The Turkiye World Cup 2026 squad is locked in.
The World Cup is just around the corner, with Turkiye looking to crash the party, with the March internationals providing a play-off opportunity – and should they make the competition, it's fair to say that though they won't be one of the favourites, Vincenzo Montella will have one of the most exciting young squads in the tournament.
Incredibly, Turkiye haven't so much as been to a World Cup since 2002, when they went on a mad run to the semi-finals and beat South Korea in the third-place play-off.
Plenty has changed for The Crescent-Stars in the two decades since, but a good performance at Euro 2024 has the nation hoping for a return to the world stage, led by veteran controller Hakan Calhanoglu pulling the strings.
Turkiye's new generation could well become world-beaters, too: Arda Guler is ranked at no.10 in FourFourTwo's list of the best attacking midfielders in the world right now, and Kenan Yildiz at no.11 in the best left-wingers in the world right now – with both included in the latest squad to face Romania and Slovakia or Kosovo this month.
Eintracht Frankfurt starlet Can Uzun, meanwhile, hasn't made the squad this time around but will hoping that he can stake a claim in the final selection this summer, with FourFourTwo's Joe Donnohue describing him in a report recently for The Boy's A Bit Special as having “a calmness and composure to [his] game when he's on the ball, which translates directly to his finishing”.
Turkiye are expected to make it to North America – but with the likes of Caglar Soyuncu and Okay Yokuslu missing out on this latest squad, Montella will have to rely on depth to achieve something no Turkiye manager has in a generation.
The Mood
Turkiye are used to qualifying for the Euros, but their most recent World Cup appearance was back in 2002, when they sensationally finished third.
The current squad’s brightest stars, Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz, weren’t even born back then.
The task of qualifying was easier this time following the tournament’s enlargement to 48 teams, but the Turks don’t care.
This summer will be a massive occasion for the football-crazy nation, and expectations are sky high after the encouraging performance at Euro 2024 that rather unluckily ended in the quarter-finals.
This is a balanced team that can be compared to the heroes from 24 years ago.
Turkiye World Cup 2026 squad
Turkiye World Cup 2026 squad
- GK: Mert Günok (Fenerbahçe)
- GK: Altay Bayındır (Manchester United)
- GK: Uğurcan Çakır (Galatasaray)
- DF: Zeki Çelik (Roma)
- DF: Merih Demiral (Al-Ahli)
- DF: Çağlar Söyüncü (Fenerbahçe)
- DF: Eren Elmalı (Galatasaray)
- DF: Abdülkerim Bardakcı (Galatasaray)
- DF: Ozan Kabak (TSG Hoffenheim)
- DF: Mert Müldür (Fenerbahçe)
- DF: Ferdi Kadıoğlu (Brighton & Hove Albion)
- DF: Samet Akaydin (Çaykur Rizespor)
- MF: Salih Özcan (Borussia Dortmund)
- MF: Orkun Kökçü (Beşiktaş)
- MF: Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Inter Milan)
- MF: İsmail Yüksek (Fenerbahçe)
- MF: Kaan Ayhan (Galatasaray)
- FW: Kerem Aktürkoğlu (Fenerbahçe)
- FW: Arda Güler (Real Madrid)
- FW: Deniz Gül (Porto)
- FW: Kenan Yıldız (Juventus)
- FW: İrfan Can Kahveci (Kasımpaşa)
- FW: Yunus Akgün (Galatasaray)
- FW: Barış Alper Yılmaz (Galatasaray)
- FW: Oğuz Aydın (Fenerbahçe)
- FW: Can Uzun (Eintracht Frankfurt)
England fixtures and results
Fixtures
- June 6, 2026: Venezuela vs Turkiye , Fort Lauderdale Stadium, Florida, United States
- June 14, 2026: Australia vs Turkiye , BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
- June 20, 2026: Turkiye vs Paraguay , Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, United States
- June 26, 2026: United States vs Turkiye , SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, United States
Recent results
- June 10, 2025: Mexico 1–0 Turkiye , Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, United States
- September 4, 2025: Georgia 2–3 Turkiye , Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia
- September 7, 2025: Turkiye 0–6 Spain , Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium, Konya, Turkiye
- October 11, 2025: Bulgaria 1–6 Turkiye , Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria
- October 14, 2025: Turkiye 4–1 Georgia , Kocaeli Stadium, İzmit, Turkiye
- November 15, 2025: Turkiye 2–0 Bulgaria , Centennial Atatürk Stadium, Bursa, Turkiye
- November 18, 2025: Spain 2–2 Turkiye , Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville, Spain
- March 26, 2026: Turkiye 1-0 Romania , Tupras Stadium, Istanbul, Turkiye
- March 29, 2026: Kosovo 0-1 Turkiye , Pristina City Stadium, Pristina, Kosovo
- June 1, 2026: Turkiye 4-0 North Macedonia , Chobani Stadium, Istanbul, Turkiye
Turkiye manager: Vincenzo Montella
Vincenzo Montella is best remembered by European football fans for being a stalwart of Roma's last title-winning side – and for that 2007 loan at Fulham – but since retiring, he's floated around Europe with short stints at the likes of Milan, Sevilla and Fiorentina as a manager. A spell at Adana Demirspor set him up for the Turkish national job, where he's been in charge since before the last Euros.
Turkiye's star player
Arda Guler
Praised by Mesut Ozil as his heir and compared to Lionel Messi, Arda Guler is perhaps the most exciting Turkish talent for a generation, having broken through at Fenerbahce before his move to Real Madrid. A no.10 with intensity driving forward and a wicked left foot, he has six goals for his country already, including three in 2025's qualification campaign and that stormer against Georgia in Dortmund at the Euros.
