Turkiye´s Demiral makes Euros history with rapid start against Austria

Turkiye’s Merih Demiral scored after just 57 seconds on Tuesday, shattering the record for the fastest goal in the history of the European Championship knockout rounds.

The Turkiye defender profited from two fortuitous deflections from an early corner, rocketing into the roof of the net to open the scoring against Austria in the last 16.

That strike marked the fastest goal for Turkiye at major tournaments (World Cup or Euros) since Hakan Sukur against Korea Republic at the 2002 World Cup (11 seconds), another competition record.

Clocked at just 57 seconds, Merih Demiral’s opener against Austria is the second-fastest goal in European Championship history #AUTTUR pic.twitter.com/3fgaYrUrnf

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) July 2, 2024

Remarkably, there were no goals in the first minute of a match in the first 16 editions of the European Championships (1960-2020) – now there have been two in the opening minute at Euro 2024.

A youthful Turkiye side also became the first team in the Euros knockout stages to name two teenagers (Kenan Yildiz and Arda Guler) in their starting XI since Hungary in 1964 against Denmark.

At the age of 25 years and 254 days, Turkiye named the youngest starting XI in a European Championship knockout stage game as well, since Belgium against Wales at Euro 2016 (24y 242d).