Neither Czechia nor Türkiye were able to break the deadlock in the first half of the action at Volksparkstadion, but an exciting final 45 minutes saw Türkiye confirm their progression to the knockout stages of EURO2024.
For Czechia, it was a different story as the EURO2020 quarterfinalists failed to escape Group F and will instead be boarding the next flight back to Prague.
As it happened
An excellent opening quarter-hour saw both sides show attacking intent and it was Ivan Hašek’s men who registered their first shot in just the second minute of the match. Türkiye’s goalkeeper, Mert Gunok, was forced into an early save following a powerful shot by Lukas Provod from outside the box.
Türkiye responded well to this early pressure, and Kenan Yildiz’s right foot shot was blocked by the Czech defence.
In the 15th minute, David Jurasek attempted to find the back of the net with a long range effort but Gunok was positioned correctly to collect the ball.
The match would soon descend into chaos, but despite Antonin Barak’s dismissal after picking up his second yellow card of the night in the 20th minute, Czechia were the first side to register the next shot when Tomaš Souček assisted Robin Hranac; his shot was blocked though.
Vincenzo Montella’s men dominated possession around the half-hour mark, seeking a chance to capitalise on their numerical advantage, as Yildiz snd Samet Akaydin both looked to open the scoring.
But whilst there were chances for both sides throughout the first half, it was all level going in at the 45 minute mark.
It was clear that Türkiye came out for the second half determined to open the scoring as they dominated possession and applied pressure on the Czech defence. Montella’s men had a flurry of chances in the 50th minute, and whilst Stanek reacted quickly to push away Ismail Yuksek’s shot, he could not keep out Hakan Calhanoglu’s strike into the far corner.
As the ball hit the back of the net, breaking the deadlock, the fans of Türkiye around the stadium in Hamburg errupted with joy and the bench rose to their feet in celebration.
Czechia were now a man down and a goal down with 40 minutes left to play and whilst many teams would struggle, Hašek’s men responded in the perfect way with both Krejci and Chory both having a shot blocked.
Their relentless attack payed off in the 66th minute when an intital long throw from Coufal reached the centre of the box, and after a shot from Chory was cleared off the line by Akaydin, Souček was there to strike the ball into the net.
Chances were few and far between for the most part in the second half, with both sides desperately looking to gain the advantage.
Czechia’s hope of qualification were already fading with news of the stunning result for Georgia in the concurrent game in Gelsenkirchen, and they were dealt their final blow when in the 94th minute, Türkiye regained the lead.
It was a fantastic team goal, with the ball being passed down the line to eventually reach substitute Cenk Tosun, who carried the ball from the left of the box to the centre of goal before curling his effort into the bottom corner.
Türkiye progress to the round-of-16 after finishing second in Group F, whilst EURO quarter-finalists Czechia fail to progress to the next stage of the European Championships.
The lineups:
CZE: Stanek, Holes, Hranac, Krejci, Coufal, Soucek, Provod, Jurasek, Barak, Chytil, Hlozek
TUR: Gunok, Muldur, Akaydin, Demiral, Kadioglu, Yusek, Ozcan, Guler, Calhanoglu, Yidiz, Yilmaz