Georgia secure semi-final spot with tense 2-1 victory over Malta
On the final day of the group stage, with one semi-final place still unclaimed, everything narrowed onto a single fixture: Georgia against Malta. Ninety tense minutes of beach soccer later, Georgia had dragged themselves over the line and into the last four.
No frills. No margin for error. Just a 2-1 win that mattered more than any scoreline could show.
Georgia edge Malta to seal last semi-final spot
The stakes were obvious from the opening kick. Both sides set up with caution, bodies behind the ball, neither willing to be the team that blinked first. The first period drifted by in a tactical arm-wrestle, chances scarce, the scoreboard untouched.
Georgia changed that after the break.
Kurdadze finally cracked the game open in the second period, finding the net to tilt the night in Georgia’s favour. The goal loosened Georgian shoulders and, crucially, unsettled Malta. Just when Malta needed to reach the interval only one down, they were hit again. Lomidze struck before the end of the period, doubling the advantage and giving Georgia a 2-0 cushion that felt huge in such a tight contest.
Malta refused to go quietly. In the third period Bray pulled one back, sparking a late surge that turned the closing minutes into a siege. Crosses rained in, shots flashed wide, and Georgia were forced into full survival mode.
They held. The clock, eventually, did the rest. At 2-1, Georgia had what they came for: the final ticket to the semi-finals, and a date with Latvia.
Slovakia stun England in extra-time thriller
If Georgia’s win was about control, Slovakia and England delivered chaos.
England struck first in Group B, Hulme opening the scoring early in the first period. It should have settled them. Instead, it woke Slovakia up. Turoň levelled, Šmálik added another, and by the end of the opening frame Slovakia had turned the game on its head to lead 2-1.
The second period stayed on a knife edge. England’s problems deepened when an own goal pushed Slovakia further in front, but Robinson hit back to keep the contest alive at 3-2 going into the final period.
England’s response in the third was full of character. Friery found the equaliser, dragging the game into extra time and swinging momentum back towards the English.
Then came the decisive punch.
In extra time, Hrnčiar broke free and buried the chance that mattered most, sealing a 4-3 victory for Slovakia and consigning England to the playoffs for 5th–7th place.
Latvia edge Azerbaijan in tight contest
Latvia’s 3-2 win over Azerbaijan was less wild, but no less important.
Grīslis gave Latvia the early edge, his first-period strike enough to send them into the opening break 1-0 up. The game opened in the second period. Orkhan hauled Azerbaijan level, only for Ģēgers to restore Latvia’s lead and keep them 2-1 ahead heading into the final frame.
Latvia then grabbed the buffer they were chasing. Sakne struck in the third period to make it 3-1, a goal that looked to have settled the argument. Orkhan’s second of the match pulled Azerbaijan back into it, but Latvia’s back line refused to crack under late pressure and saw out a hard-earned win.
What comes next
With the dust settled, the schedule is clear.
Slovakia and England will meet again in the playoffs for 5th–7th place, with Malta also involved in the same bracket. The real intrigue, though, lies in the semi-finals: Norway against Azerbaijan, and a sharp-looking Latvia facing a Georgia side that has just proved it can handle knockout-level tension.
Georgia completed the final four. Now comes the real question: can they stay there until the very last whistle of the tournament?
