Czechia 1-2 Turkey: 10-man Czechs are knocked out as Cenk Tosun’s injury-time strike earns win for Vincenzo Montella’s side… who face Austria next

The A1 motorway is Europe’s longest national highway. On Wednesday, much of it appeared to be clogged with cars carrying Turkish fans to Hamburg, flags draped over the bonnets of Mercedes fans fluttering from the windows and fans crowding the petrol stations.

They gathered at the Volkspark Stadium on the outskirts of the city and, together with a Czech contingent that knows how to make their own sound, they turned the final group match of this European Championship into a riot of passion and color and drama and tension and an epidemic of yellow cards.

There were 18 in total, a record for this tournament. In fact, there may have been more. It was hard to keep count. The match ended when Hungarian referee Istvan Kovacs showed them to almost every player on the pitch, and to some who had already been substituted and were running back.

He had already sent off Antonin Barak in the first half and now he waved red at Tomas Chory for his part in the last fight. Turkish prodigy Arda Guler also received a yellow card. The referee was so busy showing cards that no one noticed the match was over. It was anarchy.

It was a pulsating game full of anger and rage. The Czech Republic staged an admirable comeback that upset the Turkish fans and gave them many anxious moments as they pushed for a late winner that would have sent Turkey home.

Georgia’s shock win over Portugal put the match in even greater jeopardy for Turkey, but they held on and held on, then scored a superb extra-time winner through Cenk Tosun to earn them a round of 16 draw with Austria in Leipzig on Tuesday. The Czechs finished bottom of the group.

The noise at the start was deafening and the volume was among the loudest of any match in this tournament so far. “Tur-kee-eh, Turk-kee-eh, Tur-kee-eh,” the fans shouted over and over. When the Czechs had the ball, the ground was filled with whistling.

But the Czech Republic started on a brighter note. They broke free and when the ball broke to Lukas Provod, Turkish goalkeeper Mert Gunok had to dive full length to his left to clear the fierce 20-yard drive.

Turkey suffered another scare midway through the half when Robin Hranac emerged unmarked in the penalty area six yards out, but could only plant his header over the crossbar. But a few minutes later the Czechs imploded with absurd ill-discipline.

Antonin Barak had already been shown a yellow card for pulling Ferdi Kadioglu back by his shirt and when he crossed the ball he lunged forward to try to regain it and stamped on Kenan Yildiz’s foot. The referee gave him a second yellow card and sent him off the field.

Arda Guler attempted a spectacular bicycle kick that looked goal-bound until it was superbly blocked by Ladislav Krejci, but the game soon started to turn ill-tempered.

Patrik Schick, the Czech forward, was not in the starting line-up, but still managed to get a yellow card for jumping off the bench in protest against a foul on Provod. Schick had been shown a yellow card in the Czechs’ defeat to Portugal, so this yellow meant he would miss his team’s first knockout match if they progressed. It was another ridiculous mistake.

Yildiz was next in the book for a foul on Hranac and the Czech Republic handed him a second yellow card in as many minutes when he linked up a header with Vladimir Coufal and Coufal went down clutching his head. The referee resisted their pleas.

Despite their setbacks and missteps, the Czechs still forged the best chance of the half on the stroke of the break when Provod surged forward from midfield and laid the ball into the path of David Jurasek. Jurasek hit his shot clean, but Gunok had run out and blocked the shot from close range with his gloves. Jurasek walked through the tunnel during halftime with his head in his hands.

Five minutes after the break, Turkey took the lead. Baris Alper Yilmaz broke down the right wing and his return sparked a goal-scoring battle before Ismail Yuksek pushed the ball into the path of playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu. The Turkey skipper’s technique was perfect.

He hit the ball with his laces, cutting lightly over the ball and driving it out of reach of Jindrich Stanek. Stanek was injured seconds earlier during a save and was unable to continue. He was replaced by former Burton Albion goalkeeper Matej Kovar.

Turkey should have added a second just after the hour mark when Yilmaz stormed back to the right and drilled a cross across the six-yard box. It looked like it was going to be a tap-in for Arda Guler, but the ball was struck so quickly that the Real Madrid prodigy could not get a grip on it.

A minute later, the Czech Republic was level. Tomas Chory jumped with Gunok, who had now received a yellow card for wasting time, for a high ball and Gunok could not collect it neatly. The ball broke free, Chory had an attempt cleared off the line and then Tomas Soucek smashed the ball home. Turkey was furious.

Their bench was emptied and another substitute was booked for dissent, but they held on until Tosun cut into his man in the final minutes and fired his shot past the goalkeeper to delight the Turkish fans.