Turkey EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 29 Feb 2020 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 4 minutes

Turkey is approaching Euro 2020 in a state of change, qualifying from Group H in the qualifiers with only one defeat, but was relegated from Group B in the League of Nations. After the departure of Romanian legend Mircea Lucescu in early 2019, Senol Gunes returned to his coaching post for the second time after glorifying the nation with third place at the 2002 World Cup.

Can Turkey win medals again from a major international tournament - see our review and expectations for the team.

Turkey European Championships - History and successes

Turkey will participate in the European finals for the fifth time in its history. After being eliminated in the group stage 5 years ago at the championship in France, now the Turkish team will pursue a better performance and why not repeat its record ranking in the tournament in the semifinals in 2008. In addition, Turkey reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2000. In its first place in the Old Continent Championship - in 1996, Turkey was eliminated in the group stage.

The Road to Euro 2020

It was a very encouraging qualifying campaign for Turkey, as they lost only once (2-1 against Iceland) and recorded seven victories, including a 2:0 triumph over the world champions France, which turned out to be far from a coincidence, as they took a point in the second match in Paris. These results ensured that the team would play directly in Euro 2020 without playoffs, as it finished second in Group H, four points ahead of Iceland. Thus, the Turks qualified for consecutive European championships for the first time since reaching England in '96 and Euro 2000.

Euro 2020 fixtures

Turkey is in Group A of Euro 2020 with the teams of Italy, Switzerland, and Wales.

• June 11, 9:00 pm: Turkey - Italy / Olympic Stadium, Rome /
• June 16, 6:00 pm: Turkey - Wales / Olympic Stadium, Baku /
• June 20, 6:00 pm: Switzerland - Turkey / Olympic Stadium, Baku /

Turkey squad for the European Football Championship 2020

There are many new faces in the Turkish team compared to the last participation in the European finals. Young players such as Caglar Soyuncu, Ozan Kabak, Mert Muldur, Orkun Kokcu, and Cengiz Under will hope to unleash their potential at Euro 2020. Turkey has two very experienced strikers in the form of Cenk Tosun and Burak Yilmaz, as well as young talent Enes Unal, who plays for the Spanish Getafe. In the middle of the field, we can distinguish Cengiz Under, Ozan Tufan, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Okay Yokuslu. In defense, the Turks will rely on the talent of Caglar Soyuncu, who is the new star in the defense of Leicester City. The experienced Caner Erkin, Ozan Kabak, and Mert Muldur are other class defenders of Turkey. Senol Gunes can choose for the position of the goalkeeper between Mert Günok and Ugurcan Cakir.

Goalkeepers: Mert Gunok (Istanbul Basaksehir), Ugurcan Cakir (Trabzonspor), Altay Bayindir (Fenerbahce)
Defenders: Kaan Ayhan (Sassuolo), Caglar Soyuncu (Leicester City), Merih Demiral (Juventus), Zeki Celik (Lille), Umut Meras (Le Havre), Ozan Kabak (Liverpool), Ridvan Yilmaz (Beşiktaş), Mert Muldur (Sassuolo)
Midfielders: Abdülkadir Ömür (Trabzonspor), Cengiz Ünder (Leicester), Hakan Calhanoglu (AC Milan), Okay Yokuslu (West Bromwich Albion), Yusuf Yazici (Lille), Irfan Kahveci (Fenerbahce), Dorukhan Tokoz (Besiktas), Orkun Kokcu (Feyenoord), Taylan Antalyalı (Galatasaray)
Forwards: Burak Yilmaz (Lille), Halil İbrahim Dervişoğlu (Galatasaray), Kenan Karaman (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Enes Unal (Getafe), Kerem Aktürkoğlu (Galatasaray)

Source: www.zimbio.com

The Big Star: Hakan Calhanoglu

At the moment, it is difficult to find a player with more influence over the club and his country than Hakan Calhanoglu. The glamorous playmaker has been harassing the Serie A team's defense all season, amassing an impressive eight assists and inviting Milan fans to dream of the Scudetto again at some point in the season. Things went wrong for the Rossoneri, but Calhanoglu plays at a very high level and is in the top 3 of Milan's strongest players. For the national team, he has recorded 55 games and has 13 goals by April 2021. Calhanoglu will be the midfielder for Turkey at Euro 2020 and will be perhaps the most important player for the country of the championship.

Expectations for Turkey at Euro 2020

Turkey will enter Euro 2020 with confidence, given their rather brilliant qualifying campaign. They remained undefeated against the world champions France, including the aforementioned 2:0 victory. In addition, the team recorded strong results in early 2021 in the world qualifiers. Our personal view is that each team in the group of Turkey can go through the elimination phase. Maybe the team of trainer Senol Gunes will continue as 3rd team in the group, but we don't expect Turkey to play in the quarter-finals of the European finals this summer. 

Odds for Turkey

We think that group A is very balanced. Bookmakers give Turkey a modest chance to win Euro 2020 and this is understandable given the class of so many teams in the tournament. They are giving a very low probability to win the group and go through the 1/8 finals. Here are the current odds for the Calhanoglu and Co:

To win Euro 2020	51.00
To win Group A	5.50