When is the Türkiye vs Portugal Match EURO 2024?
Türkiye faced Portugal in their second match of Group F at the EURO 2024 in Dortmund, suffering a 3-0 defeat. In the other Group F match, Georgia and the Czech Republic drew 1-1. These results secured Portugal’s place in the round of 16 as group winners, while Türkiye’s chances to advance now depend on their final match against the Czech Republic, where even a draw could be enough.
Türkiye’s starting lineup against Portugal included Altay Bayındır, Zeki Çelik, Samet Akaydın, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Kaan Ayhan, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Yunus Akgün, Orkun Kökçü, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, and Barış Alper Yılmaz.
Four players from the team that won 3-1 against Georgia (Mert Günok, Mert Müldür, Arda Güler, and Kenan Yıldız) were absent from the starting lineup due to injuries or coach’s decision. Altay Bayındır, Zeki Çelik, Yunus Akgün, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu took their places in the first eleven.
Coach Vincenzo Montella’s decision to bring in Arda Güler, who he stated was “tired and rested” before the match, only in the 70th minute, drew criticism.
Portugal took the lead in the 21st minute with a goal from Bernardo Silva, and extended their lead in the 28th minute with an own goal by Samet Akaydın.
The first half ended 2-0, and Portugal increased their lead to three goals in the 55th minute with a goal from Bruno Fernandes, securing a comfortable victory and advancing to the round of 16 as Group F winners in EURO 2024.
Abdülkerim Bardakcı received a yellow card in the 25th minute, which means he will be suspended for the Czech Republic match.
Samet Akaydın was also injured in the 75th minute and had to leave the field.
Although Merih Demiral replaced Samet, Yusuf Yazıcı came on for Orkun Kökçü at halftime, and İsmail Yüksek, Kenan Yıldız, and Arda Güler replaced Kaan Ayhan, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, and Yunus Akgün respectively, these changes did not affect the outcome, and Portugal won the match 3-0.
Cristiano Ronaldo Named BBC’s Player of the Match
BBC chose Cristiano Ronaldo as the player of the match with a score of 7.89 out of 10. Pepe also received the same score.
According to BBC, Türkiye’s best player was Arda Güler with a score of 5.81.
Türkiye’s coach Vincenzo Montella, in his post-match statement to TRT, said, “When you become the coach of the National Team, when you make decisions, when the match turns into a defeat, the coach becomes the first enemy. I am aware of this.”
Regarding Arda Güler, who was brought into the game in the 70th minute, Vincenzo Montella said, “Arda was tired. We didn’t want to use him because there was a risk of injury. Even when I was bringing him in, I was wondering if I should, but at 3-0, we thought maybe if we could find a goal with him, we could change the score.”
In Group F of EURO 2024, after the first 2 matches, Portugal has 6 points, Türkiye has 3 points, and the Czech Republic and Georgia have 1 point each.
Türkiye will face the Czech Republic in their third and final group match on Wednesday at 22:00 CEST in Hamburg. At the same time, the Portugal-Georgia match will also be played.
In the last matches, if Türkiye draws with the Czech Republic, they will advance to the round of 16 as group runners-up. If the match ends in a draw or a Czech Republic victory, Türkiye’s qualification for the round of 16 will depend on the results of the Portugal-Georgia match and other group matches.
In EURO 2024, the top 2 teams from each of the 6 groups and the 4 best third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16.