to the UK government’s official Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (PCGN).