EM 2024 flood of tickets in the Volkspark: Czech Republic and Türkiye set new record
Referee Kovacs showed yellow cards almost every minute during the European Championship match between the Czech Republic and Turkey
© Pro Shots / Imago Images
16 yellow cards in one game, plus two expulsions – the Czech Republic and Turkey set an inglorious European Championship record in a heated match.
Referee Istvan Kovacs had his hands full in the European Championship group match between the Czech Republic and Turkey (1:2). In total, the Hungarian showed the yellow card 16 times – a new record in the history of the European Football Championships. Eleven of these went to Turkey. If you add the yellow-red card for the Czech Antonin Barak, there were 18 cautions in the entire match. In injury time, the Czech Tomas Chory also saw red.
After just eleven minutes, Barak received his first warning for a tactical foul, and after 20 minutes he was sent off with a red card. As a result, the atmosphere on the pitch became increasingly heated. After all, both teams were still fighting for a place in the round of 16. And the referee soon lost control of the game.
Euro 2024: Eleven yellow cards for Türkiye – two expulsions for the Czech Republic
Kovacs gave yellow cards to players on the bench four times. Czech striker Patrik Schick, who plays for Bayer Leverkusen, would have even been banned if they had made it to the round of 16. Another curious fact: according to official UEFA statistics, Turkey only committed nine fouls in the entire game, but received eleven yellow cards.
In one or two situations the referee could perhaps have shown more sensitivity, but an elbow check by the Turkish player Yildiz in the first half would have warranted another yellow card. In injury time things got more colorful again after a small scuffle between players from both teams.
The previous record for a European Championship match was ten yellow cards – and the Czech Republic was involved back then too. The card festival took place in the preliminary round match against the German team at the 1996 European Championship in England.
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