Czech Republic 1-2 Turkey: Euro 2024 – as it happened

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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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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Turkey will play Austria in the Round of 16!

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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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As things stand, Turkey are going through in second place, while the ten-man Czechs are heading home.

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.