Turkey Announces Final 23-Man Squad for Crucial World Cup Playoff Against Romania
The Turkish National Football Team has finalized its 23-man squad for the pivotal World Cup playoff semi-final against Romania. Six players have been removed from the initial candidate list as the team prepares for this crucial match, which will capture place at Beşiktaş Park in Istanbul on Thursday, March 26, 2026.
The players removed from the squad are Zeki Çelik, Merih Demiral, Ahmetcan Kaplan, Muhammed Şengezer, Mustafa Eskihellaç, and Semih Kılıçsoy. Aral Şimşir was previously ruled out due to injury haberler.com.
Squad Breakdown
Goalkeepers: Altay Bayındır, Mert Günok, Uğurcan Çakır
Defense: Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Eren Elmalı, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Mert Müldür, Ozan Kabak, Samet Akaydin
Midfield: Atakan Karazor, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, İsmail Yüksek, Kaan Ayhan, Orkun Kökçü, Salih Özcan
Forwards: Arda Güler, Barış Alper Yılmaz, Deniz Gül, İrfan Can Kahveci, Kenan Yıldız, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, Oğuz Aydın, Yunus Akgün
Match Details
The match between Turkey and Romania is scheduled for 8:00 PM local time (20:00) at Beşiktaş Stadium. It will be broadcast live on TV8 and the Exxen platform haberler.com. A victory for Turkey would see them advance to the playoff final, where they would face the winner of the Slovakia-Kosovo match away on Tuesday, March 31 informat.ro.
Team Comparison
The market value of the Turkish national team is 453.20 million €, significantly higher than Romania’s 104.05 million € haberler.com. Vincenzo Montella manages the Turkish team, whereas Mircea Lucescu leads Romania haberler.com.
Romania’s Path to the Playoffs
Romania secured their place in the playoffs through their performance in the UEFA Nations League, after failing to directly qualify through the group stage beinsports.com.