Turkey U21

Early years

The Turkish national team's first game was against Romania, played on 26 October 1923 at Taksim Stadium in Istanbul, a 2–2 draw. Zeki Rıza Sporel is considered the first big star of Turkish football as he scored the first two goals against Romania. Turkey played their first ever official match at the 1924 Summer Olympics losing to Czechoslovakia 5–2. The first two goals in an official game were scored by Bekir Refet.

1950s

Although Turkey qualified for the 1950 World Cup, beating Syria 7–0, they were forced to withdraw from the tournament due to financial problems.

Turkey then qualified for the 1954 World Cup after a play-off with Spain. They first lost 4–1 to Spain, but a 1–0 win a few days later initiated a replay (there was no clause for aggregate results in the rules at the time, which would have qualified Spain). On that occasion, they tied 2–2 after, booking their place after a coin toss. Turkey was grouped along with Hungary and West Germany. The Turks, however, never played Hungary due to the tournament format (Spain had been selected as a seeded team prior to the end of the qualification, and when Turkey qualified at their expense, they inherited the seed), and a 4–1 defeat by the Germans was followed by Turkey carrying out a 7–0 win over South Korea. Turkey lost the play-off game to West Germany 7–2.

In 1956, however, Turkey did play Hungary in a friendly match in Istanbul, defeating what was one of the strongest teams of the era, 3–1. Lefter Küçükandonyadis, arguably one of the best Turkish strikers of all time, scored two goals during the tournament.

Near misses

Despite the introduction of a national league, and showings by Turkish clubs in European competition, the 1960s would be a barren time for the national team. Most players from the 1954 World Cup squad had already retired, and the new generation of players failed to qualify for a major tournament.

The 1970s saw Turkey holding back in the World Cup and UEFA European Championship qualifiers, but the team was a point too short to qualify for both UEFA Euro 1972 and Euro 1976.

In the 1980s the Turks also suffered one of their worst defeats with 8–0 scorelines twice against England. The Turks had suffered an 8–0 defeat before against Poland in 1968. But the 1990 World Cup qualifiers would mark a turning point for Turkish football, with Turkey only missing out on qualification in the final match. Prominent players in this period included Rıdvan Dilmen, Oğuz Çetin, Rıza Çalımbay, Feyyaz Uçar, and European Golden Boot winner Tanju Çolak.

1990s

In 1990, coach Sepp Piontek was put in charge of the national team. Under his guidance, a group of new players debuted for the national team. Many of these players (which included Bülent Korkmaz, Alpay Özalan, Sergen Yalçın, Rüştü Reçber, and Hakan Şükür) would become the backbone of the national team for many years. Piontek's mission came to an end in 1993, when he was replaced by Fatih Terim, who in turn managed to qualify for Euro 1996. Turkiye qualified for its first major tournament since 1954. The appointment of Piontek was a recommended move by another coach, Jupp Derwall, who had coached Galatasaray for three seasons.

Turkey qualified for Euro 1996, defeating both Switzerland and Sweden 2–1 during qualification. Despite a solid performance during the qualifiers, Turkey lost all their matches without scoring a single goal. They did, however, go home with an award: the fair play award, given to Özalan.

2000s

Although Turkey failed to qualify for the 1998 World Cup, they qualified for Euro 2000 after winning a play-off against the Republic of Ireland. Turkey lost their first match 2–1 to Italy, then drew their second match against Sweden 0–0, and beat host nation Belgium 2–0, making it the first time in the history of the UEFA European Championship a host nation had been eliminated in the first round. This victory brought Turkey into the quarter-finals of the tournament, where they were beaten 2–0 by Portugal, with Arif Erdem missing a penalty.

For the 2002 World Cup, Turkey finished second in their qualifying group, losing to Sweden in the match that would decide the number-one spot. The Turks were forced to play the play-offs against Austria. They defeated the Austrians 6–0 on aggregate and booked their place in the finals. The Turkish team started the 2002 World Cup with a 2–1 defeat against eventual winners Brazil. Turkey qualified from the group stage with a 3–0 win against China PR after drawing 1–1 with Costa Rica. Turkey then faced co-hosts Japan in the second round, winning 1–0. The Turkish team continued their run, as they beat Senegal 1–0 on a golden goal to book their place in the semi-finals, where a 1–0 defeat against eventual tournament winners Brazil forced them to play the third-place match. The Turks won the bronze medal after a 3–2 victory over co-hosts South Korea. Hakan Şükür scored Turkey's first goal in 10.8 seconds, despite the South Koreans kicking off first. It was the fastest goal in World Cup history.