The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in men’s international football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body of football in Turkey, which was founded in 1923 and has been a member of FIFA since 1923 and UEFA since 1962. It is recognized by FIFA and UEFA as Turkey from 2022. Turkey Football History.
The team played its first official international game in 1923 and has represented the nation in major competitions since its first appearance at the 1924 Summer Olympics. He competed in the Summer Olympics a total of six times (1924, 1928, 1936, 1948, 1952, and 1960), and reached the quarterfinals twice, in 1948 and 1952.
Best Team of the World
The team enjoyed its highest level of success in the 2000s, notably finishing third at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, and reaching the semi-finals at UEFA Euro 2008. It qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times (1950, 1954, and 2002) and reached the semi-finals in 2002, winning the bronze medal. The team qualified for the UEFA European Championship five times. Making his debut at Euro 96, he reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2000 and the semi-finals of Euro 2008. In recent years, Turkey qualified for the Euro 2016 and Euro 2020 championships.
FIFA World ranking
Since its introduction in 1992, FIFA’s world rankings have ranked Turkey between 5th and 57th. Following their success at the 2002 World Cup, Turkey managed to stay in the top 10 of the rankings between 2002 and 2004, finishing 5th in June 2004. Following their success at Euro 2008, the team again finished 10th in December 2008. Turkey’s biggest victories came against Syria in 1949, South Korea in 1954, and 7–0 in San Marino in 1996, while their biggest losses came against Poland in 1968 and England in 1984 and 1987. -0 was a defeat.
As of 2020, the top goalscorer is Rüştü Reçber with 120 senior international caps between 1994 and 2012, and 51 goals between 1992 and 2007. Turgay Şeren captained 35 internationals from 1950 to 1966.
Early Years
Turkey first faced Romania in 1923 with a 2-2 draw. Zeki Rıza Sporel is considered the first big star of Turkish football as he scored the first two goals against Romania. Turkey lost its first official match at the 1924 Summer Olympics to Czechoslovakia 5–2.
1954 FIFA World Cup
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 restarted play. On this occasion, they tied 2-2, booking their place after a coin toss. Turkey was placed in a group with Hungary and West Germany. However, the Turks never played Hungary due to the format of the tournament, and after a 4–1 defeat by the Germans, Turkey won 7–0 against South Korea. Turkey lost to West Germany 7–2 in the playoffs. However, in 1956, Turkey played against Hungary in a friendly in Istanbul, beating one of the strongest teams of the era 3-1. Left-winger Kuçukandonyadis, one of the best Turkish strikers of all time, scored two goals during the tournament.
1990-1996
In 1990, German coach Sepp Piontek was put in charge of the national team. Under his guidance, a group of new players made their debut for the national team. Many of these players would become the backbone of the national team for many years. Piontek’s mission ended in 1993 when he was replace by Fatih Terim, who in turn managed to qualify for Euro 1996.
Turkey qualified for its first major tournament since 1954, another turning point for Turkish football after failing to qualify. Both Euro 1992 and 1994 World Cup. Piontek’s appointment was a suggested move by another German coach, Jupp Derwall, who coached Galatasaray for three seasons. Derval is considered a revolutionary of Turkish football as his modern Western European training techniques and tactical ideas in the Turkish game also greatly influenced the national team.
EURO 2000
Although Turkey failed to qualify for the 1998 World Cup, they qualified for Euro 2000 after a play-off win against the Republic of Ireland. Turkey lost their first match 2–1 to Italy, drew their second match 0–0 against Sweden, and defeated hosts Belgium 2–0, the first time in UEFA European Championship history. Out of the country. The victory in the first round sent Turkey into the last eight of the tournament, where they were beat 2-0 by Portugal, with Arif Erdam missing a crucial penalty.
2002 FIFA World Cup
For the 2002 World Cup, Turkey finished second in their qualifying group, despite starting well and being favorites to top the group. They lost 2-1 to Sweden in the crucial match that would decide the top spot. The Turks were force into a play-off against Austria. They defeated Austria 6-0 on aggregate to reach the final. The Turkish team opened the 2002 World Cup with a 2–1 defeat against eventual winners Brazil. Turkey qualified from the group stage with a 3-0 win over China PR after a 1-1 draw with Costa Rica.
Turkey then faced home team Japan in the second round, winning 1-0. The Turkish team continued their run, as they beat Senegal 1-0 on a golden goal to reach the semi-finals, where a 1-0 defeat against eventual tournament winners Brazil dropped them into the third-place match. forced to play, and won the bronze medal after a 3–2 victory over co-hosts South Korea. Hakan Şükür scored Turkey’s first goal 10.8 seconds in, even as South Korea kicked off first.
It was the fastest goal in World Cup history. Thousands of flag-waving Turkish fans welcomed the World Cup squad back to Istanbul, where they joined a huge street party in Taksim Square. Rustu Reçber, Alpay Ozalan, and Hasan Sas were all include in the All-Star team, and Reçber was also vote. As the best goalkeeper in the UEFA Team of the Year 2002, Şenol Güneş was name the best manager. Turkey Football History.
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
In the summer of 2003, Turkey finished third in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. The group stage, Turkey defeated the United States 2–1 before losing 0–1 to Cameroon. In their final group match, Turkey drew 2–2 against Brazil, knocking them out of the tournament. Turkey lost 3-2 to eventual tournament winners France in the semi-final match. Turkey then defeated Colombia 2-1 to win the bronze medal. Tuncay scored three goals and provided one assist, winning him the Silver Shoe Award. And the Silver Ball Award for the tournament’s second-best player.
EURO 2008
Turkey qualified for their first international tournament in six years by beating Greece in Euro 2008 qualifying Group C to reach the final stages of Euro 2008. They were draw into Group A alongside Switzerland, Portugal, and the Czech Republic. In their first match, they played Portugal and lost 2–0. But won against Switzerland (2–1) and the Czech Republic (3–2) – both with late goals – to secure the knockouts. Brought qualification for stages. Once again, Turkey knocked out the host nation – Switzerland – in the group stage for the second time. Turkey Football History.
Quarter Final
The quarter-final against Croatia was goalless after 90 minutes. And Croatia took a 1–0 lead in the final minute of extra time. But another late Turkish goal by forwarding Semih Şentürk sent the game to penalties. The goal caused some controversy among Croatian fans and Croatia head coach Sloane Bleach. Who claimed the goal was scored after extra time had elapsed. However, the complaint was overrule, and the game went to penalties. Turkey beat Croatia 3-1 on penalties. Turkey Football History.
So, Turkey went into the semi-final against Germany with only 14 outfield players available. As a result of injuries and suspensions, but scored first and drew 2–2. But they finished third by default after losing 3-2 to Philipp Lahm’s last-minute goal. Both Russia and Turkey were presented with bronze medals in the dressing rooms after the semi-finals. For more details Click here