Turks stand tall to deny Austria and advance to last eight at Euro 2024

Turkey's Merih Demiral struck in each half to guide his team to a high-octane victory over Austria on Tuesday and book their spot in Euro 2024's last eight.

The central defender scored after 57 seconds and then added another with a powerful header just before the hour mark to set up a quarter-final on Saturday in Berlin against the Netherlands, who beat Romania 3-0 earlier on Tuesday.

For tournament dark horses Austria, who cut the deficit through Michael Gregoritsch midway through the second half, it was a bitter end to their European Championship with the team still waiting for their first win in a knockout match at any major tournament since 1954.

The Turks snatched the lead in a frantic start to the game when Demiral pounced on a goalmouth scramble to fire into the roof of the net for the fastest ever goal in a European Championship knockout match.

Turkey were happy to leave possession to Austria, who beat them 6-1 back in March, but kept pressing high with a 5-4-1 system, and looked to catch them on the break, disrupting their opponents' usual no-frills playing style.

FT: