By: Kerry Ding

On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, during the Czech Republic vs Turkey game in Volksparkstadion, a football stadium in Hamburg Germany, a record high of yellow cards and red cards were given out in Euro History. The Czech team got 2 red cards, the most in Euro history.

There were 18 cards shown during the game. 16 were yellows, and two were red. Interestingly, 5 of the cards were given to players that were not even on the field of play.

It was by far the dirtiest game in Euro history. So, what happened?

At first the Czechia (short of Czech Republic) team was doing well against the Turkish team. However, in the 11th minute, Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs gave a yellow card to Antonin Barak for dragging down left-back Ferdi Kadioglu. However, that was not Barak’s only mistake, as in the 20th minute he met some resistance from two Turkey midfielders. With the ball getting further and further away, Barak desperately tried to get the ball with his foot, but Salih Özcan, one of the Turkish players, got the ball first. But this confusion led Barak to step on Özcan’s foot, causing both to trip.

The next card was given to Czech striker Patrick Schick, because he reacted “passionately” to a call made by a referee that he thought was wrong. He wasn’t even on the pitch but was sitting out due to an injury he got from a previous game. Just a few minutes later, the second Turkish yellow card was given out to Kenan Yildiz. If he hadn’t received a punishment, there would have been a mutiny in the Czechian dugout.

However the real drama happened in the 51st minute when yellow cards were given to Calhanoglu, Mert Muldur, Vitezslav Jaros, Lukas Cerv and backup goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir. In defeat, Czechia will no return home, and Turkey will be advancing to a round-of-16 tie against Austria next Tuesday.