Turkey will take the field against the US with its World Cup effectively already over. While the American team has secured first place in the group after two wins, the Turks will finish last no matter what happens and will fly home to Istanbul immediately after the match, where an unpleasant reception awaits.
Before the World Cup began, quite a few pundits pointed to Turkey as a team that could be the tournament's dark horse and reach the later stages. But after two defeats, zero points and zero goals, the Turkish team has become the biggest disappointment of the 2026 World Cup.
In President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey, the failure has been taken hard. The media is already describing the fiasco as one of the most resounding failures in the country's soccer history. A team that arrived at the tournament with a glittering golden generation and high expectations is ending its campaign in disgrace.
Can't find the goal
So what caused the failure? First, extreme inefficiency in attack. The Turks have recorded an unprecedented figure of zero goals from 62 attempts in their two matches, the 2-0 loss to Australia and the 1-0 defeat to Paraguay, even though the South American team played the entire second half with 10 men. It is the worst finishing record at a World Cup since such statistics began being tracked at the 1966 tournament.
An analysis of the attempts shows that half the shots came from outside the box, with an average distance of about 20 meters from goal, leading to an almost negligible xG, expected goals, figure of 0.05. One person who has come in for harsh criticism is Italian coach Vincenzo Montella, over poor formations, an inability to break down packed defenses and bad substitutions.
Two players who had been tipped to become among the standout young stars of the World Cup failed badly: Arda Guler of Real Madrid and Kenan Yildiz of Juventus. Veteran captain Hakan Calhanoglu also disappointed.
Expectation and disappointment
Pundits in Turkey described the elimination as a severe trauma for the entire country and a period of national mourning. The enormous disappointment also stems from the fact that this was Turkey's first World Cup appearance since 2002, when the team finished third with a squad considered less talented than the current one, fueling excitement over its return to the world's biggest stage.
Naturally, pundits and fans demanded Montella's immediate resignation. There was anger. Rather surprisingly, despite the heavy public pressure, Turkish Football Federation President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu announced that the federation would stand behind the coach and the players. He made clear that Montella, who is under contract until 2028, would not be fired, out of an understanding that a lack of continuity in the coaching position would harm the national team.
The federation president told the media that he did not give Montella the option of submitting a resignation letter. He explained that the question of leaving had not even come up, because his role as head of the system was to support the coach and players in these difficult moments, not drag them into a cycle of dismissals and instability.
Playing for pride
Before the tournament, everyone was sure that the third match against the US would determine who finished top of the group, but it has suddenly turned into a dead rubber for both teams. Even so, fans and journalists are demanding that the players fight for national pride and, no less importantly, ensure that the campaign does not end with zero points and zero goals, something that would be defined as an outright historic disgrace.
