By: Alexander Zhang

Hamburg, Germany- Soccer fans experienced one of the most violent soccer games ever when Czech Republic faced Turkey in the Euro 2024 Championship. The referee gave out a total of 18 cards, 16 of them yellow, and two of them red. The final score was 2-1, with Turkey winning and qualifying for the knockout stages.

The game started off when Antonin Barak of Czechia received a yellow card for pulling Ferdi Kadıoğlu of Turkey to the floor. Nine minutes later, Barak got a red card and was sent off after stepping on Salih Özcan of Turkey. Following this, Ozcan himself got a yellow card, along with Patrik Schick of Czechia, Kenan Yıldız of Turkey before halftime.

After half time, İsmail Yüksek of Turkey received a yellow card before his teammate, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, finally scored a goal. 20 minutes later, Turkish goalkeeper Mert Gunok was given a yellow card after taking too long with a goal kick. Tomáš Souček scored a goal for Czechia, making the game a tie.

Later, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Samet Akaydin, Mert Müldür, Uğurcan Çakır of Turkey all got yellow cards, as well as Vítězslav Jaroš, Ladislav Krejčí, and Lukáš Červ of Czechia. At 90+4 minutes, Cenk Tosun of Turkey scored a goal, bringing the score to 2-1 in favor of Turkey. Following this, yellow cards were awarded to Orkun Kökçü, Kaan Ayhan of Turkey, and Tomáš Souček of Czechia. A red card was given to Tomáš Chorý of Czechia for violent action.

Overall, the game was a poor way for Czechia to exit the tournament, while Turkey advanced to the knockout stage (round of 16). Turkey played Austria on July 3rd and won again with the score 2-1, securing their spot against Netherlands in the semi-finals.