The 2026 World Cup has been nothing but a disappointment for Türkiye, who will exit the tournament after taking on the U.S. men’s national team on Thursday, after failing to score in losses to Australia and Paraguay.
This summer marks the country’s first World Cup appearance since 2002, and there were hopes that with a youthful group and an abundance of talent, they could make some real headway into the knockout rounds. Instead, it’s a group stage exit.
While it fell 2–0 to Australia and 1–0 to a Paraguay side that played 45 minutes with 10 men, Türkiye hasn’t played terribly. Vincenzo Montella’s front-foot outfit largely controlled both games but have been futile in defending counterattacks and have failed to score on a combined 62 shots over the two games.
This final match is a dead rubber. The USMNT has already clinched Group D, and Türkiye knows it’s heading home—but that doesn’t mean the European side will go down quietly, hoping to bring the USMNT briefly back down to earth after the co-host’s excellent start.
Here, Sports Illustrated highlights three Turkish players who could inflict damage on Thursday.
Arda Guler
Playing in the heart of the No. 10 position in the 4-2-3-1, Arda Güler is the leader for all things attacking-wise. While the Real Madrid 21-year-old hasn’t hit his peak at the World Cup, he has still been a noticeable presence in attacking midfield.
Against Australia, he took a whopping eight shots to lead the match but struggled to get into high-percentage scoring areas inside the box, while playing in a wider position. In the second match against Paraguay, he got into more dangerous areas and took one of three shots from inside the box, but failed to hit the target.
Güler won’t be afraid to shoot from distance against the USMNT, and his creative abilities will provide a stern test to whichever defenders Pochettino opts for, but his out-of-form finishing likely diminishes the potential overall damage.
Ferdi Kadioglu
A key to the USMNT’s success against Australia and Paraguay came in their wide overloads and overlapping wingers and fullbacks. While those have been standout elements in the team so far, they will face a stern test against Brighton left back Ferdi Kadıoğlu, who is likely to start in the Turkish back four.
Kadıoğlu’s presence to sit back and defend, while also cutting off runs, will be critical for his side, and he will likely battle with Sergiño Dest or Tim Weah, who will need to adjust their approach against a more skilled and faster defender than they’ve seen in Australia’s Jordan Bos and Paraguayan 33-year-old Júnior Alonso.
Outside of his defensive positioning, Kadıoğlu can also spark attacks from wide areas or by cutting inside, potentially working the ball to more dangerous attacking talents, including Güler and star Juventus left winger, Kenan Yıldız.
Kenan Yildiz
After an impressive season with Juventus, where he racked up 10 goals and six assists in 36 games, Kenan Yıldız’s World Cup has been a major disappointment. Luckily for him, he’s only 21 years old, and with the talent around him in this generation, he will likely get at least one more World Cup opportunity in his career.
Even still, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want a standout World Cup moment in the final game of this year’s tournament, where he has struggled to produce clear chances and has been caught out defensively on multiple occasions.
After struggling off the bench against Australia, he showed flashes of his Juventus self against Paraguay, creating four chances and putting up 10 touches in the box. Yet, he’ll want to find improvements in his final execution against the USMNT, hoping to author his first of what he hopes to be many World Cup moments.
