Turkey national football team
| Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Ay-Yıldızlılar (Crescent-Stars) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Association | Turkish Football Federation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Fatih
Terim, (2005-) |
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| Captain | Hakan Şükür | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Rüştü Reçber (114) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Hakan Şükür (51) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | Atatürk Olympic Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | TUR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 5 (June 2004) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 67 (October 1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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) |
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Biggest win Turkey 7 - 0 Syria  (Ankara, Turkey; November 20, 1949) Turkey 7 - 0 South Korea  (Geneva, Switzerland; June 20, 1954) Turkey 7 - 0 San Marino  (Istanbul, Turkey; November 10, 1996) |
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Biggest defeat Poland 8 - 0 Turkey  (Chorzow, Poland; April 24 1968) Turkey 0 - 8 England  (Istanbul, Turkey; November 14, 1984) England 8 - 0 Turkey (London, England; October 14, 1987) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 2 (First in 1954) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Third place, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 2 (First in 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Quarterfinals, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederations Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2003) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | 3rd, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Turkey national football team is the national football team of Turkey and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation. They are affiliated with UEFA.
The team's highest achievement was reaching 3rd place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Turkey also reached the quarter-finals at Euro 2000 and reached 3rd place at the 2003 Confederations Cup.
History
World Cups 1950 and 1954
Turkey qualified for the 1950 World Cup beating Syria 7-0 but they withdrew 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. However the Turks 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.
'60s to '90s
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 hold their own in World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, but the team was a point too short to qualify for Euro 1972 and Euro 1976.
The 1980s saw Turkey two 8-0 defeats to 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.
Euro 1996 and 2000
Turkey qualified for the Euro 96, beating both Switzerland and Sweden 2-1, but then they lost all their matches without scoring a single goal. However, they did go home with an award: the fair-play award, given to Alpay Özalan.
Turkey qualified for Euro 2000 after winning a play-off against the Republic of 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 Portugal won the quarter-final match 2-0.
World Cup 2002
The Turkish team started the 2002 World Cup with a 2-1 defeat against Brazil. Turkey passed the group stage with a 3-0 win against China.
Turkey then faced home team Japan, beating them 1-0. 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 Brazil forced them to play the third place match, and a bronze medal was the prize after a 3-2 victory over South Korea. Hakan Şükür scored Turkey's first goal in 11.8 seconds, even when the South Koreans kicked off first. It was the fastest goal in World cup history.[1]
Confederations Cup 2003 and Euro 2004
In the summer of 2003, Turkey reached third place at the 2003 Confederations Cup in which they drew 2-2 against Brazil. Turkey lost to eventual tournament winners France 3-2 in the semi-final match. Turkey defeated Colombia 2-1 to win third place.
The Turkish team failed to qualify for Euro 2004 on play-offs due to a loss to Latvia after finishing second in their group.
World Cup 2006
The Turkish team once again narrowly missed out on the 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.
Euro 2008 Qualifying
Turkey are included in their qualifying group with Greece, Norway, Malta, Hungary, Moldova and Bosnia & Herzegovina. Recently they were beaten 0-1 by Greece in Istanbul, which has hugely dented their chances of qualification.
World Cup record
- 1930 - Did not enter
- 1934 - Withdrew
- 1938 - Did not enter
- 1950 - Qualified, but withdrew
- 1954 - Round 1
- 1958 - Withdrew
- 1962 to 1998 - Did not qualify
- 2002 - Third place
- 2006 - Did not qualify
European Championship record
Confederations Cup record
- 2003 Confederations Cup - 3rd place
Players
Current squad
The current squad.[2] All match statistics are updated up to June 4, 2007.
Recent Call-ups
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Notable former players
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Most capped players
As of February 12, 2007, the ten players with the most caps for Turkey are:
| # | Name | Career | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rüştü Reçber (*) | 1993 - present | 114 | 0 |
| 2. | Hakan Şükür (*) | 1992 - present | 109 | 51 |
| 3. | Bülent Korkmaz | 1990 - 2005 | 102 | 3 |
| 4. | Tugay Kerimoğlu (*) | 1990 - 2007 | 94 | 2 |
| 5. | Alpay Özalan (*) | 1995 - 2005 | 90 | 4 |
| 6. | Ogün Temizkanoglu | 1990 - 2002 | 76 | 5 |
| 7. | Abdullah Ercan | 1992 - 2003 | 71 | 0 |
| 8. | Oğuz Çetin | 1988 - 1998 | 70 | 3 |
| 9. | Fatih Akyel (*) | 1997 - present | 64 | 0 |
| 10. | Arif Erdem | 1994 - 2003 | 60 | 11 |
- (*) - still active
Top Turkish Goal Scorers
| # | Player | Period | Goals (Caps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hakan Şükür | 1992-2005 | 51 (109) |
| 2 | Lefter Küçükandonyadis | 1948-1963 | 20 (46) |
| 3 | Cemil Turan | 1969-1979 | 19 (44) |
| 4 | Metin Oktay | 1969-1979 | 19 (36) |
Current Coaching Staff
| Coach | Job |
|---|---|
| Fatih Terim | General Manager |
| Müfit Erkasap | Assistant Manager |
| Oğuz Çetin | Coach |
| Metin Tekin | Coach |
| Eser Özaltındere | GK Coach |
Turkey managers
| Manager | First Match | Last Match |
|---|---|---|
| Ali
Sami Yen |
26/10/1923 | - |
 Billy Hunter |
25/05/1924 | 12/09/1926 |
 Bela
Tóth |
17/07/1927 | 17/04/1932 |
| Fred
Pegnam |
22/04/1932 | 04/11/1932 |
| James
Elliot Donnelly |
12/07/1936 | 01/08/1937 |
| Ignác
Molnár |
23/04/1948 | 30/05/1948 |
| Ulvi
Yenal |
02/08/1948 | 05/08/1948 |
| Peter Molloy |
28/11/1948 | 20/05/1949 |
| Cihat
Arman |
20/11/1949 | - |
| Peter Molloy |
28/05/1950 | 28/10/1950 |
| Jimmy McCormick |
03/12/1950 | 10/06/1951 |
| Rebii
Erkal |
17/06/1951 | 21/11/1951 |
 Sandro
Puppo |
01/06/1952 | 23/06/1954 |
| Gündüz
Kılıç |
17/10/1954 | - |
 |
03/04/1955 | 26/06/1955 |
| Giovanni Varglien |
18/12/1955 | 01/05/1956 |
| Cihat
Arman |
16/11/1956 | 25/11/1956 |
| László
Székely |
05/04/1957 | 08/12/1957 |
| Leandro
Remondini |
04/05/1958 | 10/05/1959 |
| Ignác
Molnár |
08/06/1960 | - |
| Sandro
Puppo |
27/11/1960 | 16/05/1962 |
| Şeref
Görkey |
10/10/1962 | - |
|
25/11/1962 | 16/12/1962 |
| Bülent
Eken |
27/03/1963 | 09/10/1963 |
| Cihat
Arman |
27/09/1964 | 20/12/1964 |
| Sandro
Puppo |
24/01/1965 | 09/05/1965 |
| Doğan
Andaç |
21/07/1965 | 25/07/1965 |
| Sandro
Puppo |
09/10/1965 | 30/05/1966 |
| Adnan
Süvari |
12/10/1966 | 17/01/1969 |
| Abdullah Gegic |
30/04/1969 | 16/11/1969 |
| Cihat
Arman |
17/10 |