Article by Maria Olteanu – Published Saturday, March 21, 2026 23:39 / Updated Saturday, March 21, 2026 23:41
Turkey's national team is facing draw problems ahead of its 2026 World Cup play-off match against Romania on March 26. The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced on Saturday evening that two important players could not participate in the last training session due to medical problems.
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Turkey – Romania will be played on Thursday, March 26, from 19:00, match broadcast by Prima TV. If we win, we play the qualification final against Slovakia/Kosovo on March 31, 2026.
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Gazeta Sporturilur will have 6 experienced reporters in Istanbul, who will send the most important information, reports and a series of multimedia correspondence.
While the Turks continue their preparations for the decisive duel with Romania, goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır and forward Barış Alper Yılmaz were absent from training due to pain. Both players underwent medical treatment, hoping to be recovered by the time of the match against the “tricolors”.
Two Turkish players missed Saturday's training
In addition to the two absent for medical reasons, defender Abdülkerim Bardakcı he trained separately from the rest of the team, doing only light runs, according to hurriyet.com.tr.
According to the official statement issued by the Turkish federation, 19 players participated in the training session on Saturday. The core team was joined by several footballers from clubs such as Fenerbahçe (Oğuz Aydın), Galatasaray (Abdülkerim Bardakkı, Eren Elmalı, Kaan Ayhan, Yunus Akgün), Başakşehir (Muhammed Şengezer) and Trabzonspor (Mustafa Eskihellaç).
Several players from the national youth team were also present: Baran Gezek, Barış Kalaycı, Eyüp Aydın, Hamza Güreler and Yasin Özcan.
The Turkish national team's training was watched by a federation delegation including TFF President İbrahim Ethem Hacıosmanoğlu, Vice President Mecnun Otyakmaz and Board of Directors members Bilal Arslan and Muhammet Akçay.
Turkey's lot for the dam with Romania
Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella called up 30 players. However, only 23 footballers can be entered on the score sheet.
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GOALKEEPERS: Altay Bayindir (Manchester United), Mert Günok (Fenerbahce), Muhammed Sengezer (Istanbul Basaksehir), Ugurcan Cakir (Galatasaray)
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DEFENDERS: Abdulkerim Bardakci (Galatasaray), Ahmetcan Kaplan (NEC Nijmegen), Eren Elmalı (Galatasaray), Ferdi Kadıoğlu (Brighton), Merih Demiral (Al Ahli), Mert Müldür (Fenerbahce), Mustafa Eskihellaç (Trabzonspor), Ozan Kabak (Hoffenheim), Samet Akaydin (Rizespor), Zeki Celik (AS Roma)
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INTERMEDIARIES: Atakan Karazor (Stuttgart), Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter), Ismail Yuksek (Fenerbahce), Kaan Ayhan (Galatasaray), Orkun Kökçü (Besiktas), Salih Ozcan (Borussia Dortmund)
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ATTACKERS: Aral Simshir (Midtjylland), Arda Güler (Real Madrid), Barış Alper Yılmaz (Galatasaray), Deniz Gül (FC Porto), Irfan Can Kahveci (Kasimpasa), Kenan Yıldız (Juventus), Kerem Akturkoglu (Fenerbahce), Oguz Aydin (Fenerbahce), Semih Kılıçsoy (Cagliari), Yunus Akgun (Galatasaray).
