Nick Ames was at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg tonight. His report has landed, and here it is! Congratulations to Turkey, commiserations to Czechia, and thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
That wasn’t a great game in terms of quality. But it was feisty, and it was dramatic, and therefore it was a lot of fun. Turkey were the more creative side, and deserved their victory overall, though they were helped immensely by Antonín Barák, who picked up two daft yellow cards early on. Hakan Çalhanoğlu scored a screamer, Arda Güler missed a gilt-edged chance to settle things midway through the second half, whereupon Tomáš Souček equalised for the battling ten men, who went on to give Turkey some real worries before Cenk Tosun sealed it at the death. Turkey will play Austria in Leipzig next Tuesday; one of Turkey, Austria, Romania and the Netherlands will make it to the semis. Euro 2024 starts here.
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RED CARD: Tomáš Chorý (Czech Republic)
The second the whistle goes, a huge brawl breaks out. Tomáš Chorý, in the middle of it, is shown a straight red card. Arda Güler, who had Scrappy Doo-ed his way back onto the pitch, is booked. A pitch invader adds some more spice to the mix. It was always going to end up like this. Card-happy referee István Kovács has given himself quite the mountain of paperwork to get through later tonight.
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FULL TIME: Czech Republic 1-2 Turkey
Turkey will play Austria in the Round of 16!
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Turkey | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Georgia | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 3 | -2 | 1 |
90 min +6: Turkey gather in wild celebration! A huge pile of white laundry. The Czechs stand stock still. Stunned. The ten men gave it a brave go, but they’ll be heading home.
GOAL! Czech Republic 1-2 Turkey (Tosun 90+4)
Turkey launch a six-on-four attack. Tosun is slipped into the box down the inside left. He cuts infield and lashes a shot across Kovář and into the bottom right! Unstoppable! Turkey are in the last 16 for sure!
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90 min +3: Yılmaz advances down the right before jinking infield. Gifted a huge pocket of space, he lines up a shot … but doesn’t really connect properly. It bobbles straight at Kovář, who claims without fuss. Czechia go up the other end and Matěj Jurásek hoicks a cross out for a goal kick. Turkey so close now to the knockout stage. Time running out for the Czechs.
90 min +1: Krejčí is booked for a pointless lunge on Yilmaz, who was going nowhere. Yilmaz takes the opportunity to roll about awhile and run down some of that precious clock.
90 min: There will be six additional minutes.
89 min: Tosun, striding down the middle with the Czechs light at the back, has the opportunity to slip Ayhan clear down the inside-right channel. But he overhits the pass out for a goal kick. What a chance to wrap things up.
88 min: Aktürkoğlu skitters into the Czech box down the inside-right channel, but falls over before he’s able to get a shot away.
87 min: Orkun Kökçü comes on for the Turkish captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu.
86 min: Yokuşlu sends a speculative rake over the bar from distance.
85 min: An on-pitch booking this time, as Akaydin steps across an in-flight Matěj Jurásek. Nothing comes of the resulting free kick. Akaydin will miss the next game should Turkey hold on and progress.
84 min: The tension at the Volksparkstadion is palpable. Vitězslav Jaroš, Czechia’s third-choice keeper, is the latest sub to be booked for yammering at the referee. Lukáš Červ follows him into the book quick-smart. “When I decided to double-screen the Group F matches, I sure as shandy didn’t expect that by the 80th minute I’d be focusing on this match because Georgia were cruising to a victory,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Nor did I expect the Czechs and Turks to play with such intensity.”
82 min: Kuchta barges his way down the inside-right channel, past a couple of challenges, and into the box. He slams home. The Czech fans roar, but it’s immediately disallowed for a shove on Kadıoğlu. There might have been a handball in there too.
81 min: David Jurásek is replaced by Matěj Jurásek. No relation.
80 min: Müldür is booked for telling it as he sees it.
79 min: Yılmaz goes down clutching the back of his leg. His hamstring? Ah no, as play continues around him, he eventually gets back up and breaks into a sprint.
78 min: Jurásek grafts his way down the left and wins a corner. Coufal prepares to take, only for a shower of plastic bottles and cups to put him off. Eventually he sends it in, and Günok claims.
76 min: …while Turkey swap out their teenagers Arda Güler and Kenan Yıldız for Kerem Aktürkoğlu and Cenk Tosun.
75 min: The Czechs replace Lukáš Provod with Ondřej Lingr.
73 min: From the corner, Güler has a whack from a tight angle on the left. Kovář handles well.
72 min: Yılmaz drops deep and sprays a glorious diagonal pass towards Yıldız on the left. He twists and swerves his way into the box, but can’t get a proper shot away. Leaning back, he does manage to win a corner, though.
70 min: Another long Coufal throw. Turkey can’t deal with them at all. They’re in a flat spin. A Czech foul eases the pressure this time, but you can be sure more of this is coming. And the reason Turkey are flapping? Another goal for the Czechs, and they’ll be the ones heading home.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Turkey | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 3 | Georgia | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 3 | -1 | 2 |
68 min: A long VAR check for a potential foul on the keeper. But the goal’s eventually given. Quite rightly, too; the keeper attempted to claim but dropped the ball, while the striker did nothing more than jump up next to him. Turkey are livid, though, and reserve keeper Uğurcan Çakır is booked for excessive neck-flapping.
GOAL! Czech Republic 1-1 Turkey (Souček 66)
Coufal throws long from the right. The giant Chorý competes with Günok, who flaps. The ball drops to Soucek, who roofs from six yards! The ten men are level!
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65 min: Yılmaz fires a sensational low cross into the Czech box from the right. It’s begging to be tapped in, but Guler swishes thin air. And it’s a costly miss, because what should be 2-0 is now …
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64 min: The free kick is sent diagonally towards the far post. Krejčí wins a header that Günok scoops clear, albeit in a slightly unconvincing style. Eventually it’s a goal kick, which Günok takes his sweet time over. He goes into the book.
63 min: Before it can be taken, Okay Yokuşlu comes on for İsmail Yüksek.
62 min: Akaydin and Chorý compete for a high ball to the left of the Turkey D. The former lands awkwardly and winds himself, the latter takes an accidental finger in the eye. It’s a free kick for the Czechs in a very dangerous position.
61 min: … nothing occurs.
60 min: Jurásek tries to release Kuchta down the middle with a cute pass, but his intentions aren’t read. Turkey counter, and Müldür wins a corner down the right. From which …
58 min: Georgia are now 2-0 up against Portugal. Rob Smyth has it all. Unless Portugal can find a couple of goals, England are playing Slovakia on Sunday night.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Turkey | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Georgia | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 3 | -2 | 1 |
57 min: Tempers continue to run high. Souček takes issue with the amount of time Guler stays on the floor after a garden-variety foul. The referee tells them both to pipe down.
55 min: Nope, Staněk is helped off. Matěj Kovář comes on in his place. It’s part of a triple change, Jan Kuchta and Tomáš Chorý replacing Adam Hložek and Mojmír Chytil.
53 min: Adding injury to insult, Staněk has hurt himself making that original point-blank save. It doesn’t look as though he’s going to be able to continue.
GOAL! Czech Republic 0-1 Turkey (Çalhanoğlu 51)
Poor Staněk, who makes an astonishing point-blank save from Yıldız, who meets a Yılmaz right-wing cross on the penalty spot, only for his shot towards the bottom left to be blocked by the keeper’s strong arm. But the rebound is reclaimed by Turkey, and it’s worked to Çalhanoğlu on the left. Çalhanoğlu pearls a low swerving shot across the keeper and into the bottom right. Unstoppable!
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50 min: Yüksek is booked for a professional-style block on an in-flight Provod. From the resulting free kick, Hložek pings a snapshot from the right-hand corner of the D that takes a deflection but doesn’t fox Günok.
49 min: If both Group F games finish as they are, Turkey will play Austria in the Round of 16. Portugal will take on Slovenia and Georgia will face Spain. The Czechs will go home.
47 min: Çalhanoğlu sends a corner in from the right. It drops to Yıldız, who creams a half-volley over the bar from the edge of the box. A fast start to the half by Turkey.
46 min: A long left-to-right diagonal into the Czech box. Yılmaz heads across the face of goal but there’s nobody in white to tap home.
Turkey get the second half underway. They’ve replaced Salih Özcan with Kaan Ayhan.
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HALF TIME: Czech Republic 0-0 Turkey
As things stand, Turkey are going through in second place, while the ten-man Czechs are heading home.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Turkey | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 3 | Georgia | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 3 | -1 | 2 |
45 min +2: That was a huge chance for Jurásek, who from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box shot softly into Günok’s chest.
45 min +1: The first of three additional first-half minutes features a Czech corner and a game of head tennis in the Turkey box. Turkey eventually clear their lines.
45 min: Guler ships possession in midfield and, with most of his team-mates committed to attack, Czechia counter dangerously. Provod bursts down the middle and sends Jurásek into the box on the overlap. Jurásek shoots from a tight angle but Günok saves well. A huge chance for the ten men to take a shock lead.
43 min: Çalhanoğlu again down the inside right. This time he takes a whack from 25 yards, looking to ram a diagonal riser into the top-left corner. It’s always heading over the bar.
42 min: Çalhanoğlu bustles hard down the inside-right channel and into the Czech box, but Soucek stands firm to ensure he can’t get a shot away.
40 min: You can bet your last pfennig that the Czech Republic will try everything to manufacture a Turkish sending-off. They’re fuelled by a sense of injustice over Barák’s dismissal, and this referee’s patience is on a hair-trigger.
38 min: Coufal goes down again in the environs of Yıldız, this time having taken an elbow in the ear. That looked accidental, as did the earlier challenge on Hranáč in fact, but the Czechs are demanding the youngster is shown another yellow. However the referee doesn’t even award a foul.
36 min: Yıldız dribbles elegantly down the left, chopping his way past Coufal twice, then jinking along the byline. He catches Hranáč on the ankle and goes into the book.
35 min: Yüksek crunches into Provod, a clean tackle in the old-school style. Provod stays down, though, and eventually play is stopped. The Czechs are livid, to the point that Patrik Schick’s complaints from the bench earn him a booking … and a suspension. If the Czechs get through to the last 16, Schick won’t be playing, fit or not.
33 min: Yilmaz wins a corner on the right. Guler swings it in. It’s half cleared, and Guler probes down the right. He feeds Çalhanoğlu on the overlap, and it’ll be another corner. This second one’s properly cleared.
31 min: Özcan is booked for hauling Chytil back by the waist, as the Czech striker attempts to break forward from a low block. A fair chance this won’t end with 21 men.
29 min: Yılmaz whips in from the right. The ball nearly sneaks in at the near post, and Staněk does extremely well to claim cleanly.
28 min: Yıldız sends Coufal off to the shops down the left. He checks back and feeds Yılmaz, who curls towards Guler, six yards out in the middle. Hranáč deflectes the ball out for a corner, just in time. Nothing comes of the set piece.
26 min: Turkey stroke it around patiently, letting the game settle back down.
24 min: Soucek makes a nuisance of himself in the Turkish box upon the delivery of a long free kick. He can’t get a header on target, but there’s an early sign that the ten men are going to go down fighting.
23 min: That’s some contribution from Barák. Two yellows in nine minutes. A pointless shirt-tug in midfield, and a clumsy studding of someone’s foot. He’s only the second player to be sent off in this tournament so far, after Scotland’s Ryan Porteous.
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RED CARD: Antonín Barák (Czech Republic)
20 min: Barák extends a boot and stands on the top of Özcan’s foot. It looked accidental more than malicious, but it’s a second yellow, and Barák can’t believe it. Off he goes.
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19 min: Both teams take turns to play a little keep-ball. The “home” crowd whistle long and hard when the Czechs have it. Turkey press high but to no effect.
17 min: Coufal throws long from the right. Souček eyebrows on. Hranáč heads harmlessly over from eight yards. A big chance wasted. These throws are causing Turkey problems. Coufal won’t stop flinging them in, you can be sure of that.
15 min: Down the other end, it’s Jurásek’s turn to attempt a long-distance stunner. Straight at the keeper. Czechia come again, though, Souček crossing low from the right. Hložek gets in front of his marker but, six yards out, inexplicably makes no connection. An entertaining opening to this match.
13 min: The first sighting this evening of Güler, who glides into space down the middle before attempting the spectacular from 30 yards. Deep into the stand it goes, but after that goal against Georgia, he’s still got plenty of credit in the bank.
11 min: Turkey have taken a semblance of control. They’re seeing more of the ball, putting together all the passing sequences. Barák, frustrated, grabs a handful of Kadıoğlu’s shirt, and into the book he goes. He flings the ball to the floor in irritation, having thought he’d got away with just a lecture, and is fortunate the referee didn’t see the petulant action, or he may well have been off.
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9 min: Yılmaz barrels down the right this time, chasing after a wedged pass, but can’t get past Jurásek, who sticks to him like glue before eventually dispossessing him.
8 min: Soucek makes sure no Turkish player meets the corner, and Staněk claims.
7 min: Jurásek makes good down the left touchline and crosses low, but can’t find Chytil in the middle. Turkey counter, Yılmaz winning their first corner of the game down the left. Çalhanoğlu to take.
5 min: The Czechs will be happy with their aggressive start. Turkey haven’t really got going yet, Güler probing a little down the left flank to no effect.
3 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner. Meanwhile in the other match, Georgia have taken a shock early lead! Bob has your back.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Turkey | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 3 | Georgia | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 3 | -1 | 2 |
2 min: Provod powers his way down the inside-left channel and has a dig from the edge of the box. Günok’s parry isn’t particularly authoritative, and squirms around the post for a corner.
1 min: Coufal flings a long, long throw into the Turkey box from the right. A bit of a panic in the Turkey defence as the bouncing ball evades everyone and sails just wide left of goal. Turns out there was a bit too much pushing and the whistle goes, but still, for a brief moment, Turkish hearts were in mouths.
The Czech Republic get the ball rolling. It’s practically a home game for Turkey, whose fans are giving it plenty.
The teams are out! Czechia in red with blue trim, Turkey in white with red chest-band. A rare old tumult at the Volksparkstadion, the most glorious racket heard in Hamburg since the Beatles came to town. There are coins to be tossed, fists to be bumped, national anthems to be lustily sung, shining stars of the people, rustling pines and spring blossom, all that. We’ll be off once it’s all done!
Tonight’s games in Group F could have a huge bearing on England’s campaign. Should either or both of the Czechs and Georgia win, the resulting shoogling about of the third-place table would end up with England facing Slovakia on Sunday night. If neither manage it – or if the Czechs win by three or more goals – England will play the Netherlands. There are official Uefa-stamped reasons for all of this, but not any my poor little pea brain can process, so please let’s just take all of this as read and not start pulling at threads.
The Czechs have faced Turkey on 21 previous occasions, first as a constituent part of Czechoslovakia, latterly as the Czech Republic. They’ve got the better record over the long haul, with 12 wins to Turkey’s six. However Turkey have won the last three games between the countries, and beaten them twice at the finals, winning 2-0 in the Euro 2016 groups, and famously coming back from two down with 15 minutes to go to win 3-2 in Euro 2008’s last 16. Here’s how those matches panned out …
Czechia make two changes to their starting XI after the 1-1 draw with Georgia. Patrik Schick has been unable to prove his fitness so Mojmír Chytil takes his place up front; Schick will be available from the bench, though. Antonín Barák comes into the midfield at the expense of Václav Černý.
Turkey boss Vincenzo Montella has had enough in the wake of the 3-0 defeat to Portugal. Only four players who started that match retain their place: Samet Akaydin, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Barış Alper Yılmaz and captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu. The 19-year-old wonderkid Arda ‘Turkish Messi’ Güler returns from injury.
The teams
Czech Republic: Stanek, Holes, Hranac, Krejci, Coufal, Soucek, Provod, David Jurasek, Barak, Hlozek, Chytil.
Subs: Zima, Vitik, Sevcik, Schick, Kuchta, Doudera, Kovar, Cerny, Chory, Lingr, Cerv, Jaros, Vlcek, Sulc, Matej Jurasek.
Turkey: Gunok, Muldur, Demiral, Akaydin, Kadioglu, Calhanoglu, Ozcan, Guler, Yuksek, Yildiz, Yilmaz.
Subs: Celik, Yokuslu, Kokcu, Akturkoglu, Tosun, Yazici, Bayindir, Kaplan, Kahveci, Ayhan, Cakir, Kilicsoy, Akgun, Yildirim.
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania).
Proti Turecku vyběhneme v této základní sestavě. 🇨🇿🆚🇹🇷
— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) June 26, 2024
Sledujte utkání od 21:00 na @sportCT🔴 pic.twitter.com/dSrVsiUS3Y
A Millî Takımımızın, Çekya karşısında sahaya çıkacak 11'i belli oldu. #BizimÇocuklar🇹🇷 #CZEvTUR
— Türkiye #BizimÇocuklar 🇹🇷 (@MilliTakimlar) June 26, 2024
11'imiz: Mert Günok, Merih Demiral, Samet Akaydin, Arda Güler, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Salih Özcan, İsmail Yüksek, Mert Müldür, Kenan Yıldız, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Barış Alper Yılmaz. pic.twitter.com/zcjoiaGhCM
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Preamble
It’s crunch time in Group F, where it’s all to play for. Take it away, Uefa, and feel free to use your own house style!
Türkiye will be through to the round of 16, as group runners-up, if they avoid defeat against Czechia. Türkiye will be unable to reach the round of 16 if they lose and Georgia beat Portugal in the section’s other Matchday 3 game.
Czechia will be through to the round of 16, as group runners-up, if they beat Türkiye and Georgia do not beat Portugal. If Czechia and Georgia both win, they will be split for second and third place on overall goal difference, then overall goals scored, then disciplinary points, then European Qualifiers rankings. Czechia will finish third if they draw and Georgia do not win. Czechia will be unable to reach the round of 16 if they lose.
So there you have it. It all begins at 8pm BST. It’s on!
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Turkey | 2 | -1 | 3 |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 2 | -1 | 1 |
| 4 | Georgia | 2 | -2 | 1 |
