Türkiye at the FIFA World Cup 2026

History

Türkiye has appeared at the World Cup three times: 1954, 2002, and 2026. Their finest hour came at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, where they reached the semi-finals and finished third, defeating South Korea 3-2 in the third-place match. Hakan Sukur famously scored the fastest goal in World Cup history, just 10.8 seconds into that match. The 2026 tournament ends a 24-year absence from the global stage. Türkiye has never won the World Cup.

Qualification

Türkiye qualified for the 2026 World Cup via the UEFA playoff Path C. In the semi-final on March 26, 2026, they defeated Romania 1-0 in Istanbul, with Ferdi Kadioglu scoring in the 53rd minute. In the final on March 31 in Pristina, Türkiye beat Kosovo 1-0 through a 53rd-minute strike by Kerem Akturkoglu to secure qualification. This ended a 24-year World Cup absence and came under Italian coach Vincenzo Montella, appointed in September 2023.

Preparation

Coach Vincenzo Montella announced a 35-man provisional World Cup squad on May 18, 2026, including Real Madrid's Arda Guler, Juventus midfielder Kenan Yildiz, and Inter Milan captain Hakan Calhanoglu. On June 1, 2026 he made a first cut, trimming the list to 29 players (dropping Ersin Destanoglu, Ahmetcan Kaplan, Mustafa Eskihellac, Yusuf Sari, Atakan Karazor and Yusuf Akcicek); three further cuts are still needed for the final 26. The same day, Türkiye won their first warm-up match 4-0 against North Macedonia at the Ulker Stadyumu in Istanbul, with goals from Orkun Kokcu (2'), Can Uzun (16'), Deniz Gul (53') and Baris Alper Yilmaz (70'); Kerem Akturkoglu was rested as a precaution. A second warm-up against Venezuela follows on June 7 in Fort Lauderdale. Türkiye open Group D against Australia on June 13 in Vancouver.

Latest news

Montella trims squad to 29; six players cut from preliminary list

· squad

Coach Vincenzo Montella reduced his 35-man preliminary World Cup list, leaving 29 players to travel to the United States for the warm-up matches. The six dropped are goalkeeper Ersin Destanoğlu and outfielders Ahmetcan Kaplan, Mustafa Eskihellaç, Yusuf Sarı, Atakan Karazor and Yusuf Akçiçek. Three further cuts are needed to reach the final 26-man squad.

Türkiye 4-0 North Macedonia in first World Cup warm-up

· matches

Türkiye beat North Macedonia 4-0 in a friendly at the Ülker Stadyumu in Istanbul. Orkun Kökçü opened the scoring in the 2nd minute, Can Uzun added a second in the 16th, Deniz Gül made it three after the break (53rd) and Barış Alper Yılmaz completed the rout in the 70th. It was Türkiye's first of two warm-up matches before the tournament.

Aktürkoğlu held out of friendly as precaution but back to normal

· injuries

Kerem Aktürkoğlu was left out of the North Macedonia matchday squad as a precaution while his minor training injury is managed. Montella said it was "a small scare" and the player is "back to normal now" and can resume training, but is not being rushed. Aktürkoğlu remains in Türkiye's World Cup plans.

Squad

PlayerPositionClub
Altay BayındırGKManchester United
Uğurcan ÇakırGKGalatasaray
Mert GünokGKFenerbahçe
Muhammed ŞengezerGKRAMS Başakşehir
Abdülkerim BardakcıDFGalatasaray
Çağlar SöyüncüDFFenerbahçe
Eren ElmalıDFGalatasaray
Ferdi KadıoğluDFBrighton & Hove Albion
Merih DemiralDFAl-Ahli
Mert MüldürDFFenerbahçe
Ozan KabakDFTSG Hoffenheim
Samet AkaydinDFÇaykur Rizespor
Zeki ÇelikDFRoma
Hakan ÇalhanoğluMFInter Milan
Demir Ege TıknazMFSC Braga
İsmail YüksekMFFenerbahçe
Kaan AyhanMFGalatasaray
Orkun KökçüMFBeşiktaş JK
Salih ÖzcanMFBorussia Dortmund
Arda GülerMFReal Madrid
Aral ŞimşirMFFC Midtjylland
Baris Alper YılmazFWGalatasaray
Can UzunFWEintracht Frankfurt
Deniz GülFWFC Porto
İrfan Can KahveciFWKasımpaşa
Kenan YıldızFWJuventus
Kerem AktürkoğluFWFenerbahçe
Oğuz AydınFWFenerbahçe
Yunus AkgünFWGalatasaray

Recent results

  • 2024-03-22 — HUN 1-0 TUR (friendly)
  • 2024-03-26 — AUT 6-1 TUR (friendly)
  • 2024-06-04 — ITA 0-0 TUR (friendly)
  • 2024-06-10 — POL 2-1 TUR (friendly)
  • 2025-06-07 — USA 1-2 TUR (friendly)
  • 2025-06-10 — MEX 1-0 TUR (friendly)
  • 2025-09-04 — GEO 2-3 TUR (qualification)
  • 2025-09-07 — TUR 0-6 ESP (qualification)
  • 2025-10-11 — BUL 1-6 TUR (qualification)
  • 2025-10-14 — TUR 4-1 GEO (qualification)
  • 2025-11-15 — TUR 2-0 BUL (qualification)
  • 2025-11-18 — ESP 2-2 TUR (qualification)
  • 2026-03-26 — TUR 1-0 ROU (qualification)
  • 2026-03-31 — KOS 0-1 TUR (qualification)
  • 2026-06-01 — TUR 4-0 MKD (friendly)

Predict Group D →