What is the Turkey squad for the Euro 2021?

Turkey national team’s manager

Coach: Şenol Güneş

• Date of birth: 1 June 1952 (age 69)
• Height: 1.79m (5 ft 10 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Former goalkeeper, manager
• Club: Turkey national team

Şenol Güneş is a former goalkeeper who played for the last club Trabzonspor and the Turkey national team before changing his career from a player to a manager in 1988. He was a youth product of three clubs from 1967 to 1970. He made his professional debut in Sebat Gençlik with 57 appearances, and then Trabzonspor, in which he became the manager assistant for one season. 

He played for the senior men’s national team from 1975 to 1987 and was the captain for five games. Within 30 years in his managerial career, he was the manager of plenty of Turkish clubs and one Korean club, FC Seoul with a three-year contract. He was the leading coach of the Turkey national team in the period of 2000-2004 and the second time from 2019 to 2022. The highest place of the national team under the time of Gunes was third place in the 2002 World Cup and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He proudly received IFFHS's 3rd best national team coach of the world 2002 and 2002 Turkish State Medal of Distinguished Service.

A 26-man squad of the Turkey national team for the Euro 2021

Goalkeeper

1. Mert Gunok

• Date of birth: 1 March 1989 (age 32)
• Height: 1.96m (6 ft 5 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Goalkeeper
• Club: İstanbul Başakşehir, Turkey national team
• Market value: €2.40M

Fehmi Mert Günok is currently the goalkeeper for İstanbul Başakşehir and the Turkey national team. He is a son of a former player and coach Mahir Günok, that’s why he had a passion for football from very soon. Gunok started playing for Kocaelispor and Fenerbahçe in his youth career, and then signed his first professional contract with the latter club in 2008. During his time, Fenerbahçe won numerous titles, including two Super Lig titles, two Turkish Cups, and two Turkish Super Cups.

He has all played in the Super Lig in his senior career, with 199 games involved. He was part of the youth levels of national squads in 2004, from U16 to U21. On 25 May 2012, he made his first international cap with the national team as a substitute for Cenk Gönen. 

2. Ugurcan Cakir

• Date of birth: 5 April 1996 (age 25)
• Height: 1.91m (6 ft 3 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Goalkeeper
• Club: Trabzonspor, Turkey national team
• Market value: €19.00M

Ugurcan Cakir is playing as a goalkeeper for Super Lig club Trabzonspor and the Turkey national team for the Euro 2020. He was trained by four clubs during his youth career from 2008 to 2014, before starting playing as a professional goalkeeper for Trabzonspor in 2014. His first professional debut was a 1-0 loss against Rabotnicki Skopje in the qualification stage of the 2014 Europa League. 

He was loaned to 1461 Trabzon and joined them for a season-long deal, but actually returned to Trabzonspor after six months. Cakir also played for the U19, U20, and U21 squads of the national team from 2013 to 2017. On 30 May 2019, he was called for the senior men’s national team in the line-up squad. 

3. Altay Bayindir

• Date of birth: 14 April 1998 (age 23)
• Height: 1.98m (6 ft 6 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Goalkeeper
• Club: Fenerbahçe, Turkey national team
• Market value: €19.00M

Bayindir has a huge advantage in height (1.98m), which has helped him keep his home net clean for many games or at least saved the teams from being lost with the fewest goals against. He was trained as a goalkeeper from 2007 to 2016 in the youth side of four Turkish clubs. Bayindir started his senior career with a four-year contract with Ankaragücü and had 31 matches with them in the TFF Second League, First League, and Super Lig. 

He was very successful in his debut for the current club in a match against Gazişehir Gaziantep F.K. in the 2019-20 Super Lig, where he kept a clean sheet for his club throughout the game while his teammates scored five goals over the opponent. He was selected for the Turkey national team on 27 May 2021 in a friendly against Azerbaijan and also in the squad for the Euro 2020.

Defender

4. Kaan Ayhan

• Date of birth: 10 November 1994 (age 26)
• Height: 1.85m (6 ft 1 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Center back/ Defensive midfielder
• Club: Sassuolo, Turkey national team
• Market value: €6.00M

Kaan Ayhan is a Turkish footballer who was born in Germany, therefore, he spent most of his youth and senior career for German clubs. He started playing football at the age of five and was trained in Schalke 04 until 2013. After that, Ayhan played for the senior side of this club and scored once in the 2013-14 Bundesliga. 

He was also part of Fortuna Düsseldorf, which won the 2. Bundesliga in the 2017-18 season. He scored a total of eight goals within 121 appearances. In his national career, he joined both the Turkey squads and Germany squads from 2009 to the present. The Germany U17 squad reached third place in the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. 

5. Caglar Soyuncu

• Date of birth: 23 May 1996 (age 25)
• Height: 1.85m (6 ft 1 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Defender
• Club: Leicester City, Turkey national team
• Market value: €45.00M

Caglar will be one of the key members of the Turkey national team in this season of Euro. He is also the defender for Premier League club Leicester City since 2018. After spending time in three Turkish clubs in his youth career, he played for Turkish, German, and English clubs after playing as a professional. Leicester City has won the recent season of the FA Cup.

Soyuncu has scored one goal in a friendly against Tunisia on 1 June 2018 and one in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification against Norway. 

6. Merih Demiral

• Date of birth: 5 March 1998 (age 23)
• Height: 1.90m (6 ft 3 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Center Back
• Club: Juventus, Turkey national team
• Market value: €28.00M

Merih Demiral was a product of Fenerbahce before becoming a professional defender for a Portuguese club Alcanenense. During his senior career, he only played in a season-long deal for a total of four clubs, including Portugues, Turkish, and Italian clubs before officially being part of the top-flight Serie A club Juventus on 5 July 2019.

Demiral started playing for the national team in 2014 from the youth level to the senior squad in 2018. His COVID-19 test was announced to be positive on 1 April 2021 but he had recovered by 6 April and is getting ready for Euro 2020.

7. Zeki Celik

• Date of birth: 17 February 1997 (age 24)
• Height: 1.80m (5 ft 11 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Right Back
• Club: Lille, Turkey national team
• Market value: €20.00M

Celik, who has been part of club Lille to win the recent season of Ligue 1, is also currently playing for the Turkey national team as a right back. He started his football career in Yavuz Selimspor for one season and was trained in Buraspor in the next six years, where he became professional in 2015 but didn’t make any official appearance with the club because it was loaned to Karacabeyspor right after that. 

From 2016 to 2018, Celik played for Istanbulspor in 64 games and scored three goals. On 8 July 2018, this defender was announced to sign a five-year contract with Ligue 1 club Lille and his first debut was a winning match over Stade Rennes. He was also a team member of the U16, U17, U18, and U21 squads for the national team from 2012 to 2018 before making his first debut for the senior men’s national team in a friendly against Russia in June 2018.

8. Umut Meras

• Date of birth: 20 December 1995 (age 26)
• Height: 1.78m (5 ft 10 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Left Back
• Club: Le Havre, Turkey national team
• Market value: €2.20M

Cengiz Umut Meras is a professional left-back for Ligue 2 club Le Havre, which is also one of the oldest French football clubs, and for the Turkey national team. He spent his youth career in four Turkish clubs from 2008 to 2014, including Sehremini, Sanyer, Yeşilköy, and Boluspor. He became a professional defender for the latter club in 2014.

He scored a total of two goals within 79 matches with the club, then moved to Bursaspor for the 2018-19 season. His first debut in this club was a tie with İstanbul Başakşehir in the 2018-10 Super Lig. In August 2019, Meras was transferred to Ligue 2 club Le Havre and has scored one goal so far. Earlier before that, in May 2019, he was named for the Turkey national team in a friendly against Greece. 

9. Ozan Kabak

• Date of birth: 25 March 2000 (age 21)
• Height: 1.86m (6 ft 1 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Center Back
• Club: Schalke 04, Turkey national team
• Market value: €25.00M

Kabak is a young and potential player for the Turkey national team. He was a product of Galatasaray after seven years of training. He made his first professional debut for his senior career in this club on 12 May 2018, which was a 2-0 win over Yeni Malatyaspor.

After that, in three recent seasons, he played for two Bundesliga clubs, VfB Stuttgart and Schalke 04, in which he scored three goals for each club. He was the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season in the 2018-19 season. On 1 February 2021, he played for Liverpool as a loaned player. In the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League, he was the first Turkish player to appear for an English club in this competition.  

Kabak also played for U15 to U18 squads of the Turkey national football, and officially qualified for the senior team, and made his first match in the Euro 2020 qualification against Andorra.

10. Ridvan Yilmaz

• Date of birth: 21 May 2001 (age 20)
• Height: 1.74m (5 ft 9 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Left Back
• Club: Beşiktaş, Turkey national team
• Market value: €2.00M

Ridvan Yilmaz is a young Turkish player who started playing football at the age of eight. He was trained by Beşiktaş for 10 years from 2009 to 2019 and officially became the professional left-back for the club on 8 April 2019, in a winning match over Çaykur Rizespor in the Super Lig.

He was also part of numerous youth levels for the national squad from 2016 to the present. On 27 May 2021, he made his first debut for the Turkey national team in a friendly against Azerbaijan and joined the Euro 2020 qualification. 

11. Mert Müldür

• Date of birth: 3 April 1999 (age 22)
• Height: 1.88m (6 ft 2 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Defender
• Club: Sassuolo, Turkey national team
• Market value: €9.00M

Mert Müldür is a Turkish player who was born in Austria, therefore, during the first period of his football career, he mostly played for the Austrian club Rapid Wien, which was also where he was trained in his youth career.

On 20 August 2019, Müldür was transferred to the Italian club Sassuolo for an undisclosed fee. He was first used as a substitute in a match against Torino, but they ended up with a 1-2 loss. He was also part of U17, U19, and U21 of Turkish squads before being selected for the senior men’s national team in 2018.

Midfielder

12. Abdülkadir Ömür 

• Date of birth: 25 June 1999 (age 21)
• Height: 1.68m (5 ft 6 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Central midfielder
• Club: Trabzonspor, Turkey national team
• Market value: €8.50M

Ömür is a young Turkish footballer for Trabzonspor, where he joined them in the youth side from 2011 to 2016 before becoming a professional midfielder. He scored a total of 12 goals within 91 appearances, all in the Super Lig. In the 2019-20 season, his club won their ninth title of the Turkish Cup. 

Ömür also played for the national squads from the youth levels to the senior team. In March 2018, he was called up for the Turkey national team but didn’t make any cap until 30 May 2019. He first appeared with the national team in a friendly against Greece. 

13. Cengiz Ünder

• Date of birth: 14 July 1997 (age 23)
• Height: 1.73m (5 ft 8 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Right winger
• Club: Leicester City FC (on loan), Roma, Turkey national team
• Market value: €18.00M

Cengiz Under is currently playing for two clubs and the Turkey national team. He is a right-winger for Premier League Leicester City as a loaned player from an Italian club Roma. He played for Altınordu and İstanbul Başakşehir before becoming a Roma player for a fee of €13.4 million on 16 July 2017. The next year, he received the award Turkish Footballer of the Year. He has netted a total of 39 goals in his senior club career and nine goals within 30 international cups.

14. Hakan Calhanoglu

• Date of birth: 8 February 1994 (age 27)
• Height: 1.78m (5 ft 10 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Attacking midfielder
• Club: Milan, Turkey national team
• Market value: €35.00M

This is one of the best players with a high market value that the Turkey national team is possessing. He was the product of Karlsruher SC which competes in the 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga. After leaving this club, he played for Hamburger SV and Bayer Leverkusen in four seasons of Bundesliga, scoring a total of 28 goals. 

On 3 July 2017, he was transferred to Serie A club A.C. Milan for a €24 million transfer fee. Recently, he was awarded the Serie A MVP of the Month in December 2020. Calhanoglu has also made 57 international caps and scored 13 goals, including friendly and qualification goals. 

15. Okay Yokuslu

• Date of birth: 9 March 1994 (age 27)
• Height: 1.91m (6 ft 3 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Midfielder
• Club: West Brom Albion (on loan), Celta, Turkey national team
• Market value: €7.50M

Okay Yokuslu started playing football at the age of eight in Karşıyaka and then moved to the academy club Altay. He made his first professional debut for Altay on 27 June 2011 in the Super Lig. In 2018, he played as a midfielder for the Spanish club Celta in three seasons of La Liga so far, and was loaned to Premier League club West Bromwich Albion in the 2020-21 season. 

In his national career, Yokuslu joined all Turkey youth levels except for the U18 squad. On 6 November 2015, he was named for the Turkey national team and since then, Yokuslu scored one goal in a friendly against Montenegro in 2018. 

16. Yusuf Yazici

• Date of birth: 29 January 1997 (age 24)
• Height: 1.83m (6 ft 0 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Attacking midfielder, Forward
• Club: Lille, Turkey national team
• Market value: €20.00M

Yazici is a Turkish professional midfielder (can also play as a forward) for Ligue 1 club Lille and the Turkey national team. He was trained in a local club Trabzonspor until late 2015 when he made his first professional debut for this club. After spending four successful seasons with Trabzonspor, he was transferred to Lillie for a fee of €17.5 million, which was the all-time highest transfer fee ever of Trabzonspor.

When playing for Lille, he was the top scorer of the 2021 Europa League, sharing the top place (seven goals) with the other three players. He was also awarded the UNFP Player of the Month in December 2020. Yacizi scored one goal for the Turkey national team in the Euro 2020 qualification match against Moldova in their 4-0 win.

17. Irfan Kahveci

• Date of birth: 15 July 1995 (age 26)
• Height: 1.75m (5 ft 9 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Center midfielder
• Club: Fenerbahçe, Turkey national team
• Market value: €11.00M

Kahveci is a center midfielder who has spent his football career only with domestic clubs and the national squad. He was a youth product of Gençlerbirliği, where he made 71 appearances and scored nine goals. In the 2013-14 season, he was loaned to Hacettepe and netted four goals for the club within a season. 

He signed a 4.5-year contract with İstanbul Başakşehir after that and amazingly created a hat-trick in a match against RB Leipzig in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League. On 31 January 2021, Kahveci was transferred to the current club Fenerbahçe for a €7 million fee. He was called up for the senior national football team on 23 March 2018 in a match against Ireland. 

18. Dorukhan Tokoz

• Date of birth: 21 May 1996 (age 25)
• Height: 1.80m (5 ft 11 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Midfielder
• Club: Beşiktaş, Turkey national team
• Market value: €4.70M

Dorukhan Tokoz is currently a member of one of the Big Three in Turkish football and the most successful club in the country, Beşiktaş. He graduated from the academy club  Eskişehirspor and made his first senior debut for them on 20 December 2015. During his time with the club, he scored three goals within 60 matches.

In 2018, he was announced to be in Beşiktaş for an undisclosed fee, and until now, he has also scored three goals for them in 58 games. Tokoz also played for the Turkey U21 squad on a season-long deal, and then was selected to the Turkey national football team on 22 March 2019, in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Albania, as a substitute for Emre Belözoğlu.

19. Orkun Kokcu

• Date of birth: 29 December 2000 (age 21)
• Height: 1.75m (5 ft 9 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Attacking midfielder
• Club: Feyenoord, Turkey national team
• Market value: €12.00M

Kokcu is a young footballer who was born in the Netherlands so he has mainly played for Dutch clubs in his youth and senior career. He is a younger brother of professional player Ozan Kokcu. Before playing for Feyenoord, he was trained in five Dutch clubs and made his first professional debut at the age of 17. He has scored eight goals in 57 appearances with this club.

Kokcu played for the youth levels of the Netherlands in two seasons of 2017-18 and 2018-19. After that, he moved to Turley and was part of the U21 squad and the national football team on 6 September 2020.

20. Ozan Tufan

• Date of birth: 23 March 1995 (age 26)
• Height: 1.79m (5 ft 10 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Midfielder/ Right back/ Right winger
• Club: Fenerbahçe, Turkey national team
• Market value: €11.00M

Ozan Tufan is a versatile footballer as he can play in multiple positions, but mainly as a midfielder. He played for the youth side of Bursaspor for seven years before being a professional player for this club in 2012. During his senior club career, he only played in the Super Lig and scored a total of 25 goals in 258 league matches in three clubs.

He was also part of the U17, U18, and U19 Turkey national squads from 2012 to 2014. In 2013, he represented his country in the UEFA European U19 Championship. Tufan has made 61 international caps so far with nine qualification and friendly goals.

21. Taylan Antalyalı

• Date of birth: 8 January 1995 (age 26)
• Height: 1.80m (5 ft 11 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Midfielder
• Club: Galatasaray, Turkey national team
• Market value: €6.00M

Taylan Antalyalı is a Turkish professional midfielder for Super Lig club Gatalasaray and the Turkey national team. He started his senior career in Bucaspor and played for them in three seasons of TFF First League with only one goal in 44 matches. After that, he alternated between numerous clubs as both an official line-up player or loaned player in three competitions throughout the country.

Antalyalı has scored a total of 16 goals in 204 matches in his club career. He also played for all youth levels of the national squad from 2009 to 2015. On 24 March 2021, he made his first debut for the senior men’s national football team in a World Cup qualification match against the Netherlands. 

Forward

22. Burak Yilmaz

• Date of birth: 15 July 1985 (age 35) 
• Height: 1.88m (6 ft 2 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Striker
• Club: Lille, Turkey national team
• Market value: €2.80M

Yilmaz is playing for Ligue 1 club Lille as a striker and he is also the captain of the Turkey national team. He is the son of a former professional footballer and current manager Fikret Yilmaz. He has a giant record of individual honors in his career with 267 goals in his senior life.

He all played for Turkish clubs before and until 1 August 2020, he was announced to be in the squad of Ligue 1 club Lille. Within one season, Burak Yilmaz has made 33 appearances and netted 18 goals, which led to his three awards in 2021: UNFP Player of the Month in April, Ligue 1 Goal of the Year, and Lille Player of the Season. 

He was named for the national team in 2006 and currently has made a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands.

23. Halil İbrahim Dervişoğlu

• Date of birth: 8 December 1999 (age 22)
• Height: 1.83m (6 ft 0 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Forward
• Club: Brentford, Turkey national team
• Market value: €2.90M

This player was born in the Netherlands and is of Turkish descent, so he was eligible to represent both countries’ national teams in international competitions. He was trained in Sparta Rotterdam, a youth club in his neighborhood in the Netherlands. After that, Dervişoğlu played for another Dutch club Jong Sparta with a successful season. He returned to the initial club and played until 2020 when he was transferred to Premier League club Brentford in August.

He was also loaned to a Dutch club to play in Eredivisie and a Turkish club to join Super Lig in the 2020-21 season. He has scored a total of 45 goals in his senior career. He was selected for the national team in 2021 to participate in the Euro qualification this season. 

24. Kenan Karaman

• Date of birth: 5 March 1994 (age 27)
• Height: 1.91m (6 ft 3 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Striker
• Club: Turkey national team
• Market value: €2.50M

Karaman is currently a striker for the Turkey national team. He has just finished his contract with Bundesliga club Fortuna Düsseldorf on 24 May 2021. He was born in Germany so all of the time in his senior career was spent for German clubs. He scored a total of 37 goals in his professional club career in three main clubs and two reserve clubs. In 2012, Karaman started playing for national squads. 

Until 9 November 2017, he was called up for the senior men’s national team in a friendly match against Romania. 

25. Enes Unal

• Date of birth: 10 May 1997 (age 24)
• Height: 1.85m (6 ft 1 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Striker
• Club: Getafe, Turkey national team
• Market value: €7.00M

Enes Unal is a Turkish professional striker and he has joined many clubs in different European countries, including Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium besides his nation. He was a youth product of Bursaspor and started playing for La Liga club Getafe on 12 August 2020. 

He scored a total of 61 goals in his club career, and 22 international caps with the Turkey national team from 2015 to the present. He has also scored one qualification goal in the Euro 2020 against Andorra on 17 November 2019.

26. Kerem Aktürkoğlu

• Date of birth: 21 October 1998 (age 23)
• Height: 1.73m (5 ft 8 in)
• Nationality: Turkey
• Position: Winger
• Club: Galatasaray, Turkey national team
• Market value: €3.50M

Muhammed Kerem Aktürkoğlu is a Turkish professional winger for Super Lig club Galatasaray and the Turkey national team. He started his professional football career in Başakşehir but right after that, he was loaned to Bodrumspor on a season-long deal. His peak career was in 24 Erzincanspor in the 2019-20 season. He scored 20 goals in just 34 matches in the TFF Third League with this club. 

He made his first debut for Galatasaray on 23 November 2020 in a tied Super Lig match against Kayserispor. He was selected for the national team on 27 May 2021 in a friendly against Azerbaijan and in the Euro 2020 squad. 

Above is all the brief information about a full 26-man squad of Turkey for the Euro 2020. Hope you find it helpful for you to judge their strength in the European arena. Don’t forget to keep yourself updated with the latest news about Euro and other football competitions worldwide at betimate.com.

References

Wikipedia

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