Turkiye

Turkiye enter World Cup 2026 in Group D, where the early tests are USA, Australia, and Paraguay. Turkiye have never won the World Cup, but their third-place finish in 2002 remains one of the country's great sporting memories. The current group has a different profile, with more technical midfield craft. The current squad is shaped around Hakan Calhanoglu, Arda Guler, and Kenan Yildiz, a core that gives the team recognizable quality in the moments that usually decide group-stage matches: set pieces, transition attacks, and pressure around the box.

For this tournament, the assignment is both tactical and psychological: start quickly, protect the middle of the pitch, and make the group feel uncomfortable before the knockout picture forms. Their upside is real if the creative players get time on the ball. Group D could swing on fine margins, and Turkiye have the shot-making quality to punish opponents who sit too deep. If Turkiye can turn its best individual stretches into a full 90-minute platform, the campaign has room to grow beyond a simple participation story.