Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published Tuesday, March 31, 2026, 8:46 p.m. / Updated Tuesday, March 31, 2026, 8:48 p.m.
Kosovo receives the visit of the national team from Turkey tonight, from 21:45, in the final of the World Championship qualification play-off. The match from Pristina can be watched in liveTEXT format on GSP.ro and is broadcast on TV on Digi Sport 1.
Only one match separates the two teams from the presence in the final tournament, in a duel that promises to be extremely balanced. The winner will go into Group C, alongside the USA, Paraguay and Australia.
LIVE at 21:45 » Kosovo – Turkey
Kosovo – Turkey, starting teams:
Kosovo (4-4-2): Muric – Gallapeni, Hajdari, Hajrizi, Dellova – Muslija, Rexhbecaj, Hodza, Vojvoda – Muriqi, Asllani
reserves: Bekaj, Saipi – Hadergjonaj, Aliti, I. Krasniqi, Rashica, Rrahmani, Zhegrova, Berisha, E. Krasniqi, Emerllahu, Zabergja
Coach: Franco Foda
Turkey (4-2-3-1): Cakir – Kabak, Bardakci, Kadioglu, Celik – Calhanoglu, Yuksek – Kokcu, Guler, Yildiz – Akturkoglu
reserves: Gunok, Bayindir – Elmali, Akaydin, Ozcan, Yilmaz, Gul, Kahveci, Muldur, Karazor, Akgun, Ayhar
Coach: Vincenzo Montella
Turkey dreams of returning to the World Cup after 24 years
Turkey's national team has not reached a World Championship since 2002, when it produced the surprise of the competition and reached the semi-finals. Since then, the Turks have had notable results at the European Championship, but the major objective remains to return to football's biggest stage.
The team trained by Vincenzo Montella is going through a good period and relies on an extremely talented generation. Arda Guler was decisive in the semi-final with Romania, providing the assist for the winning goal, while players like Hakan Calhanoglu, Kenan Yıldız or Kerem Akturkoglu complete an extremely dangerous offensive compartment.
Kosovo, close to a historic first
On the other hand, Kosovo is one step away from qualifying for a World Cup for the first time in history. The team coached by Franco Foda had an excellent course and comes after a spectacular success, 4-3, in the semi-final of the play-off with Slovakia.
The Kosovars are extremely strong at home, where they have achieved solid results against important teams such as Switzerland, Sweden or Slovenia. Furthermore, their recent form has been impressive with just one defeat in their last 12 international matches.
