Dominik Szoboszlai‘s Hungary endured a 3-0 defeat to Turkiye on Sunday night and had to deal with Arda Guler’s goading, with the Liverpool midfielder subsequently responding to his opponent online.
Hungary’s Nations League campaign ended in abysmal style as they lost 3-0 at home (6-1 on aggregate) against Turkiye.
Goals from Hakan Calhanoglu, Guler and Abdulkerim Bardakci left the crowd in Budapest disappointed, and the game’s second goalscorer only served to heighten the frustration.
During the match, Real Madrid attacking midfielder Guler shushed Szoboszlai as the pair argued over a decision.
It wasn’t long after the game when Nemzeti Sport Online posted a photo of the incident on Instagram, prompting Szoboszlai to reply: “1088′.”
While appearing cryptic at first, 1088 is actually the number of minutes Guler has played for Madrid this season – a clear sign of Szoboszlai poking fun at the Turk and attempting to get his own back.
In comparison, Szoboszlai has played 2887 minutes for Liverpool and scored seven goals while managing six assists.
Guler has appeared 30 times for Madrid in the 2024/25 season, but as Szoboszlai alluded to, he has failed to make an impact, starting just 10 times scoring just three goals.
The 20-year-old signed for Los Blancos, from Fenerbahce in July 2023, on a six-year deal and he has long been seen as a major talent – he made his Fenerbahce debut at just 16 years old.
Szoboszlai got straight into the dressing room and googled how many minutes Arda Guler has played this season, this is the level of hater I aspire to be https://t.co/K3LJroYh9j
— ? (@TheImmortalKop) March 24, 2025
The young attacker also became Turkiye’s youngest-ever goalscorer in a competitive game, when he netted against Wales at the age of 18 years, three months and 25 days.
The youngest-ever scorer for Turkiye including friendlies is actually former Liverpool player Nuri Sahin, who had only just turned 17 when he scored against Germany back in 2005.
As Hungary captain, Szoboszlai played the full 180 minutes of the Nations League play-off tie and will now return to Liverpool with over a week until the Anfield affair against Everton on Wednesday, April 2.