The last group match won on Wednesday by Turkey against the Czech Republic (2-1) gave rise to an intense battle for qualification for the round of 16 of Euro 2024. So much so that this suspenseful poster was finished with the highest total of cards in the history of the continental tournament.
Almost 18 years to the day after the ‘Battle of Nuremberg’ and the butchers’ match between Portugal and the Netherlands at the World Cup, on June 25, 2006, the Euro 2024 match played in Hamburg (Germany) between Turkey and the Czech Republic was also marked by a big commitment from all stakeholders.
On arrival, the Turks won the evening battle (2-1) and the race to qualify for the round of 16 with a goal from Cenk Tosun in added time. The duel against the Czechs ended with a record number of cards with 16 warnings and two expulsions during the match.
As explained by Opta’s English account, this is the highest total in the history of the continental competition. The total even climbed to 18 yellows when counting those received by Turkish nugget Arda Guler and Czech Tomas Soucek after the final whistle.
>> Relive the Czech Republic-Türkiye clash (1-2)
A very tense end to the match, Çalhanoglu suspended for the eighth
Very quickly warned at the start of the match, Antonin Barak left his partners after only twenty minutes of play. After a rough control and a lost duel in the middle of the field, the Fiorentina player split with an involuntary but good sole. real which earned it a second yellow, synonymous with red, logical.
Ditto for the other warnings distributed by referee Istvan Kovacs and in particular in this particularly tense end of the match where the Romanian drew no less than seven warnings after the 80th minute and even ended up excluding Tomas Chory.
Eliminated from the Euro, the Czechs will not console themselves with this sad record now co-held with the Turks. But on the Turkish side, despite qualifying for the round of 16 of the tournament played in Germany, we will probably regret the yellow card received by Hakan Çalhanoglu on Wednesday. A warning which will cause the Turkish star to miss the suspenseful round of 16, Tuesday July 2 at 9 p.m., against Austria.
