When the Turkish Football Federation decided to part ways with national coach Stefan Kuntz last month following Turkiye’s laboured 1-1 home qualifier draw against lowly Armenia followed by a 4-2 defeat by Japan in a friendly, eyebrows were raised. How sensible was it to bring in a new manager mid-Euro 2024 campaign?
Days later, TFF announced former Roma and Italy striker and latterly Adanaspor’s manager Vincenzo Montella as Kuntz’s replacement. Montella’s brief was simple: to get Turkiye to the finals of Euro 2024 in Germany and he has delivered at the first time of asking.
On Tuesday night, in front of a raucous and jubilant home crowd in Konya, Turkiye booked their place at the finals of Euro 2024 by thumping Latvia 4-0. All four goals came in the second half courtesy of Yunus Akgün (59′), a brace from Cenk Tosun (85′ and 90+3′), and Kerem Aktürkoglu (89′).
The result followed a brilliant 0-1 away win against their big Group D rivals Croatia. Barış Alper Yılmaz scored the winning goal in the match in the thirtieth minute goal.
That win, coupled with Tuesday’s result, left Turkiye heading Group D with 16 points and one game to go in November. UEFA tournament rules means Turkiye’s place in Germany next summer is assured.
Avrupa Şampiyonasındayız, bekle bizi Almanya! #EURO2024 #BizimÇocuklar 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/lViJge2E2v
— Türkiye #BizimÇocuklar 🇹🇷 (@MilliTakimlar) October 15, 2023
The remaining qualifying place in Group D will be between Croatia and Wales. Rob Page’s men beat the Croats 2-1 in Cardiff on Tuesday night to keep their European dreams alive. Both teams are joint second on 10 points, with two games each left to play.
Elsewhere, Scotland and England also secured their places to the Euro 2024 finals. England dispatched reigning champions Italy 3-1 at Wembley on Tuesday night to top their group, while Scotland qualified despite losing 2-0 to Spain last Thursday, due to results elsewhere in the group.
Although they are out of the running, Azerbaijan picked up their first win of their Euro 2024 qualifiers, beating Estonia 0-2 away from home.
Northern Ireland lost one and won one but remain second bottom of their group H and are also out of contention for Euro 2024.
Who has qualified for UEFA Euro 2024?
There are a total of 24 places up for grabs for the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany next summer. Following this round of qualifiers, Turkiye joins eight other teams who have now booked their place at the Euro 2024 finals.
Germany (hosts)
Belgium
France
Portugal
Spain
Scotland
Turkiye
Austria
England
The remaining places will be determined following the final round of qualifying games in November, with the draw for the Euro 2024 finals to take place on Saturday, 2 December 2023.
October 2023 Results
Thursday 12 October
Spain 2 v 0 Scotland (Group A)
Croatia 0 v 1 Turkiye (Group D)
Friday 13 October
Estonia 0 v 2 Azerbaijan (Group F)
International Friendlies
England 1 v 0 Australia
Saturday 14 October
Northern Ireland 3 v 0 San Marino (Group H)
Sunday 15 October
Turkiye 4 v 0 Latvia (Group D)
Wales 2 v 1 Croatia (Group D)
Monday 16 October
Azerbaijan 0 v 1 Austria (Group F)
Tuesday 17 October
England 3 v 1 Italy (Group C)
Northern Ireland 0 v 1 Slovenia (Group H)
International Friendlies
France 4 v 1 Scotland
