Turkey has taken the next step towards participating in the World Cup in Canada, the USA and Mexico. There was a narrow success in the playoff semi-final against Romania.
The dream of participating in a World Cup for the first time since 2002 lives on for Turkey: Coach Vincenzo Montella’s team narrowly but deservedly beat Romania 1-0 (0-0) in the playoff semi-finals of the World Cup qualification on Thursday evening (March 26, 2026).
In Istanbul’s Tüpraş Stadyumu, where first division team Besiktas usually plays their home games, Ferdi Kadioglu scored the goal of the evening (53rd).
The final final showdown will take place next Tuesday. The Turks will duel with the winner of the game between Slovakia and Kosovo (from 8:45 p.m.). Only the final winner receives a World Cup ticket.
Chances to score are in short supply
The Turks began, cheered on by a frenetic and deafeningly loud audience, passionately and with a lot of aggression. However, the Romanians held on unfazed and, above all, consistently defended their own goal.
Despite their superiority, the Turks were unable to develop a goal threat for a long time. Offensive player Kenan Yildiz only had the first chance after just over half an hour, but the Regensburg native missed clearly from 16 meters. It was the Turks’ only notable goal in the first half.
Humorless and not very high class
The Romanians formed a massive defensive block almost throughout, from which the Montella team repeatedly bounced without humor.
The game was intense, competitive, exciting and not very high quality, which spoke for the tactical approach of the Romanians, who primarily wanted to spoil the game. However, they used very little energy to launch attacks themselves – which would later take revenge.
Brainstorm from the strong Güler
At the beginning of the second half, the Turks continued to attack, and the game continued to progress uneventfully – until offensive star Arda Güler had a flash of inspiration.
The 21-year-old crossed from the right half-space to defender Kadioglu, who suddenly went deep and only had to push in from eight meters in front of goalkeeper Ionut Andrei Radu.
For the first and only time in this game, the Romanian defense was out of the picture; no one had expected the attacking defender.
Harmless Romania
And the Turks tried to follow up. A few minutes later, Yilmaz hit the crossbar of the Romanian goal from 16 meters. The outstanding Güler tried from distance (71), but failed because of Radu’s brilliant parry.
The Romanians subsequently tried to act more offensively, but they were no longer able to put the hosts in serious danger. The Turks just had to concentrate on not making any more crucial mistakes and getting the game over time.
