There are 34 days left until Turkey

• Turkey – Romania will take place on March 26, from 20:00, at the Beşiktaș stadium.

• In case of success, the “tricolors” will play in the World Championship play-off final with the winner of Kosovo and Slovakia on March 31.

Turks have participated in only two World Championships

Throughout history, Turkey has participated in only two World Championships! He also got the ticket for Brazil 1950, but later withdrew due to financial problems. The first appearance came in 1954, when it did not go past the group stage. The second, in 2002, would go down in history: the Asian tour of South Korea and Japan.

The Turks finished second in a group with Brazil (1-2), Costa Rica (1-1) and China (3-0), beating the Central American side on goal difference. Then they took advantage of accessible opponents in the “eights” and “quarters”, each time winning 1-0 against Japan and Senegal respectively. They were eliminated by the same scoreline against the same Brazil, against whom they had also lost in the groups, and the South Americans would later lift the trophy, with a “doppietta” by R9 in the last act.

In the match for 3rd place, Turkey got past South Korea, winning bronze with a generation that would also be influenced by Mircea Lucescu. “Il Luce” had already flirted with Turkish football in the early 2000s and had worked with names such as Emre Asik, Bulent Korkmaz, Hasan Şaş or Ergun Penbe, all members of that team.

That season, 2001-2002, was a turning point for me. I hadn't been in the national team for a long time, but that year I was called up for the 2002 World Cup. And I finished 3rd. Lucescu had a huge role in this. He helped me change my playing style, gave me confidence, and above all, he kept his promise.

He proved he has character. For me, Lucescu has a special significance. Wherever I go, I always say: he is the best coach I have worked with, the best analyst and one of the best coaches who reads the game. Yes, that 3rd place was also thanks to Lucescu. I was there because of the trust he gave me.

– Emre Asik, in an interview given to Gazeta Sporturilor, about Mircea Lucescu

More than two decades have passed since the last participation in the World Cup, and Turkey now has at its disposal perhaps the most valuable generation in history, doubled by the breathless atmosphere of Istanbul. Turkey – Romania will take place at the Beşiktaş stadium.

Historical background: many friendlies, few games with stakes. However, we are better at direct duels

Over time, Turkey and Romania have met 27 times. Of these, 17 were friendly games, 2 in the Balkan Cup, the others counting once for the preliminaries of a European Championship (1960), the rest counting for the preliminaries of three World Championships – 1966, 1986 and 2014. The last confrontation dates from November 9, 2017, when the “tricolors” prevailed in a friendly played in Cluj, score 2-0, thanks to a “doppietta” brand Gicu Grozav.

The same Grozav is the one who scored in the last official success of the “tricolors” against Turkey, score 1-0, in Istanbul, in the preliminaries for the 2014 World Championship. Later, in the return, the selected “Semilunei” beat us in Bucharest, 2-0, goals, Burak Yilmaz and Erdinc.

Two other notable games are the ones from the campaign for the Mexican World Cup in '86, with Mircea Lucescu on the bench, the one of sad memory, ours losing the qualification to the detriment of Northern Ireland.

Which players did Mircea Lucescu use then:

• April 3, 1985, preliminaries, Romania – Turkey 3-0 (3-0) (21 Hagi, 28, 42 Cămătaru)

• Stadium: Central, Craiova, 30,000 spectators, referee: Ben-Itzhak (Israel)

• Romania: Silviu Lung – Nicolae Negrilă, Gino Iorgulescu, Costică Ştefănescu-capt., Nicolae Ungureanu – Mircea Rednic, Mircea Irimescu, Dorin Mateuţ (58 Marius Lăcătuş), Gheorghe Hagi – Marcel Coraş (71 Ilie Balaci), Rodion Cămătaru

• Selector: Mircea Lucescu

• November 13, 1985, preliminaries, Turkey – Romania 1-3 (0-2) (78 Metin / 15 Iorgulescu, 28 Coraş, 54 Iovan)

• Stadium: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Izmir, 30,000 spectators, referee: Roth (FRG)

• Romania: Silviu Lung – Ştefan Iovan, Gino Iorgulescu, Costică Ştefănescu-capt., Ilie Bărbulescu – Mircea Rednic, Ladislau Boloni, Michael Klein, Gheorghe Hagi – Marcel Coraş (83 Ion Geolgău), Victor Piţurcă (64 Rodion Cămătaru)

• Selector: Mircea Lucescu.

All direct confrontations officially between Turkey and Romania, in the table below:

• RECORD IN OFFICIAL MATCHES = 6 WINS, 1 DIE, 3 DEFEATS

• RECORD IN FRIENDLY GAMES = 8 WINS, 7 DIES, 2 LOSSES

• TOTAL FOR ROMANIA VS TURKEY = 14 WINS, 8 DIES, 5 LOSSES

Team. Turkey's Golden Generation: Yildiz and Guler, spearheads!

Vincenzo Montella, the coach of Turkey since September 21, 2023, today leads perhaps the most valuable batch in the history of the national team. It has a truly special generation at its disposal, at the head of Kenan Yildiz, who became the “first violin” at Juventus, and Arda Guler, basic man at Real Madrid under the command of Xabi Alonso, both born in 2025 and already mature football beyond the age in the bulletin.

Ferdi Kadioglu, undisputed starter at Brighton in the Premier League, completes an already well-established core, while Hakan Calhanoglu remains the team's class marker. Beside them, there are certain values ​​from the domestic championship, from the great forces of Istanbul: Akturkoglu from Fenerbahce, Orkun Kokcu from Beşiktaș or Ugurcan Cakir from Galatasaray. A technical and physical arsenal like Turkey has rarely had, and Montella seems to be the right man to exploit it to the fullest.

He plays exclusively in the 4-2-3-1 system, the typical formation being the following: Cakir – Celik, Demiral, Bardakci, Kadioglu – Calhanoglu, Kokcu – Aydin, Guler, Yildiz – Akturtoglu

508 million eurossums up Turkey's squad since the last action, according to the specialist portal transfermarkt. Arda Guler (90 million), Kenan Yildiz (75) and Can Uzum (45) are the highest rated players.

In a group with only four teams, Turkey did excellently: round-trip wins against Georgia and Bulgaria, a draw with Spain in Seville, but also a humiliation in front of the European champions in Konya, an unbelievable 0-6!

Of the 17 successes in the qualifiers, the Turks scored only 8 times from open play. In the rest, 7 times from fixed phases, benefiting from 2 own goals. The cumulative xG is massively surprising, of only 8.7! That means an almost perfect conversion rate, the Turks score a goal in half a chance! Their efficiency in front of goal is remarkable. The players with the most offensive contributions are as follows:

1. Hakan Calhanoglu – 5 (one goal, four assists)

2. Arda Guler – 4 (one goal, three assists)

3. Kenan Yildiz – 3 (three goals)

4. Kerem Akturtoglu – 2 (two goals)

5. Yunus Akgun – 2 (one goal, one assist)

6. Merih Demiral – 2 (two goals)

In the qualifiers, Turkey averaged 52% possession, 5.3 shots on goal per game, 6 big chances created per game, 404 accurate passes and 25 successful long passes on average.

25is the place occupied by Turkey in the FIFA ranking. The “Tricolori” are on the 49th.

Montella has molded Turkey into a modern team built on calculated control of possession and quick transitions. Although he maintains moderate possession, he demands intensity in ball movement and vertical progression, capitalizing on Arda Guler's technique and Yildiz's mobility.

Vincenzo Montella, the coach of Turkey // photo: Imago