Turkey celebrated a triumphant 3-0 victory over Hungary in the second leg of their UEFA Nations League 2024-25 play-offs, securing promotion to League A with a resounding 6-1 aggregate win.
Goals from Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Arda Güler, and Abdülkerim Bardakcı sealed a historic moment for Turkish football at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest.
While the on-field action showcased Turkey’s dominance, a post-match incident has added a spicy subplot to the encounter, involving Hungary’s star midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai and Turkey’s rising talent Arda Güler.
Exactly one year prior, on March 23, 2024, during an international friendly between the two nations at the very same stadium, reports emerged of a heated exchange, a minor skirmish between Szoboszlai and Güler.
Fast forward exactly 365 days to March 23, 2025, and history seemingly repeated itself.
After Guler scored the 2nd goal for The Crescent Stars, he made a shushing gesture towards Szoboszlai.
However, the real talking point erupted after the final whistle, not on the pitch, but on social media.
Dominik Szoboszlai, the Liverpool star who has enjoyed a stellar season with 36 appearances for the Reds, took to Instagram with a cryptic yet pointed message.
On Nemzeti Sport Online‘s post about the incident, Szoboszlai simply replied with a “1088’“.
For those unaware of the underlying context, this seemingly random number was a calculated dig at Arda Güler’s limited playing time for Real Madrid in the 2024-25 season.
That’s 644 minutes in La Liga, 142 minutes in Champions League, 300 minutes in Copa Del Rey and 2 minutes in UEFA Super Cup.
Safe to say, Szoboszlai went straight into the dressing room, Googled Guler’s stats and found all the ammo he needed on popular football stats website Transfermarkt.
A level of pettiness we can all admire.
The Turkish prodigy, despite his undeniable talent, has found consistent minutes hard to come by under Carlo Ancelotti at the Bernabéu.
While Güler has shown glimpses of his brilliance, particularly in the Copa del Rey where he has impressed with 2 goals and 2 assists in just four outings, his involvement in La Liga (644 minutes) and the UEFA Champions League (142 minutes) has been minimal.
This lack of consistent game time has reportedly led to frustration for the young Turk, fueling speculation about a potential summer move, with clubs like RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan, and Inter all reportedly interested.
Szoboszlai’s Instagram post, therefore, served as a direct jab at Güler’s situation.
The “1088” likely refers to the total minutes Güler has played for Real Madrid across all competitions, adding up to a relatively low figure compared to Szoboszlai’s consistent involvement for Liverpool.
