By: Serena Li

The Czech National Men’s Soccer Team knew they needed a victory to guarantee themselves a place in the knockout stage at the 2024 European Championships, but Turkey needed to prevent a loss, so there were very high stakes. This game was dramatic and fun, with 16 yellow cards and 2 red cards, with a total of 18 cards.

In the beginning, the Czech Republic team was performing strongly, and the game was going their way. However, at the 11th minute, Turkey got more control and the momentum switched. Antonin Barak, midfielder for the Czech Republic team, was frustrated and grabbed the left-back of the Turkey team’s Ferdi Kadioglu’s shirt. Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs punished Barak with a yellow card for fouling Kadioglu. At the 20th minute, Barak stepped on the top of Salih Özcan’s foot in what seems an unintentional collision rather than deliberate, but he received a second yellow card. By the end of the first half, 6 yellow cards were issued.

After Turkey scored their second goal to secure a spot in the round of 16 Turkey’s excited celebrations at the final whistle angered the Czech’s players. At the 98th minute near the halfway line, Tomáš Chorý, the Viktoria Plzen striker for the Czech Republic team, received a red card for getting in a brawl with Turkey’s Number 1 goalkeeper, Mert Gunok.

According to The New York Times, the Czech team had 12 shots, 7 shots on target, 3 saves, 16 fouls, and possession for 31.9% of the time. The Turkey team had 18 shots, 5 on target, 5 saves, 9 fouls, and possession for 68.1% of the time. In the first half, neither team scored, but in the second half, the Czech team scored 1 goal, and the Turkey team scored 2.

After Turkey’s win against Czech Republic, they had to face off against the Austria team on 7/2/2024. They won 2-1, which set them up to go to the quarterfinals playing the Netherlands on Saturday, 7/6/2024 at 3 pm in Berlin’s Olympiastadion.