Turkey national football team: Sergen Yalçın’s first squad, with Çalhanoğlu back and Aktürkoğlu out
Sergen Yalçın replaced Vincenzo Montella after four Nations League defeats and has named 26 for Belgium (12 November) and France (15 November). Here is the full squad with clubs, ages, caps and goals, what changed, and the Group 1 table.
Sep 21, 2026 · Updated Nov 9, 2026
Sergen Yalçın named his first Turkey squad on 6 November 2026, 26 players for the last two UEFA Nations League group games: Belgium at home in İzmir on 12 November and France away on 15 November. Yalçın took over on 20 October, after the federation parted ways with Vincenzo Montella following four straight defeats, and his first list brings back Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Turkey’s most-capped player, and leaves out Kerem Aktürkoğlu, the leading scorer in Montella’s last squad.
The full list is below, with every player’s club, age, caps and international goals as the Turkish Football Federation gave them when the squad was announced.
Turkey national football team squad in full
A note on the name before the list. The federation and FIFA have used Türkiye since 2022, and the team is still widely written as Turkey in English. Both refer to the same side, the one nicknamed Ay-Yıldızlılar, the Crescent-Stars.
Goalkeepers
| Player | Club | Age | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uğurcan Çakır | Galatasaray | 30 | 45 | 0 |
| Berke Özer | Lille | 26 | 2 | 0 |
| Ersin Destanoğlu | Al Jazira | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Serhat Öztaşdelen | Kocaelispor | 21 | 0 | 0 |
Defenders
| Player | Club | Age | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merih Demiral | Al-Ahli | 28 | 68 | 6 |
| Zeki Çelik | Juventus | 29 | 67 | 3 |
| Ferdi Kadıoğlu | Brighton | 27 | 35 | 2 |
| Abdülkerim Bardakcı | Galatasaray | 32 | 34 | 2 |
| Ozan Kabak | Hoffenheim | 26 | 33 | 2 |
| Eren Elmalı | Galatasaray | 26 | 28 | 0 |
| Mustafa Eskihellaç | Trabzonspor | 29 | 3 | 0 |
| Emirhan Topçu | Beşiktaş | 26 | 2 | 0 |
| Ahmetcan Kaplan | NEC Nijmegen | 23 | 0 | 0 |
Midfielders
| Player | Club | Age | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hakan Çalhanoğlu | Inter Milan | 32 | 108 | 22 |
| Orkun Kökçü | Beşiktaş | 25 | 54 | 4 |
| İsmail Yüksek | Fenerbahçe | 27 | 38 | 1 |
| Arda Güler | Real Madrid | 21 | 36 | 7 |
| Salih Özcan | Beşiktaş | 28 | 36 | 1 |
| Can Uzun | Eintracht Frankfurt | 20 | 10 | 1 |
Forwards
| Player | Club | Age | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barış Alper Yılmaz | Galatasaray | 26 | 41 | 6 |
| Enes Ünal | Getafe | 29 | 34 | 3 |
| Yunus Akgün | Galatasaray | 26 | 23 | 4 |
| Oğuz Aydın | Fenerbahçe | 26 | 16 | 0 |
| Deniz Gül | Galatasaray | 22 | 14 | 2 |
| Aral Şimşir | Trabzonspor | 24 | 2 | 1 |
| İlhan Fakılı | Beşiktaş | 20 | 2 | 0 |
What changed from Montella’s last squad
Montella picked 29 players for the September and October games. Ten of them are not in Yalçın’s 26: Altay Bayındır, Muhammed Şengezer, Okan Kocuk, Samet Akaydin, Adil Demirbağ, Demir Tıknaz, Bartuğ Elmaz, Melih Kabasakal, Kerem Aktürkoğlu and İrfan Can Kahveci. The seven who come in are Berke Özer, Ersin Destanoğlu, Serhat Öztaşdelen, Ahmetcan Kaplan, Mustafa Eskihellaç, Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Enes Ünal.
The biggest omissions are in attack. Aktürkoğlu has 15 international goals and İrfan Can Kahveci six, and neither is in the squad. Çalhanoğlu, who missed the autumn games injured, returns with 108 caps and 22 goals, which on his own is more caps than anyone else in the group by 40. Three of the 26 are uncapped: Ersin Destanoğlu, Serhat Öztaşdelen and Ahmetcan Kaplan.
Four games, four defeats
Turkey were drawn in League A, Group 1, with France, Italy and Belgium, three sides that have won the World Cup six times between them, in their first season in the top tier. The autumn went as badly as the draw suggested.
| Date | Match | Score | Turkey scorer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 September | Turkey v France, Kocaeli | 0-1 | – |
| 28 September | Turkey v Italy, Bursa | 1-4 | Barış Alper Yılmaz |
| 2 October | Belgium v Turkey, Liège | 3-0 | – |
| 5 October | Italy v Turkey, Bologna | 3-1 | Aral Şimşir |
Kylian Mbappé scored the only goal in Kocaeli, Italy were 3-0 up inside 27 minutes in Bursa, and Kevin De Bruyne scored twice in Liège. That made two goals scored and eleven conceded in four games, and the federation parted ways with Montella after the defeat in Bologna.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | Goals | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7-2 | 10 |
| 2 | Italy | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8-5 | 7 |
| 3 | Belgium | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6-5 | 6 |
| 4 | Turkey | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2-11 | 0 |
Turkey have the worst record of the four teams bottom of their League A groups, with no points and a goal difference of -9. The two worst last-placed teams go straight down to League B for 2028-29, and the other two go into play-offs in March 2027, so the November games are about avoiding direct relegation.
The fixtures
| Date | Fixture | Kick-off (IST) |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 12 November 2026 | Turkey v Belgium, İzmir | 22:30 |
| Sun 15 November 2026 | France v Turkey | 01:15 (16 Nov) |
Key players
Hakan Çalhanoğlu. The Inter midfielder is back after missing the autumn injured, and he is the most-capped player in the squad on 108 and its leading scorer on 22. Montella had to play all four autumn games without him.
Arda Güler. 21, at Real Madrid, and on 36 caps and 7 goals he is the squad’s second-highest scorer. The federation lists him as a midfielder.
Merih Demiral. 68 caps and 6 goals at Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the most experienced defender in the group. Six goals is a lot for a centre-back.
Orkun Kökçü. 54 caps at Beşiktaş, and one of four players in the squad with 50 or more, with Çalhanoğlu, Demiral and Zeki Çelik.
Uğurcan Çakır. 45 caps and the established goalkeeper. Behind him the other three keepers have 2 caps between them, and two of them have never played for Turkey.
Where this squad is drawn from
Fifteen of the 26 play their club football in Turkey and eleven play abroad, more than under Montella. The eleven are spread across eight countries: Germany two, Italy two, Spain two, England one, France one, Netherlands one, Saudi Arabia one and UAE one.
| Club | Players |
|---|---|
| Galatasaray | 6 |
| Beşiktaş | 4 |
| Fenerbahçe | 2 |
| Trabzonspor | 2 |
| Kocaelispor | 1 |
| Abroad | 11 |
Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş and Trabzonspor provide 14 of the 26. Galatasaray alone supply six.
Who else is in contention
These are the most-capped players called up by Turkey in the last twelve months who are not in this squad, with their most recent call-up.
| Player | Caps | Goals | Last called up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaan Ayhan | 74 | 6 | World Cup |
| Çağlar Söyüncü | 61 | 2 | World Cup |
| Kerem Aktürkoğlu | 58 | 15 | September-October |
| İrfan Can Kahveci | 49 | 6 | September-October |
| Mert Müldür | 48 | 3 | World Cup |
| Mert Günok | 37 | 0 | World Cup |
| Kenan Yıldız | 31 | 5 | World Cup |
Those seven hold 358 caps between them. The 26 who were picked hold 731.
How Turkey got here
The autumn followed a World Cup that ended badly. Turkey qualified for the first time in 24 years, drawn in Group D with the United States, Australia and Paraguay, and then lost the opener to Australia. A second defeat, to ten-man Paraguay, put them out. They did beat the hosts 3-2 in the last group match, which was enough for three points and no more; they finished bottom of the group.
One figure frames the size of the rebuild. These 26 players have 67 international goals between them. Hakan Şükür scored 51 on his own.
If you are following the rest of this group and Turkey’s own World Cup summer, our squad guides to Paraguay, the team that knocked them out, and to the Netherlands are built the same way.