Hamburg, Germany – In a dramatic turn of events, a mass brawl broke out between players of Czechia and Turkey following the final whistle of their Euro 2024 match on Wednesday night. The confrontation erupted after Turkey’s 2-1 victory, which secured their place in the last-16 tie against Austria and eliminated Czechia from the tournament.

Despite the end of regular play, tensions boiled over as players from both teams engaged in chaotic scenes on the pitch. The situation escalated when Czech forward Tomas Chory, who was substituted in the second half, received a straight red card for forcefully pushing Turkey’s Ferdi Kadioglu. This act of aggression triggered further altercations involving other players and staff.

The melee continued with West Ham’s Tomas Soucek and Real Madrid’s rising star Arda Guler both receiving yellow cards for their involvement. Turkey’s manager Vincenzo Montella intervened, attempting to pull his players away to avoid further suspensions ahead of the knockout stages.

The incident overshadowed what had been an engaging match. Czechia faced an uphill battle early on when midfielder Antonin Barak was sent off within 20 minutes for two bookable offences. Despite their numerical disadvantage, Czechia held their ground until Hakan Calhanoglu gave Turkey the lead in the 51st minute with a powerful strike.

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Czechia’s Tomas Soucek brought hope to his team by equalizing 15 minutes later, but their aspirations were dashed deep into stoppage time when former Everton striker Cenk Tosun scored the decisive goal. The frustration from this last-minute defeat likely contributed to the volatile post-match behavior.

Turkey’s victory meant they finished Group F level on points with Portugal, who surprisingly lost 2-0 to Georgia. Despite the defeat, Portugal secured the top spot in the group due to their head-to-head record against Turkey.

As Turkey prepares to face Austria in Leipzig next Tuesday, Czechia exits the tournament with disappointment. Austria, under the guidance of Ralf Rangnick, has emerged as one of the surprise packages of Euro 2024, topping Group D ahead of heavyweights France and the Netherlands.