Netherlands vs Georgia facts

The Netherlands and Georgia bring down the curtain on their Group A campaigns at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship as they meet at Tbilisi's Paichadze Stadium in the final round of games.

Co-hosts Georgia are two points clear in the section having followed up an impressive 2-0 defeat of Portugal in their first ever finals match with a 2-2 draw against Belgium in which substitutes Giorgi Tsitaishvili (51) and Giorgi Guliashvili (87) scored in the second half to rescue a draw with their side having trailed by two goals at the break.

The Netherlands have two points after draws against Belgium (0-0) and Portugal (1-1), Brian Brobbey scoring a 78th-minute equaliser in the latter fixture.

Georgia will go through if they avoid defeat, or regardless if Belgium do not beat Portugal. Georgia will win the group if they beat the Netherlands, or if they draw and Belgium do not beat Portugal by at least two goals. If Georgia draw and Belgium beat Portugal by exactly two goals, first place will be decided by overall goals scored, then disciplinary points, then coefficients.

Netherlands will go through if they win. If both games are drawn, Netherlands and Belgium will be split for second and third place on overall goals scored, then disciplinary points, then coefficients. Netherlands will finish first if they win and Belgium do not; if both win, Netherlands and Belgium will be split for first and second place on overall goal difference, then overall goals scored, then disciplinary points, then coefficients.

Previous meetings

The sides were paired together in 2015 European U21 Championship qualifying, the Netherlands winning 6-0 at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi on 10 October 2013 with Luc Castaignos scoring three goals and Quincy Promes two.

Jaba Jighauri's goal gave visitors Georgia a 1-0 victory in Deventer on 4 September 2014 in what was Georgia's final fixture; they finished fourth in the five-team section on ten points, with the Netherlands second on 16, one point behind Slovakia. The Dutch went on to lose 7-4 to Portugal on aggregate in the play-offs (0-2 h, 4-5 a).

Those are the only previous U21 fixtures between the sides.

Form guide

Netherlands

The Netherlands have reached the final tournament for the sixth time, although only the third since claiming back-to-back titles in 2006 and, as hosts, 2007. The only tournament in which they failed to progress from the group stage was in 2000.

Both subsequent finals campaigns have ended in the semi-finals, against Italy in 2013 (0-1) and Germany in 2021 (1-2).

Two years ago, the Netherlands had finished top of Group A on five points, progressing with eventual champions Germany on goals scored in a three-way head-to-head with Romania. Myron Boadu's double, the second goal three minutes into added time, secured a 2-1 quarter-final victory against France but the Jong Oranje were unable to recover from conceding twice in the first eight minutes of their last-four tie against Germany.

Erwin van de Looi's side won eight of their ten qualifiers for the 2023 finals, drawing the other two, to finish three points clear of Switzerland in Group E. They scored 32 goals and conceded only three, Joshua Zirkzee finishing as their top scorer on seven, which put him joint second overall.

Portugal's opener on Matchday 2 was the first goal the Netherlands had conceded in eight Under-21 EURO outings, qualifying included.

The Netherlands have lost just one of their last 13 group games at the U21 final tournament (W6 D6) – a 3-0 defeat by Spain on Matchday 3 of the 2017 tournament after they had already sealed a place in the semi-finals.

Georgia

This is Georgia's first appearance in the U21 finals; they are the 32nd team to feature since the final tournament was introduced in 1994.

The co-hosts are the only team to be making their debut in the 2023 tournament.

All 14 of Georgia's U21 campaigns have ended in the qualifying group stage. Their most successful campaign came in the 1998 preliminaries, when they won three of their eight fixtures, losing only two, and came second behind England in their section, finishing ahead of Italy, Poland and Moldova.

In 2021 qualifying Georgia finished third in Group 2 behind France and Switzerland, winning five of their ten matches but losing the other five.

Although this is Georgia's first U21 appearance, they featured in the U19 finals in 2013 and, as hosts, in 2017, and have also taken part in two U17 tournaments, most recently reaching the semi-finals in 2012.

Links and trivia

Georgia's Matchday 2 draw against Belgium in Tbilisi was watched by 41,887 spectators, a UEFA Under-21 final tournament record.

Ryan Gravenberch came on as a substitute to score his first senior international goal in the Netherlands' 3-0 friendly victory against Georgia on 6 June 2021.