Euro 2024: Turkey Secures Quarter-Final Spot Against Netherlands

Turkey will face the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals after a thrilling 2-1 victory over Austria, marking the first time since 2008 that both teams have reached the last eight of a European Championship.

In rainy Leipzig, Merih Demiral emerged as an unexpected hero for Turkey, scoring an early goal in under a minute and then heading in the decisive goal just before the hour mark.

Vincenzo Montella’s team, playing without their suspended captain Hakan Calhanoglu but supported by a large contingent of fans at the Zentralstadion, will now meet the Dutch in Berlin on Saturday. The Netherlands had earlier secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Romania.

Reflecting on the match, Montella revealed his motivation to avenge a previous 6-1 defeat to Austria in March. “I denied it yesterday, but today I can admit that Austria was the team I wanted to face to erase that blemish on my coaching record,” he said.

Turkey’s passionate supporters are expected to provide strong backing in Berlin as the team aims to replicate their run to the semi-finals from 16 years ago. The 2008 tournament was co-hosted by Austria, who played a significant role in this engaging encounter and could have won on a different day.

Ralf Rangnick’s Austrian side dominated much of the match, especially in the second half, where they pressed Turkey back and conceded the second goal against the run of play. Demiral, playing for Al-Ahli, became the first European defender to score twice in the knockout stages of a major tournament since Lilian Thuram for France in the 1998 World Cup.

Michael Gregoritsch pulled one back for Austria by converting Stefan Posch’s flick-on from a corner shortly after Demiral’s second goal, bringing his international goal tally to four in 48 appearances. However, Austria failed to capitalize on their dominance, ultimately losing after Mert Gunok made a stunning save to deny Christoph Baumgartner an equalizer in the final moments of added time.

“I believe if the game had gone into extra time, we would have won because the Turkish team was exhausted, and we had a physical advantage,” Rangnick told reporters.