| Nickname(s) | Ay Yıldızlılar (The Crescent-Stars) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Turkish Football Federation | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Abdullah Avcı | ||
| Captain | Emre Belözoğlu | ||
| Most caps | Rüştü Reçber (119) | ||
| Top scorer | Hakan Şükür (51) | ||
| Home stadium | Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadı İzmir Atatürk Stadyumu Türk Telekom Arena |
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| FIFA code | TUR | ||
| FIFA ranking | 28 | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 5 (June 2004) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 67 (October 1993) | ||
| Elo ranking | 29 | ||
| Highest Elo ranking | 9 (November 2002) | ||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 82 (November 1985) | ||
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| First international | |||
| Turkey 2–2 Romania (Istanbul, Turkey; October 26, 1923)[1] |
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| Biggest win | |||
| Turkey 7–0 Syria (Ankara, Turkey; November 20, 1949) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||
| Poland 8–0 Turkey (Chorzów, Poland; April 24, 1968) Turkey 0–8 England (Istanbul, Turkey; 14 November 1984) England 8–0 Turkey (London, England; 14 October 1987) |
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| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 2 (First in 1954) | ||
| Best result | Third place, 2002 | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 3 (First in 1996) | ||
| Best result | Semi-finals, 2008 | ||
| Confederations Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2003) | ||
| Best result | Third place, 2003 | ||
The Turkey national football team (Turkish: Türkiye Millî Futbol Takımı) represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. They are affiliated with UEFA. The team is, according to the FIFA World Rankings, ranked 28th[2] in the world.
Turkey has qualified three times for the World Cup finals, in 1950, 1954, and 2002, although they withdrew from the 1950 event. Turkey has also qualified three times for the UEFA European Championship, in 1996, 2000 and 2008. They have reached the semi-finals of three major tournaments: the 2002 World Cup, the 2003 Confederations Cup, and Euro 2008.
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The Turkish national team played their first ever match against Romania in 1923 drawing 2–2.[3] Although Turkey qualified for the 1950 World Cup, beating Syria 7–0, 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. The Turks, however, 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. In 1956 Turkey did however play Hungary, in a friendly in Istanbul, beating what was one of the strongest teams of the era 3–1.[4]
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 against 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.
Turkey qualified for Euro 1996, beating both Switzerland and Sweden 2–1 along the way. At Euro 1996, they lost all their matches without scoring a single goal. They did, however, go home with an award: the fair-play award, given to Alpay Özalan. Turkey qualified for Euro 2000 after winning a play-off against 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 they were beaten 2–0 by Portugal.
For the 2002 FIFA World Cup 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.[5] Turkey qualified from the group stage with a 3–0 win against China, after drawing 1–1 with Costa Rica.[6][7]
Turkey then faced home team Japan in the second round, beating them 1–0.[8] 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 eventual tournament winners Brazil forced them to play the third place match, and a bronze medal was won after a 3–2 victory over a surprise South Korean team.[9][10][11] Hakan Şükür 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.[12] Tens of thousands of flag-waving Turkish fans greeted the World Cup squad on their return to Istanbul, were they joined a massive street party at Taksim Square.[13]
In the summer of 2003, Turkey reached third place at the 2003 Confederations Cup. In the group stages, 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 then defeated Colombia 2–1 to win the bronze medal. The Turkish team failed to qualify for Euro 2004 on play-offs due to a loss to Latvia after finishing second in their group.
The Turkish team once again narrowly missed out on the World Cup 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.
Turkey qualified for their first international tournament in six years by finishing second behind Greece in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group C to reach the European Championships. 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.[14][15][16] Again, Turkey knocked out a host nation – Switzerland – in the group stages for the second time.[17]
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 Şentürk brought the game to penalties. The goal raised some controversy with Croatia fans and Croatia's coach, Slaven Bilić, who claimed that the goal had been scored after extra time had elapsed. This complaint, however, was overruled, and the game went into penalties. Turkey beat out Croatia in penalties 3–1.[18]
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 was thus eliminated.[19] Both Russia and Turkey were given bronze medals in the dressing rooms after the semi-finals.
For the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Turkey had a mixed qualifying campaign, finishing with 15 points and missing out on a play-off place to Bosnia and Herzegovina with 19 points. Spain won Group 5 to qualify, winning every game in the process. Coach Fatih Terim announced he would be resigning his post following their failure to qualify.[20]
Turkey were drawn in Group A in qualification for UEFA Euro 2012, together with Kazakhstan, Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Azerbaijan.
| 17 November 2010 | Netherlands | 1 – 0 | Turkey | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||
| 20:30 UTC +1 | Huntelaar 52' | Stadium: Amsterdam Arena Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary) |
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| 9 February 2011 | Turkey | 0 – 0 | South Korea | Trabzon, Turkey | ||
| Stadium: Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium |
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| 10 August 2011 | Turkey | 3 – 0 | Estonia | Istanbul, Turkey | ||
| Emre 8' Kâzım 28', 35' |
Report | Stadium: Türk Telekom Arena Referee: Lee Probert (England) |
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| 29 February 2012 | Turkey | – | Slovakia | Bursa, Turkey | ||
| Stadium: Bursa Atatürk Stadium |
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| 3 September 2010 22:00 UTC+6 |
Kazakhstan | 0 – 3 | Turkey | Astana Arena, Astana Attendance: 25,000 Referee: István Vad (Hungary) |
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| Report | Arda 24' Hamit 26' Nihat 76' |
| 7 September 2010 21:00 UTC+3 |
Turkey | 3 – 2 | Belgium | Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul Attendance: 41,000 Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia) |
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| Hamit 48' Semih 66' Arda 78' |
Report | Van Buyten 28', 68' |
| 8 October 2010 20:45 UTC+2 |
Germany | 3 – 0 | Turkey | Olympiastadion, Berlin Attendance: 74,244 Referee: Howard Webb (England) |
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| Klose 42', 87' Özil 79' |
Report |
| 12 October 2010 20:00 UTC+5 |
Azerbaijan | 1 – 0 | Turkey | Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Baku Attendance: 29,500[21] Referee: Alexandru Deaconu (Romania) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. F. Sadygov 38' | Report |
| 29 March 2011 20:30 UTC+3 |
Turkey | 2 – 0 | Austria | Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul Attendance: 47,000 Referee: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arda 28' Gökhan G. 78' |
Report |
| 3 June 2011 20:30 UTC+3 |
Belgium | 1 – 1 | Turkey | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy) |
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| Ogunjimi 4' | Report | Yilmaz 22' |
| 2 September 2011 20:00 UTC+3 |
Turkey | 2 – 1 | Kazakhstan | Turk Telekom Arena, Istanbul Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Clément Turpin (France) |
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| Yılmaz 31' Arda 90+7' |
Report | Konysbayev 55' |
| 6 September 2011 20:30 UTC+2 |
Austria | 0 – 0 | Turkey | Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna Attendance: 47,500 Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain) |
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| Report |
| 7 October 2011 21:30 UTC+3 |
Turkey | 1 – 3 | Germany | Turk Telekom Arena, Istanbul Attendance: 51,000 Referee: Martin Atkinson (England) |
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| Hakan 79' | Report | Gómez 35' Müller 66' Schweinsteiger 86' (pen.) |
| 11 October 2011 20:00 UTC+3 |
Turkey | 1 – 0 | Azerbaijan | Turk Telekom Arena, Istanbul Referee: Peter Rasmussen (Denmark) |
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| Burak 60' | Report |
| Manager | Abdullah Avcı |
| Assistant manager | Okan Buruk |
| Assistant manager | Fuat Usta |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Engin İpekoğlu |
| Physiotherapist | Arno Philips |
The following players were picked for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-off matches against Croatia on November 11 and 15, 2011.
Caps and goals are correct as of November 15, 2011.
Recent callupsThe following players have also been called up to the Turkey squad within the last twelve months.[22]
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