Turkey was soundly defeated in its debut at the 2026 World Cup, losing 0-2 in Vancouver to Australia, despite clearly starting as the favorite in this match against the kangaroos from Down Under.
They dominated the match in Canada in an authoritative manner, winning it easily, positioning themselves as strong favorites to win this Group D, which also includes the USA and Paraguay. And we could have been part of it too, if…
The players finished shattered after this match played on Sunday at 7 a.m., Romania time, declaring and publicly apologizing to the fans in their home country:
“It's not over yet. Everything is in our hands. We have quality. There's no point in looking for who's to blame or who made mistakes. We are a team.
We apologize to our fans, not to get upset. We wanted to wake them up in the early hours of the morning and give them a gift victory, but it didn't happen,” pointed out Kerem Aktürkoğlu, the Ottoman midfielder, according to the Turkish national sports daily Fanatik.
Similarly, Italian coach Vincenzo Montella defended his players warmly: “Kerem Aktürkoğlu put his heart into it today. We shouldn't criticize him immediately just because he didn't manage to score a goal. Let's not do that. Even when we win, we are criticized.
Tactically, the match unfolded largely as expected. We knew we would face a team that would defend deep. If we had scored from the chances we created, things could have been different, we conceded two goals from two counterattacks. The players gave their all, and if we continue to show this attitude, we can achieve the results we desire,” he said immediately after the match.
Turkey qualified for the World Cup after 24 years of absence, going through the playoffs against Romania and Kosovo, both with 1-0 victories.
D.A.