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Turkey national football team
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The Turkish national football team is the national football team of the Republic of Turkey and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation. They are affiliated with UEFA.
Turkey has a footballing tradition that features both highs and lows. In World Cup competition Turkey has qualified three times for the 1950, 1954, and 2002 editions. Turkey failed to make an appearance for the 1950 World Cup due to a withdrawal.
The team's highest achievement was reaching 3rd place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
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Encyclopedia
The Turkish national football team is the national football team of the Republic of Turkey and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation. They are affiliated with UEFA.
Turkey has a footballing tradition that features both highs and lows. In World Cup competition Turkey has qualified three times for the 1950, 1954, and 2002 editions. Turkey failed to make an appearance for the 1950 World Cup due to a withdrawal.
The team's highest achievement was reaching 3rd place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Turkey also reached the knockout round of Euro 2000, the semi-finals of Euro 2008 and finished 3rd in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup.
History
Early years
The Turkish national team played their first ever match against Romania in 1923. The most notable thing of this match was that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was also there to wish the team good luck, Atatürk was known to be a huge fan of the game. In this era the Turkish national team was feared because the players that represented the squad played in Turkish teams that defeated English teams a few years before in every encounter they had.
World Cups 1950 and 1954
Turkey qualified very easily for the 1950 World Cup beating Syria 7-0 but they had to withdraw due to financial problems.
Turkey then qualified for the 1954 World Cup after a play-off with Spain. The Turkish team first lost 4-1 to Spain but a 1-0 win a few days later initiated a replay. On that occasion they tied 2-2 after, booking their place after a coin toss. Turkey was put in a group along with Hungary and West Germany. However the Turks never played Hungary due to the tournament format, and a 4-1 defeat by the Germans was followed by Turkey carrying out a 7-0 win over South Korea. Turkey lost the play-off to West Germany 7-2.
1954 to 1958
The Turkish national team played some nice matches in this period, the biggest one being a 3-1 beating of unbeatable Hungary.
'60s to '90s
Despite the introduction of a national league, and showings by Turkish clubs in European competition, the 1960s would be a barren time for the national team. The 1970s saw Turkey holding back in the World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, but the team was a point too short to qualify for Euro 1972 and Euro 1976. The Turkish team also suffered their worst defeats with 8-0 scorelines against Poland and, twice, England.
Yet the 1990 World Cup qualifiers would mark a turning point for Turkish football, with Turkey only missing out on qualification in the final game.
Euro 1996 and 2000
Turkey qualified for the Euro 96, beating both Switzerland and Sweden 2-1 along the way, but then at Euro 1996 they lost all their matches without scoring a single goal. However, they did go home with an award: the fair-play award, given to Alpay Özalan.
Turkey qualified for Euro 2000 after winning a play-off against the Republic of Ireland. Turkey lost their first match 2-1 to Italy, they drew their second match against Sweden 0-0, and beat host nation Belgium 2-0, making it the first time in the history of the European Championship that a host nation had been eliminated in the first round, brought Turkey into the last eight of the tournament where Portugal won the quarter-final match 2-0.
World Cup 2002
Turkey finished second in their qualifying group, despite starting well and being the favourites to top the group they lost 2-1 to Sweden in the crucial match that would decide the top spot. The Turks were forced to play the play-offs against Austria. They defeated the Austrians 6-0 on aggregate and booked their place at the finals.
The Turkish team started the 2002 World Cup with a 2-1 defeat against eventual winners Brazil. Turkey passed the group stage with a 3-0 win against China, after drawing 1-1 with Costa Rica.
Turkey then faced home team Japan, beating them 1-0. The Turkish team continued their run, as they beat Senegal 1-0 on a golden goal to book their place in the semi-finals where a 1-0 defeat against Brazil forced them to play the third place match, and a bronze medal was the prize after a 3-2 victory over South Korea. Hakan Sükür scored Turkey's first goal in 10.8 seconds, even when the South Koreans kicked off first. It was the fastest goal in World cup history.
Confederations Cup 2003 and Euro 2004
In the summer of 2003, Turkey reached third place at the 2003 Confederations Cup. In the groupstages they drew 2-2 against Brazil eliminating them from the tournament. Turkey lost to eventual tournament winners France 3-2 in the semi-final match. Turkey defeated Colombia 2-1 to win third place.
The Turkish team failed to qualify for Euro 2004 on play-offs due to a loss to Latvia after finishing second in their group.
World Cup 2006
The Turkish team once again narrowly missed out on the finals after failing to win a play-off, this time on away goals against Switzerland, again after finishing second in their group. There were scenes of violence after the game on and off the pitch where the Turkish team brawled with Swiss players down the tunnel.
Euro 2008
Turkey qualified for their first international tournament in 6 years by finishing second behind Greece in Group C. They were placed alongside Switzerland, Portugal and the Czech Republic in Group A. In their first match they played Portugal and were beaten 2-0, but wins over Switzerland (2-1) and Czech Republic (3-2), both secured by late goals, brought qualification for the knockout stages. Again, Turkey knocked out a Host Nation Switzerland in the group stages, for the second time.
The quarter final against Croatia was goalless after 90 minutes, and Croatia led 1-0 in the final minute of extra time, but another late Turkish goal by forward Semih Senturk brought the game to penalties. The goal raised some controversy with Croatia fans, and Croatia's coach, Slaven Bilic, who claimed that the goal had been scored after extra time had elapsed. However, this complaint was overruled, and the game went into penalties. Turkey beat out Croatia in penalties 3 - 1.
They went into the semi-final against Germany with just 14 outfield players available as a result of injuries and suspensions, but scored first and were drawing 2-2 in the last minute of the match, until Germany scored a third goal in the last few seconds and Turkey were thus eliminated.
World Cup record
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
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| 1930 | Did Not Enter | |
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| 1934 | Withdrew during qualifying | |
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| 1938 | Did Not Enter | |
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| 1950 | Qualified but withdrew | |
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| 1954 | Round 1 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 11 | | 1958 | Withdrew during qualifying | |
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| 1962 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1966 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1970 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1974 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1978 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1982 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1986 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1990 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1994 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1998 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 2002 | Third place | 3 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | | 2006 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 2010 | Qualifying in progress | |
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| 2014 | |
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| Total | 2/19 | | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 17 |
European Championship record
| Year | Round | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
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| Did Not Qualify | |
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| Did Not Quality | |
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| 1968 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1972 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1976 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1980 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1984 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1988 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| Did Not Qualify | |
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| Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | | Quarter-finals | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | | Did Not Qualify | |
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| Semi-finals | 5 | 2 | 1* | 2 | 8 | 9 | | | |
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| Total | 3/13 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 18 |
- *Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- * Turkey advanced to the semi finals via a 3-1 win over Croatia in a penalty shootout.
Confederations Cup record
| Year | Round | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
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| 1992 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1997 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 1999 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 2001 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 2003 | Third place | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | | 2005 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| 2009 | Did Not Qualify | |
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| Total | 1/8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 |
ECO Cup record
| Host/Year | Round |
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| 1965 | Runners-Up | 1967 | Champions | | 1969 | Champions | | 1970 | Runners-Up | 1974 | Champions | 1993 | Did not enter | |
Current Squad
The following players were called up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Belgium on September 10 2008.
Head coach: Fatih Terim
Recent call-ups
Most capped players
As of June 25, 2008, the eleven players with the most caps for Turkey are:
Top Turkish goal scorers
Coaching staff
| Head Coach | Fatih Terim | | Assistant Coaches | Müfit Erkasap | | Oguz Çetin | | Metin Tekin | | Team Doctor | | | Masseurs | | | | | Goalkeepers Coach | | | Administrative Responsible | | |
Past managers
National stadiums
- In Istanbul;
- In Ankara;
- 19 Mayis Stadium (capacity: 21,250) - last match against Moldova on 20 August 2003 with 2-0 result
- In Izmir;
- Izmir Atatürk Stadium (capacity: 58,008) - last match against Czech Republic on 1 March 2006 with 2-2 result
- In Bursa;
- In Trabzon;
- Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium (capacity: 29,500) - last match against Georgia on 4 September 2004 with 1-1 result
- In Gaziantep;
- Kamil Ocak Stadium (capacity: 14,325) - last match against Denmark on 18 February 2004 with 0-1 result
- In Denizli;
- Denizli Atatürk Stadium (capacity: 15,000) - last match against Belarus on 18 August 2004 with 1-2 result
Trivia
- Hakan Sükür scored the fastest goal ever in (10.8 seconds after kickoff) a World Cup finals match during the third-place game of the 2002 World Cup against South Korea.
- Turkey's highest FIFA World Ranking was 5th place. (June 2004)
- Nuri Sahin is the youngest player ever to have played and scored for the Turkish national team, ironically scoring against Germany, as he has both Turkish and German citizenships.
- Turkey has now won four consecutive matches against host nations in major tournaments, after beating Belgium in UEFA Euro 2000, both Japan and South Korea in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and Switzerland in UEFA Euro 2008.
- Semih Sentürk scored the latest goal (time was 121.04) in European Cup history in Turkey's Euro 2008 quarterfinal match against Croatia.
- The most goals scored in a match was in 1967 when Turkey played against Pakistan. Turkey won the match 7-4.
- Sadri Usuoglu was the first and only black manager of the national team when he coached the team in 1952.
- Turkey won the world cup for military teams in 1952.
Cups squads
2002 FIFA World Cup1954 FIFA World Cup
Euro Cups squads
Confederations Cup squads
External links
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