Turkey national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Turkey women's national football team.
Turkey
Nickname(s) Ay Yıldızlılar (The Crescent-Stars)
Milli Takım (National Team)
Kırmızı Beyazlılar (The Red and Whites)
The Comeback Kings
Association Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu (TFF)
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Fatih Terim
Asst coach Oğuz Çetin
Captain Gokhan Gonul[1]
Most caps Rüştü Reçber (120)
Top scorer Hakan Şükür (51)
FIFA code TUR
FIFA ranking 52 Steady (9 April 2015)
Highest FIFA ranking 5 (June 2004)
Lowest FIFA ranking 67 (October 1993)
Elo ranking 41 (31 March 2015)
Highest Elo ranking 9 (November 2002)
Lowest Elo ranking 82 (November 1985)
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Turkey 2–2 Romania 
(Istanbul, Turkey; October 26, 1923)[2]
Biggest win
 South Korea 0–7 Turkey 
(Geneva, Switzerland; June 20, 1954)
Biggest defeat
 England 8–0 Turkey 
(London, England; 14 October 1987)
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.

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.

History

Further information: History of Turkish football
Turkey against Romania in 1923.
Turkish team during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualification.

The Turkish national team played their first ever match against Romania in 1923 drawing 2–2.[3] Turkey played their first ever official match at the 1924 Summer Olympics losing 5-2 to Czechoslovakia. 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 match 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 the 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.

On 14 November 2012, Turkey national team celebrated their 500th match of the 89 year history in a friendly game played against Denmark at the Türk Telekom Arena in Istanbul that ended by a 1:1 draw. Before the match, footballers and coaches, who contributed to the national team's success in the past, were honored. Turkish pop singer Hadise, who wore a national team jersey with the number 500, gave a mini concert.[21][22]

Fixtures

2014

2015

Coaching staff

Head Coach Turkey Fatih Terim
Assistant Coach Turkey Oğuz Çetin
Assistant Coach Turkey Abdullah Ercan
Assistant Coach Turkey Vedat İnceefe
Fitness Coach Spain Julen Masach
Goalkeeping Coach Turkey Alper Boğuşlu
National Team Manager Turkey Mustafa Eröğüt
Team Doctor Turkey Sarper Çetinkaya

Squad

Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Netherlands on 28 March and the friendly match against Luxembourg on 31 March, 2015.[23]
Caps and goals updated as 31 March 2015 after the match against Luxembourg.

# Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
GK Mert Günok 1 March 1989 6 0 Turkey Fenerbahçe
GK Volkan Babacan 11 August 1988 4 0 Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir
GK Harun Tekin 17 June 1989 0 0 Turkey Bursaspor
DF Caner Erkin 4 October 1988 38 2 Turkey Fenerbahçe
DF Ersan Gülüm 17 May 1987 7 0 Turkey Beşiktaş
DF Ümit Kurt 2 May 1991 1 0 Turkey Sivasspor
DF Şener Özbayraklı 23 January 1989 1 0 Turkey Bursaspor
DF Mahmut Tekdemir 20 January 1988 1 0 Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir
MF Arda Turan 30 January 1987 79 14 Spain Atlético Madrid
MF Selçuk İnan 10 February 1985 42 5 Turkey Galatasaray
MF Colin Kazim-Richards 26 August 1986 37 2 Netherlands Feyenoord
MF Olcay Şahan 26 May 1987 17 2 Turkey Beşiktaş
MF Ozan Tufan 23 March 1995 11 1 Turkey Bursaspor
MF Mehmet Ekici 25 March 1990 11 0 Turkey Trabzonspor
MF Hakan Çalhanoğlu 8 February 1994 7 1 Germany Bayer Leverkusen
MF Volkan Şen 7 July 1987 6 0 Turkey Bursaspor
MF Eren Albayrak 23 April 1991 1 0 Turkey Çaykur Rizespor
MF Kaan Kanak 6 October 1990 0 0 Turkey Eskişehirspor
FW Umut Bulut 15 March 1983 35 10 Turkey Galatasaray
FW Mevlüt Erdinç 25 February 1987 32 8 France Saint-Étienne
FW Enes Ünal 10 May 1997 1 0 Turkey Bursaspor

Recent callups

The following players have also been called up to the Turkey squad within the last twelve months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Volkan Demirel 27 October 1981 63 0 Turkey Fenerbahçe v.  Brazil, 12 November 2014
GK Tolga Zengin 10 October 1983 9 0 Turkey Beşiktaş v.  Latvia, 13 October 2014
GK Onur Kıvrak 1 January 1988 12 0 Turkey Trabzonspor v.  Iceland, 9 September 2014
DF Gökhan Gönül (Captain) 4 January 1985 49 1 Turkey Fenerbahçe v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015
DF Hakan Balta 23 March 1983 38 2 Turkey Galatasaray v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015
DF Serdar Aziz 23 October 1990 2 1 Turkey Bursaspor v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015
DF Ömer Toprak 21 July 1989 23 2 Germany Bayer Leverkusen v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015 PRE
DF Semih Kaya 24 February 1991 21 0 Turkey Galatasaray v.  Kazakhstan, 16 November 2014
DF İsmail Köybaşı 10 July 1989 13 0 Turkey Beşiktaş v.  Kazakhstan, 16 November 2014
DF Tarık Çamdal 24 March 1991 5 1 Turkey Galatasaray v.  Kazakhstan, 16 November 2014
DF Kaan Ayhan 10 November 1994 0 0 Germany Schalke 04 v.  Kazakhstan, 16 November 2014
DF Bekir İrtegün 20 April 1984 11 0 Turkey Fenerbahçe v.  Brazil, 12 November 2014
DF İshak Doğan 9 August 1990 4 0 Turkey Trabzonspor v.  United States, 1 June 2014
DF Uğur Demirok 8 July 1988 2 0 Turkey Akhisar Belediyespor v.  United States, 1 June 2014
MF Emre Belözoğlu 7 September 1980 94 9 Turkey Fenerbahçe v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015
MF Hamit Altıntop 8 December 1982 82 7 Turkey Galatasaray v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015
MF Mehmet Topal 3 March 1986 47 0 Turkey Fenerbahçe v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015
MF Gökhan Töre 20 January 1992 23 0 Turkey Beşiktaş v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015
MF Alper Potuk 8 April 1991 11 0 Turkey Fenerbahçe v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015 PRE
MF Oğuzhan Özyakup 23 September 1992 10 0 Turkey Beşiktaş v.  Kazakhstan, 16 November 2014
MF Bilal Kısa 22 June 1983 7 1 Turkey Akhisar Belediyespor v.  Brazil, 12 November 2014
MF Olcan Adın 30 September 1985 10 1 Turkey Galatasaray v.  Latvia, 13 October 2014
MF Güray Vural 11 June 1988 0 0 Turkey Akhisar Belediyespor v.  Latvia, 13 October 2014
MF Ahmet İlhan Özek 1 January 1988 5 1 Turkey Kardemir Karabükspor v.  Iceland, 9 September 2014
MF Nuri Şahin 5 September 1988 46 2 Germany Borussia Dortmund v.  United States, 1 June 2014
MF Aydın Karabulut 25 January 1988 0 0 Turkey Bursaspor v.  United States, 1 June 2014
MF Turgut Doğan Şahin 2 February 1988 0 0 Turkey Kayserispor v.  United States, 1 June 2014
FW Burak Yılmaz 15 July 1985 38 16 Turkey Galatasaray v.  Netherlands, 28 March 2015
FW Adem Büyük 30 August 1987 4 0 Turkey Kasımpaşa v.  Kazakhstan, 16 November 2014
FW Mustafa Pektemek 11 August 1988 12 1 Turkey Beşiktaş v.  Brazil, 12 November 2014
FW Muhammet Demir 10 January 1992 1 0 Turkey Gaziantepspor v.  Czech Republic, 10 October 2014

INJ Withdrew due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.

Previous squads

FIFA World Cup squads

  • 1954 FIFA World Cup
  • 2002 FIFA World Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup squads

UEFA European Football Championship squads

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Uruguay 1930Did not enter
Italy 1934Withdrew
France 1938Did not enter
Brazil 1950Qualified But Withdrew
Switzerland 1954Round 19th31021011
Sweden 1958Withdrew
Chile 1962 Did Not Qualify
England 1966
Mexico 1970
West Germany 1974
Argentina 1978
Spain 1982
Mexico 1986
Italy 1990
United States 1994
France 1998
South Korea Japan 2002Third Place3rd7412106
Germany 2006 Did Not Qualify
South Africa 2010
Brazil 2014
TotalThird Place2/20105142017

UEFA European Championship

Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
France 1960 Did Not Qualify
Spain 1964
Italy 1968
Belgium 1972
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976
Italy 1980
France 1984
West Germany 1988
Sweden 1992
England 1996Group Stage15th300305
Belgium Netherlands 2000Quarter-Finals6th411234
Portugal 2004Did Not Qualify
AustriaSwitzerland 2008Semi-Finals3rd521**289
Poland Ukraine 2012Did Not Qualify
France 2016To Be Determined
TotalSemi-Finals3/14123271118
*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.

Turkey at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Turkey at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.

Summer Olympics

Olympic Games Record
Year Result Position GP W D* L GS GA
France 1924Round 113th100125
Netherlands 1928Round 114th100117
Nazi Germany 1936Round 115th100101
United Kingdom 1948Quarter-final6th210153
Finland 1952Quarter-final8th210138
Australia 1956Withdrew
Italy 1960Round 114th3012310
Japan 1964 Did Not Qualify
Mexico 1968
West Germany 1972
Canada 1976
Soviet Union 1980
United States 1984Withdrew
South Korea 1988 Did Not Qualify
Spain 1992
United States 1996
Australia 2000
Greece 2004
China 2008
United Kingdom 2012
TotalQuarter-final6/23102171434

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA Squad
Saudi Arabia 1992 Did Not Qualify
Saudi Arabia 1995
Saudi Arabia 1997
Mexico 1999
South Korea Japan 2001
France 2003 Third Place 3rd 5 2 1 2 8 8 Squad
Germany 2005 Did Not Qualify
South Africa 2009
Brazil 2013
Total Third Place 1/9 5 2 1 2 8 8 -

Honours

Turkey national football team on an Azerbaijani stamp for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

3rd Third place (1): 2002

3rd Third place (1): 2003

3rd Semi-finals (1): 2008

Player history

Most capped players

Players in bold are still active.[24]

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Rüştü Reçber 1994–2012 120 0
2 Hakan Şükür 1992–2008 112 51
3 Bülent Korkmaz 1990–2005 102 2
4 Tugay Kerimoğlu 1990–2007 94 2
= Emre Belözoğlu 2000- 94 9
6 Alpay Özalan 1995–2005 87 4
7 Hamit Altıntop 2004- 82 7
8 Tuncay Şanlı 2002–2010 80 22
9 Arda Turan 2006- 78 14
10 Ogün Temizkanoğlu 1990–2002 76 5

Top goalscorers

Goalscorers with an equal number of goals are ranked in chronological order of reaching the milestone. Bold indicates still active players.[24]

# Name Career Goals Caps Rate
1 Hakan Şükür 1992–2008
51
112
0.46
2 Tuncay Şanlı 2002–2010
22
80
0.28
3 Lefter Küçükandonyadis 1948–1963
21
46
0.46
4 Metin Oktay 1956–1965
19
36
0.53
Cemil Turan 1969–1979
19
44
0.43
Nihat Kahveci 2000–2010
19
69
0.28
7 Burak Yılmaz 2006-
16
38
0.41
8 Zeki Rıza Sporel 1923–1932
15
16
0.94
8 Arda Turan 2006–
14
78
0.19
10 Ertuğrul Sağlam 1993–1997
11
26
0.42
Arif Erdem 1994–2003
11
60
0.18

Past managers

As of 3 September 2014
Manager Career Start Career End Played Won Drawn Lost Goals For Goals Against Win %
Germany Piontek, SeppSepp Piontek 27/5/1990 28/4/1993 27 4 8 15 22 50 14.8
Turkey Terim, FatihFatih Terim 27/10/1993 19/6/1996 33 17 8 8 47 36 51.5
Turkey Denizli, MustafaMustafa Denizli 14/8/1996 24/6/2000 31 11 9 11 45 38 35.5
Turkey Güneş, ŞenolŞenol Güneş 16/8/2000 18/2/2004 50 23 13 14 72 50 46.0
Turkey Karaman, ÜnalÜnal Karaman 31/3/2004 31/3/2004 1 0 1 0 2 2 00.0
Turkey Yanal, ErsunErsun Yanal 28/4/2004 8/6/2005 15 8 4 3 29 14 53.3
Turkey Terim, FatihFatih Terim 17/8/2005 14/10/2009 58 26 18 14 86 71 39.7
Turkey Çetin, OğuzOğuz Çetin 3/3/2010 29/5/2010 4 3 0 1 7 3 75.0
Netherlands Hiddink, GuusGuus Hiddink 1/8/2010 15/11/2011 16 7 4 5 18 15 43.7
Turkey Avcı, AbdullahAbdullah Avcı 17/11/2011 20/08/2013 18 6 4 8 26 26 33.3
Turkey Terim, FatihFatih Terim 22/08/2013 19 12 2 5 32 22 88.8

Decoration

In 2002, the national team was honored with the Turkish "State Medal of Distinguished Service" for its third place achievement at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. All the team members, coaches and officials were bestowed by a medal.[25]

Kit History

The Turkey's official kit suppiler is currently produced by Nike, Inc since 2003. It is all-red with white details to reflect the colours of the Turkish national flag. Before that briefly the former kit suppiler were German company Adidas (1925-2003).

Classical home kit
1996-1997 Home
1996-1997 Away
1998-2000 Home
1998-2000 Away
2000-2001 Home
2000-2001 Away
2002-2003 Home
2002-2003 Away
2003 Home
2003 Away
2004-2005 Home
2004-2005 Away
2006-2007 Home
2006-2007 Away
2008-2009 Home
2008 Away
2009 Away
2010-2011 Home
2010-2011 Away

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA 15'in kapağında Arda Turan olacak". Turkish Football Federation (in Turkish). 2014-08-28. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  2. ↑ Since the Republic was not formally declared by the time of the event, the game was played between Romania and TFF. The city also was not consistently known as Istanbul in the English speaking world until 1930
  3. ↑ Erdinç, Sivritepe. "Turkey 2-2 Romania". Turkey international football matches. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  4. ↑ "Magical Magyars beating". Retrieved 2010-09-16.
  5. ↑ "Brazil beat brave Turks". BBC Sport. 2002-06-03. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  6. ↑ "Parks strike denies Turkey". BBC Sport. 2002-06-14. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  7. ↑ "Turkey reach last 16". BBC Sport. 2002-06-13. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  8. ↑ "Turkey end Japan's dream". BBC Sport. 2002-06-18. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  9. ↑ "Turkey's golden delight". BBC Sport. 2002-06-22. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  10. ↑ "Brazil stride into final". BBC Sport. 2002-06-26. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  11. ↑ "Turkey finish in style". BBC Sport. 2002-06-29. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  12. ↑ Fastest Goals in WC History
  13. ↑ "Turkey heroes return home". BBC Sport. 2002-07-01. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  14. ↑ "Portugal 2–0 Turkey". BBC Sport. 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  15. ↑ "Switzerland 1–2 Turkey". BBC Sport. 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  16. ↑ "Turkey 3–2 Czech R & Switzerland 2–0 Portugal". BBC Sport. 2008-06-15. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  17. ↑ FIFA.com – Turkey edge out Czechs in thriller
  18. ↑ "Croatia 1–1 Turkey (1–3 pens)". BBC Sport. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  19. ↑ "Germany 3–2 Turkey". BBC Sport. 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  20. ↑ "Terim Resignation". Guardian Sport. 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  21. ↑ "Turkey marks 500th match". Hürriyet Daily News. 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  22. ↑ Er, İsmail (2012-11-15). "Türkiye 1-1 Danimarka". Hürriyet Spor (in Turkish). Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  23. ↑ A Milli Takım'ın Hollanda ve Lüksemburg maçları aday kadrosu açıklandı
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 http://www.tff.org/default.aspx?pageID=172
  25. ↑ A Milli Futbol Takımımıza Devlet Üstün Hizmet Madalyası verilmesi töreni

External links