Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Thursday, March 26, 2026, 11:24 / Updated Thursday, March 26, 2026 11:29
Vincenzo Montella, the coach of Turkey, has established the group of 23 people with whom he will tackle the tie with Romania, this evening, at 19:00, in Istanbul.
- Turkey – Romania is played tonight19:00, match broadcast by Prima TV. If we win, we play the World Cup qualification final against Slovakia/Kosovo on March 31, 2026.
- Gazeta Sporturilor has 6 experienced reporters in Istanbul, who deliver the most important information, reports and a series of multimedia correspondence.
Vincenzo Montella called up 30 players for the two matches at the end of the month. Turkey will receive the visit of Romania, then they will play away with Kosovo / Slovakia. It remains to be seen whether the second match will be official or friendly depending on tonight's result.
The 7 Turks left out by Vincenzo Montella
Only 23 players are allowed on the game sheet, so the Italian coach was forced to make serious cuts for tonight's game. The 7 players left out are:
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The goalkeeper Muhammed Sengezer (Istanbul Basaksehir);
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visitors Ahmetcan Kaplan (NEC Nijmegen), Merih Demiral (Al Ahli), Zeki Celik (AS Roma) and Mustafa Eskihellaç (Trabzonspor);
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Attacking players Aral Simshir (Midtjylland) and Semih Kılıçsoy (Cagliari).
Two defensive starters will NOT play!
Merih Demiral and Zeki Celik are big losses for Turkey, having been regular starters in Montella's team. They are injured and could not be recovered in time.
Stopera Merih Demiralcurrently in Saudi Arabia, at Al Ahli, also at Atalanta or Juventus, suffered a rupture of the quadriceps tendon during a training session. Because of this, he watched Turkey's official training from the sidelines.
Right back Zeki Celikof AS Roma, did some light runs on Wednesday night but was unable to fully train due to calf pain.
Also for medical reasons he left the scheme and Aral Simshirleft winger from Midtjylland. Simshir, who has yet to make his debut for the Turkish first team, has played 45 games this season, contributing 11 goals and 18 assists.
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In this context, Turkey's likely squad looks like this: Cakir – Muldur, Kabak, Bardakci, Kadioglu – Kokcu, Yuksek – Guler, Calhanoglu, Yildiz – B. Yilmaz
Turkey's squad of 23 for the match against Romania
- porter: Altay Bayindir (Manchester United), Mert Günok (Fenerbahce), Ugurcan Cakir (Galatasaray)
- defense: Abdulkerim Bardakci (Galatasaray), Eren Elmalı (Galatasaray), Ferdi Kadıoğlu (Brighton), Mert Müldür (Fenerbahce), Ozan Kabak (Hoffenheim), Samet Akaydin (Rizespor)
- midfielders: Atakan Karazor (Stuttgart), Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter), Ismail Yuksek (Fenerbahce), Kaan Ayhan (Galatasaray), Orkun Kökçü (Besiktas), Salih Ozcan (Borussia Dortmund)
- ATTACKERS: 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), Yunus Akgun (Galatasaray).
