Continuing our Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026 team-by-team preview series, it’s time to look at Turkiye.
The Crescent Stars – playing at their third finals in history, and their second since a third-placed finish in 2002 – begin their Group D campaign against Australia, before facing Paraguay and then likely chief competitors and tournament co-hosts the United States.
Guiding the resurgent nation to back-to-back international tournaments, having reached the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, Italian head coach Vincenzo Montella has continued to build his squad around a few coveted talents and experienced veterans.
Here, we provide an overview of Turkiye’s qualifying campaign and recent results as well as assessing their squad and potential best players for the official Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026 game.
SQUAD
ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
The Turks booked their World Cup berth through Europe’s play-off route, having beaten all of their qualifying opponents except group winners Spain. The European champions humbled them 6-0 at home on matchday two, before the two countries played out a 2-2 stalemate in November.
Included in Turkiye’s qualifying campaign were 6-1 and 4-1 wins over Bulgaria and Georgia, respectively, plus a pair of 1-0 wins in the play-offs.
However, the xG/xG conceded figures were middling, to say the least:
Despite not ripping up any trees in the underlying stats department, this is certainly a squad with some star power – as we’ll discuss shortly.
BIGGEST GOAL THREATS IN QUALIFICATION
The above xG is non-penalty
Kerem Aktürkoglu ($6.2m) and Kenan Yildiz ($7.0m) finished Turkiye’s qualifying campaign with three goals each, from 14 shots apiece. Only those two racked up higher than 1.0 xG across their appearances.
Real Madrid’s Arda Güler ($7.0m) and penalty-taking Inter Milan central midfielder Hakan Çalhanoglu ($7.1m) actually outshot their frontline teammates, firing off 15 efforts each, but ended up with just a goal each to show for it – Güler in the 6-1 rout of Bulgaria, and Çalhanoglu (from the penalty spot) in the return fixture.
Outscoring those two midfield men was central defender Merih Demiral ($4.0m), who found the net twice. He appeals as a cut-price backline option in Fantasy given his threat from set plays.
Baris Alper Yilmaz ($6.1m) – the most likely third prong of Turkiye’s starting attack, on the wing to the right of Yildiz and Aktürkoglu – saw his gametime restricted, including missing two matches entirely due to a red card on matchday one. The Galatasaray wide man finished the qualifying campaign without a direct goal involvement but did come close with an overhead kick in the 2-2 draw with Spain.
MOST CREATIVE PLAYERS IN QUALIFYING
Turkiye’s joint-chief creators in qualifying, meanwhile, were Arda Güler and Hakan Çalhanoglu.
The pair delivered four assists each, including two apiece in the 6-1 win against Bulgaria, while primary set-piece taker Çalhanoglu’s other two were for centre-back Demiral in the 4-1 victory over Georgia.
Kenan Yildiz racked up as many key passes (12) as Güler, and just one fewer than team leader Çalhanoglu, but registered no assists
SINCE QUALIFICATION
| Date | Opposition | Result (Turkiye first) | Goalscorers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 June 2026 | v North Macedonia | 4-0 | Kokcu, Uzun, Gul, Yilmaz |
| 6 June 2026 | v Venezuela | 2-1 | Yılmaz, Akgün |
Given they had to contest the two-stage European qualifying play-offs in March, Turkiye’s first post-qualification match was a friendly against North Macedonia on 1 June.
Montella’s men ran out 4-0 winners in Istanbul, albeit with a weakened starting XI. Still, this was a solid performance from the team that turned up.
A win over Venezuela rounded preparations off but Ferdi Kadioglu ($4.3m) and Yildiz both missed out with injury.
Akturkoglu was limited to half an hour on his own return to fitness, while Calhanoglu has similarly only had two substitute appearances in June.
Vincenzo Montella: "Regarding the injuries, we've started to gradually bring Hakan Çalhanoğlu back into the fold with us. Kenan hasn't started training yet, but he will too. We're also proceeding cautiously with Kerem and Ferdi."#FIFAWorldCup #Türkiye #Montella…
— Turkish Football Soccer (@soccer_turkish) June 5, 2026
WORLD CUP FIXTURES
Turkiye are, in the eyes of the bookies, the second favourites in Group D. So, according to the odds-setters, their first two fixtures are their most favourable.
TOP FANTASY PICKS
Arda Güler ($7.0m), most commonly the central attacking cog of Montella’s side at No10, is currently the most popular Fantasy pick in Turkiye’s squad. He is certainly an appealing mid-priced midfield option for the team’s promising two opening fixtures.
However, it may be worth noting that he is the only Turkish player in more than 5% of squads, wiping out the possibility of extra points via the ‘Scouting Bonus’.
Still, there are no fitness concerns lingering over him, as there are with the penalty-taking Hakan Calhanoglu ($7.1m).
The equally-priced Kenan Yildiz ($7.0m) – who ended his club season with Juventus having accrued 11 goals and 10 assists, plus some 122 shots and 94 chances created, across 47 appearances – could therefore have had the edge over Güler as a Fantasy pick, were it not for the question marks over fitness.
Kerem Aktürkoglu ($6.2m) is generally expected to start up top, as he did throughout qualifying bar one injury-enforced absence, but some expert predictions have him coming off the bench. Again, he’s another one with fitness issues.
Either way, he isn’t the most prolific of frontmen so Yildiz, Güler or Çalhanoglu are probably safer bets from Turkiye’s ranks. There are other, more nailed-on centre forwards out there from other countries anyway.
So, for Round 1, Baris Alper Yilmaz ($6.1m) could be an interesting differential. In just 0.5% of squads at the time of writing, he should start on the left wing if not potentially up front, after a Turkish Super Lig-winning season with Galatasaray featuring eight goals and 12 assists in 30 league appearances.
He’s scored in both of Turkiye’s friendlies this month.
In defence, someone like Merih Demiral ($4.0m) probably appeals more than goalkeeper Ugurcan Çakir ($4.2m) due to the potential for attacking returns.
The 28-year-old centre-back has six goals for his country, and Euro Fantasy fans may remember his brace and huge haul against Austria two years ago.
