Georgia, a newcomer, shocks UEFA Euro history by defeating Portugal 2-0.

Georgia advanced to the knockout stage of their first international tournament with a 2-0 victory over Portugal on Wednesday, pulling off the biggest upset in European history with to goals from Georges Mikautadze and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia early in the game.

The victory was Georgia's best performance since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, even if it came against a largely inferior Portugal team that had advanced to the following round.

The match, which took place in front of tens of thousands of boisterous Georgian supporters, was also the biggest surprise because the squad, ranked 74th in the world, went up against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, who were ranked sixth and the 2016 European Champions.

Georgia had to travel a roundabout road to Germany after finishing a disappointing fourth in their qualifiers. First, they had to win their group in the less glamorous Euro Nations competition, and then they had to defeat Greece in a play-off.

However, there was nothing unjust about the manner in which head coach Willy Sagnol—a former defender for France and Bayern Munich—and his team secured third place in the competition's Group F, securing a matchup with three-time European champion Spain in the round of sixteen.

Spain easily defeated Georgia 7-1 in Tbilisi when the two teams faced off in September of last year during the tournament's qualifying round in Germany, but Sagnol gave off the impression that he was indifferent to the difficulty of the task at hand.

"You know you have nothing to lose when you are the little team competing."You don't have any responsibility," Sagnol informed the press. "I don't have many words for today. Being their manager makes me incredibly proud."