England avoid shock at Euro 2024 as Spain ease into quarterfinals

England escaped an embarrassing exit from Euro 2024 on Sunday after coming from behind to edge Slovakia 2-1 in extra time to reach the quarterfinals, while Spain defeated surprise contenders Georgia 4-1 to set up a mouthwatering last eight showdown with hosts Germany.

A Jude Bellingham overhead kick deep in injury time and a Harry Kane strike early in extra time allowed England to overcome Slovakia in their round of 16 tie in Gelsenkirchen.

It was very nearly another ignominious exit for England that would have rivalled their defeat by Iceland at the same stage of Euro 2016.

They fell behind to Ivan Schranz's 25th-minute goal for Slovakia and were on their way out of the competition after a Phil Foden equalizer was disallowed for offside.

But Bellingham's moment of inspiration five minutes into stoppage time at the end of the game saved Gareth Southgate's side, as the Real Madrid man acrobatically turned home Marc Guehi's flick-on from a throw-in.

Slovakia's resistance was broken, and England got what proved to be the winner a minute into the extra period.

Substitute Ivan Toney headed Eberechi Eze's mishit shot back across goal for Kane to power home his second goal of the tournament.

The comeback victory set up a quarterfinal meeting with Switzerland on Saturday in Düsseldorf.

"That's the desire and the attitude from the boys. It looked tough for a second there, but you keep going," said Kane. "Jude does what Jude does and what an unbelievable goal."

"We want to be better," admitted Southgate. "I'm not going to hide from that, but the spirit and character was there for everybody to see and we're still in there fighting."

Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona said he was proud of his team despite the defeat.

"My team showed a lot out there. They were great, gave away very little and came close to going through," said the Italian. "And in extra time we were in their half for long periods, I'm very proud."

Georgia give Spain scare before falling 4-1

There was also a scare for Spain in the late game in Cologne, as they fell behind against Georgia when Robin Le Normand put the ball into his own net in the 18th minute.

It was the eighth own goal scored at this year's competition and the first time Spain had conceded at all after registering three clean sheets during the group phase.

However, Spain had beaten Willy Sagnol's Georgia side twice in qualifying, winning 7-1 away and 3-1 at home, and their class ultimately held up on a rainy night.

Rodri Hernandez stroked in the equalizer six minutes before half-time, and Fabian Ruiz headed in a Lamine Yamal cross to put Spain ahead on 51 minutes.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had come close to scoring from inside his own half for Georgia moments earlier, but Ruiz's goal effectively ended their hopes of pulling off a monumental upset.

Nico Williams ran from the halfway mark to score a brilliant third goal for Spain in the 75th minute and substitute Dani Olmo wrapped up their victory seven minutes from time.

Luis de la Fuente's team, who missed a host of chances to win by a greater margin, will now go to Stuttgart for a clash with the host nation on Friday.

That game will be a repeat of the Euro 2008 final, which saw Spain slip past Germany 1-0 to begin their golden era.

"We're very happy because we know what it takes to be here. That's been shown by what the other teams have gone through," De la Fuente told Spanish television. "(The result) was deceptive because it could have been 8-1 or 9-1. We had to suffer, counterattacking is their weapon."

Georgia go home with their heads held high after a memorable first appearance at a major tournament which saw them defeat Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal to reach the knockout phase.

"I am very proud of what the players have done in the last months," Frenchman Sagnol said. "Now it is the end of the journey, but I am sure the next one will also be very exciting."