Turkish national soccer team / world championships

Turkey
Türkiye

World Cup record goalscorer:	three players with 3
World Cup record players:	seven players with 7
Rank :	36
Balance sheet
10 World Cup games 5 wins 1 draw 4 defeats 20:17 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Turkey 1: 4 BR Germany Bern ( CHE ); June 17, 1954
Biggest World Cup victory Turkey 7-0 South Korea Geneva ( CHE ); June 20, 1954
Biggest World Cup defeat Turkey 2: 7 BR Germany Zurich ( CHE ); June 23, 1954
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	2 ( first : 1954 )
Best results	Third (2002)
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(Status: Status after the 2018 World Cup )

The article contains a detailed description of the Turkish national soccer team at soccer world championships . Turkey has participated in world championships twice so far. The best placement was third place in the second participation in 2002.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated	-	-
1934	Italy	withdrawn	-	-
1938	France	not participated	-	-
1950	Brazil	waived participation in the final round	-	-
1954	Switzerland	Preliminary round	Germany , South Korea Germany	9.	Sandro Puppo	failed in the preliminary round playoff against Germany
1958	Sweden	withdrawn	-	-		withdrew in qualifying as Turkey refused to play against Israel
1962	Chile	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification at the USSR
1966	England	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification to Portugal
1970	Mexico	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification at the USSR
1974	BR Germany	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification to Italy
1978	Argentina	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification to Austria
1982	Spain	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification at the USSR and Czechoslovakia
1986	Mexico	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification to England and Northern Ireland
1990	Italy	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification at the USSR and Austria
1994	United States	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification to Norway and the Netherlands
1998	France	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification to the Netherlands and Belgium
2002	South Korea Japan	3rd place match	South Korea	3rd place	Senol Güneş	Failed in the semi-finals at eventual world champions Brazil.
2006	Germany	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualifying in relegation to Switzerland
2010	South Africa	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification to Spain and Bosnia-Herzegovina
2014	Brazil	not qualified	-	-		failed in qualification to the Netherlands and Romania
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualification of Iceland and Croatia failed

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• No participation: 5 × (24%; 1930, 1934, 1938, 1950, 1958)
• Unqualified: 14 × (67%; 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018)
• Athletic qualification: 2 × (10% or 13% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: 1 × (5%; 1954)
  • Match for 3rd place: 1 × (5%; 2002)
    • Third: 1 × (5%; 2002)

1930 in Uruguay

Like most European teams, the Turkish did not take part in the first World Cup.

1934 in Italy

Turkey initially registered for the first World Cup in Europe , but then withdrew.

1938 in France

Turkey did not register for the first World Cup in France .

1950 in Brazil

For the first World Cup in Brazil , Turkey first had to play against neighboring Syria in qualifying . For the Syrians this was the first international game ever and Turkey won 7-0 in Ankara . After that Austria would have been the enemy, but the Austrians withdrew. Turkey, who qualified for Brazil, decided not to take part in the World Cup finals. The Portuguese , who were offered the starting place, also decided not to participate.

World Championship 1954

The Turkish team had to qualify for the World Cup in Switzerland against Spain . The first leg in Spain was lost 4-1, the second leg was won 1-0. Since the goal difference did not count, there was a playoff in Rome , which ended 2-2 afterwards and made a drawing of lots necessary. Turkey qualified through this.

Due to this success, the Turkish team was placed in Group 2 together with Hungary and therefore did not have to play against the title favorites Hungary, but only against Germany and World Cup newcomer South Korea , but were considered underdogs. Turkey lost their first game to Germany 1: 4, with Suat Mamat already scoring the first World Cup goal for Turkey with a 1: 0 in the second minute of the game. Three days later they clearly defeated South Korea 7-0, again with Suat Mamat scoring the first goal and Burhan Sargın three goals, while Germany with a team with many reserve players lost against Hungary 3-8. Since the goal difference played no role, there was a playoff between Turks and Germans on April 23, 1954. Turkey was defeated by the eventual world champions with 2: 7 and said goodbye to the World Cup for 48 years.

1958 in Sweden

For the Soccer World Cup 1958 Turkey was supposed to compete in the Soccer World Cup 1958 / Qualification against Israel , but did not compete.

1962 in Chile

Turkey was unable to qualify for the 1962 World Cup. The USSR was too strong and both games against the USSR were lost, while against Norway both games were won.

1966 in England

For the World Cup in England , Turkey had to qualify in a group with Portugal , vice world champions Czechoslovakia and Romania . All three group opponents were stronger overall, only the home game against Romania was won, all other games lost.

1970 in Mexico

Four years later, Turkey failed to qualify again. In a group in which she again met the USSR and Northern Ireland , she lost all four games.

1974 in the Federal Republic of Germany

The qualification for the first World Cup in Germany went a little better, because only Italy was ahead of Turkey in the end. The second place in front of the equal points Switzerland and Luxembourg was not enough for the World Cup participation.

1978 in Argentina

The qualification for the World Cup in Argentina closed the Turkey again as a group of third parties. Austria and the GDR were in the end ahead of Turkey, only points supplier Malta was still behind the Turks.

1982 in Spain

Although the increase in the field of participants to 24 teams for the World Cup in Spain , which allowed 13 European teams to qualify, the qualification was apparently easier but for Turkey the qualification was catastrophic: all eight games were lost. In the end, the Soviet Union , Czechoslovakia , Wales and even Iceland came before Turkey.

1986 in Mexico

The qualification went almost as badly four years later. After all, a point could be won this time with a goalless draw against Northern Ireland , but England , Northern Ireland, Romania and Finland were stronger. The only goal came in the last game in a 1: 3 against Romania in Izmir .

1990 in Italy

The qualification for the second World Cup in Italy then went a little better. Now there were only two teams left, again the Soviet Union and Austria ahead of Turkey. The GDR , which last took part in the qualification, and Iceland were weaker this time. The qualification was lost on the last day of the match with a 2-0 defeat against the USSR, as Austria won 3-0 against the GDR and thus had two points more than the Turks.

1994 in the United States

To qualify for the World Cup in the USA, Turkey was drawn into a group with surprisingly strong Norwegians, the Netherlands , England, Poland and San Marino , against which they only managed 0-0 in San Marino. Since the other games went badly and only the home game against San Marino and the last two home games against Poland and already qualified Norwegians were won, only the penultimate place remained in the end.

1998 in France

After Turkey qualified for the 1996 European Football Championship , there were hopes that this would also be possible for the World Cup. However, these were deceptive. To qualify for the second World Cup in France , Turkey was drawn into a group with the Netherlands, Belgium , Wales and again San Marino, against which they now managed a 5-0 victory in San Marino. But the Dutch and Belgians were too strong, so that only third place in the group was achieved.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

The Turkish World Cup team and match scenes on an Azerbaijani stamp pad

To qualify for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, the Turks competed against Sweden , Slovakia , Macedonia , Moldova and Azerbaijan , of which Sweden was best placed in the FIFA world rankings in September 2000 with 21st place. At the end of the qualification, the Turks took second place behind Sweden. Turkey was thus qualified for the play-offs of the group runners-up and met Austria . The first leg in Vienna was won 1-0 and the second leg then brought the second World Cup participation with a 5-0.

In the final round , the Turks faced record world champions Brazil , Costa Rica and China . They were considered the favorites behind Brazil for qualifying for the round of 16. In their first group game against Brazil, the Turks played well and took the lead thanks to a goal from Hasan Şaş . After Ronaldo had equalized the game, the Korean referee assessed a contentious situation as an emergency brake, sent the Turks Alpay off the field and awarded the Brazilians a penalty, which Rivaldo converted into the winning goal. In stoppage time, Rivaldo caused an inglorious scene when he was shot by Hakan Ünsal , faking a head injury and thus causing the Turkish player to be sent off.

In the second game against Costa Rica, Turkey could not lose the game, otherwise they would have been eliminated again after the preliminary round, as in the first participation. At the end of the game it was a 1-1 draw. Turkey had to hope for the support of the Brazilians and win the game against China itself. They confidently defeated the Chinese 3-0 and then received the information that Brazil had won the game 5-2. So Turkey was in the round of 16. In the round of 16, the Turks beat hosts Japan 1-0 with an early header from Ümit Davala . In the quarter-finals, they faced Senegal's surprise team , which had defeated defending champions France in the opening game. With a golden goal from İlhan Mansız in the 95th minute, Turkey reached the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup. In the semifinals, the Turks met Brazil again and just like in the previous encounter, the Turks lost to the team from South America , this time with 0: 1 . Turkey then reached 3rd place in the "small final" after beating South Korea 3-2. The 1st goal of Hakan Şükür's game in the 11th second was the fastest goal in World Cup history. With this, Turkey said goodbye to the World Cup.

As European champions France had already qualified as hosts for the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup , runner-up European champions Italy moved up, but they decided not to participate. FIFA then gave the free space to Germany, which also waived. Turkey moved up as third in the World Cup and came third in the 2003 Confederations Cup in France.

2006 in Germany

The team then hoped to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany , especially since a high level of support from the Turks living in Germany was expected there. In a group with the Ukraine , Denmark , Greece , Albania , Georgia and Kazakhstan , the second place could be occupied again, which again reached the relegation games of the group runners-up. In these, Switzerland was the opponent. The first leg in Bern was lost 2-0. In Istanbul it was only enough to a 4-2, which meant that Switzerland qualified due to the away goals rule . After the game there were physical attacks by Turkish players and security forces on members of the Swiss team. Three players from the Turkish team and the Swiss Benjamin Huggel were suspended for several games. In addition, Turkey had to play three qualifying games for the following European Championship 500 km outside Turkey and without spectators, as well as pay a fine of 200,000 Swiss francs (plus procedural costs over € 100,000). The three games then took place in Frankfurt am Main .

2010 in South Africa

In 2008 Turkey had reached the European Championship in Switzerland and Austria despite the sanctions and only failed in the semi-finals with a goal in the last minute of the game to Germany , so that there were again high hopes of reaching the World Cup finals in South Africa . But again these hopes proved to be deceptive, because European champions Spain and Bosnia-Herzegovina were able to place themselves ahead of Turkey, which only left Belgium , Estonia and Armenia behind. In the qualification , the draw against Belgium, in Estonia and in Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as the defeat in Belgium were responsible for the fact that in the end five points were missing for second place.

2014 in Brazil

The qualification for the second World Cup in Brazil was exciting for a long time. The Netherlands won the group confidently, Romania , Hungary and Turkey fought for a long time for second place, while Estonia and Andorra played no role. Only in the last game, which was lost 2-0 to the already qualified Dutch in Istanbul , Turkey missed the leap into relegation.

2018 in Russia

For the qualification , Turkey was drawn into the group with Croatia , Iceland , Ukraine , and Finland . After Kosovo was admitted to FIFA, this team was subsequently assigned to this group. After nine games, of which the Turks won four, drew twice and lost three, they had no chance of a successful qualification before the last game. The move as coach from Fatih Terim to Mircea Lucescu after the sixth game didn't bring much benefit. In the last game they reached a 2-2 in Finland and finished the group in fourth.

Ranking of the Turkish World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Fatih Akyel , Yıldıray Baştürk , Ümit Davala , Tugay Kerimoğlu , İlhan Mansız , Rüştü Reçber , Hakan Şükür all 7 at 1 tournament

08. Emre Belözoğlu , Bülent Korkmaz , Hasan Şaş all 6 in 1 tournament

Ranking of the Turkish World Cup players with the most goals

01. Suat Mamat , İlhan Mansız and Burhan Sargun each with 3 goals

04. Ümit Davala, Lefter Küçükandonyadis and Hasan Şaş each 2 goals

Players banned from World Championships

• 2002: In the game against Brazil Alpay Özalan received the red card after an emergency brake and Hakan Ünsal in stoppage time after a head injury simulated by Rivaldo and were suspended for the game against Costa Rica. Emre Aşık and Emre Belözoğlu received the second yellow card in their last group match against China and were suspended for the round of 16 against co-hosts Japan. Tugay Kerimoğlu and Hasan Şaş received the second yellow card in the semi-final against Brazil. Since cards from the preliminary round were not taken into account, they were allowed to play in the small final against South Korea. Şaş was not used and Kerimoğlu received the third yellow card there.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

Legionaries did not play a role in the Turkish squad when they first participated. In 2002 they made up the core of the team.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1954 (3)	0
2002 (7)	10 (1 in Germany, 4 in England, 4 in Italy, 1 in Spain)	Yıldıray Bastürk (7); Mustafa İzzet (1), Tugay Kerimoğlu (7), Alpay Özalan (5), Hakan Ünsal (4); Emre Belözoğlu (6), Okan Buruk (1), Ümit Davala (7), Hakan Şükür (7); Nihat Kahveci (2)

Games

Turkey has played 10 World Cup games so far. Of these, five were won, four lost and one ended in a draw. A draw game had to be extended because a winner had to be determined. The game was then won by the last golden goal in men's World Cup history.

The Turks never took part in the opening game and had to face the hosts twice: in 2002 in the round of 16 and in the match for third place.

In both finals, Turkey faced the same opponent twice: in 1954 in the preliminary round and in the playoff for the quarter-finals against Germany and in 2002 in the preliminary round and in the semifinals against Brazil. Both opponents later became world champions. All four games were lost, they are the only defeats.

The Turks met World Cup newbies five times: 1954 (when they were newcomers themselves) / BR Germany (2 ×) and South Korea and 2002 / China and Senegal

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	Remarks
1.	06/17/1954	1: 4	FRG	*	Bern ( CHE )	Preliminary round
2.	06/20/1954	7-0	South Korea	*	Geneva ( CHE )	Preliminary round	First international match against South Korea One of the top three victories Highest win against South Korea
3.	06/23/1954	2: 7	FRG	*	Zurich ( SUI )	Preliminary round / play-off for second place	Biggest defeat against Germany
4th	06/03/2002	1: 2	Brazil	*	Ulsan ( KOR )	Preliminary round
5.	06/09/2002	1: 1	Costa Rica	*	Incheon ( KOR )	Preliminary round	First international match against Costa Rica
6th	06/13/2002	3-0	People's Republic of China	*	Seoul ( KOR )	Preliminary round	First game against the People's Republic of China
7th	06/18/2002	1-0	Japan	A.	Rifu ( JPN )	Round of 16	First and so far only victory against Japan
8th.	06/22/2002	1: 0 a.d.	Senegal	*	Osaka ( JPN )	Quarter finals	First international match against Senegal, decision by golden goal of İlhan Mansız
9.	06/26/2002	0: 1	Brazil	*	Saitama ( JPN )	Semifinals
10.	06/29/2002	3: 2	South Korea	A.	Daegu ( KOR )	3rd place match

Highest victories and defeats

The Turkish team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  People's Republic of China : 2002 3-0 preliminary round (only game against China)
•  Japan : Round of 16 2002 1-0 (only win against Japan)
•  Senegal : Quarterfinals 2002 1-0 aet (only game against Senegal)
•  South Korea : preliminary round 1954 7-0

The Turkish team suffered their biggest defeat at a World Cup tournament in only one game:

•  FRG : preliminary round / playoff 1954 2: 7

Records

• The fastest World Cup goal since the start of the game: Hakan Şükür after 11 seconds in the game for third place against South Korea in 2002.
• The only team to win against both hosts in 2002, first the round of 16 against Japan and later the game for third place against South Korea.
• In addition to the so far unique World Cup finalists Cuba (1938 twice against Romania) and Wales (1958 twice against Hungary), the Turks are the only team that has not yet contested a World Cup final with lots of different opponents. Since they already took part in a World Cup finals twice (1954 and 2002), they are the sole record holder in this regard. In both cases they played twice against the eventual world champions (Germany and Brazil) and always lost, with these being the only defeats in World Cup games.
• Turkey scored the most goals (20) of the teams that participated a maximum of three times and was the only team with a maximum of two appearances to score more than seven goals.

See also

• Turkish national soccer team / European championships

Web links

• Football World - Statistics - Turkey on fifa.com
• fifa.com: "Statistical overview: records and milestones"

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930–2010 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ fifa.com: Game statistics Hasan Şaş
3. ↑ fifa.com: Match statistics Tugay Kerimoğlu
4. ↑ Until November 12, 2014, the defeats against Brazil at the 2002 World Cup were also the biggest defeats against Brazil, then Turkey lost 4-0 to Brazil.