Turkey World Cup Information

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About the Turkey National Team

Turkey has a footballing tradition that features both highs and lows. In World Cup competition Turkey has qualified three times for the 1950, 1954, and 2002 editions. Turkey failed to make an appearance for the 1950 World Cup due to a withdrawal.

The team's highest achievement was reaching 3rd place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Turkey also reached the knockout round of Euro 2000, the semi-finals of Euro 2008 and finished 3rd in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Early years

The Turkish national team played their first ever match against Romania in 1923. The most notable thing of this match was that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was also there to wish the team good luck, Atatürk was known to be a huge fan of the game. In this era the Turkish national team was feared because the players that represented the squad played in Turkish teams that defeated English teams a few years before in every encounter they had.

World Cups 1950 and 1954

Turkey qualified very easily for the 1950 World Cup beating Syria 7-0 but 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. 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.

World Cup 2002

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. Turkey passed the group stage with a 3-0 win against China, after drawing 1-1 with Costa Rica.

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 10.8 seconds, even when the South Koreans kicked off first. It was the fastest goal in World cup history

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.