Our Euro 2024 Fantasy team previews continue apace with Turkey.
The Crescent Stars arrived at the previous edition of the European Championship as dark horses but crashed out in the group stage. They also missed out on the World Cup in Qatar.
However, they have reason to be optimistic under Vincenzo Montella, who took charge in September last year.
In these country-by-country guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each nation, taking a stab at predicted line-ups, reviewing the road to Germany and more.
To do this, we’ll be calling on the help of correspondents from each nation.
Here, we hear from Fantasy Football Scout user Aziz Can Demiray (aka wakenbagel).
A recent addition to these team previews is a Premium Members section detailing the official Opta data from Euro ’24 qualification. This data has just arrived in our Members Area, so sign up today to gain access to the all-important stats you need for this summer’s Euro Fantasy game.
All prices given are from the official Fantasy Euro 2024 game.
THE ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turkey | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 17 |
| 2 | Croatia | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 16 |
| 3 | Wales | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | Armenia | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 8 |
| 5 | Latvia | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 19 | -14 | 3 |
Turkey topped a tricky qualifying group ahead of World Cup semi-finalists Croatia, Wales, Armenia and Latvia.
After a difficult start which led to Stefan Kuntz’s dismissal, new head coach Vincenzo Montella guided his team to an important 1-0 away win in Croatia. They followed it up with a 4-0 victory over Latvia, a result which saw them qualify with one game to spare.
Overall, Turkey won five and drew two of their eight fixtures, with their only defeat coming courtesy of Croatia in March 2023.
Galatasaray’s Kerem Akturkoglu (€7.0m) performed well during qualifying, but only scored twice against Armenia and Latvia. And that’s part of the problem – 13 different goalscorers netted Turkey’s 14 goals.
However, Hakan Calhanoglu (€6.5m) is still worth keeping an eye on, having just won the Scudetto at Inter Milan. Despite failing to score or assist during qualifying, he was Turkey’s creator-in-chief, as below.
QUALIFICATION IN NUMBERS
- Most starts: Kerem Akturkoglu, Hakan Calhanoglu, Ferdi Kadioglu (7)
- Most goals: Kerem Akturkoglu, Cenk Tosun (2)
- Most assists: Orkun Kokcu, Baris Alper Yilmaz (2)
- Clean sheets: 3 from 8
UNDERLYING STATS
RECORD SINCE QUALIFYING
| Date | Competition | Opposition | Result | Score | Goalscorers | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 March | Friendly | Hungary (a) | L | 0-1 | ||
| 26 March | Friendly | Austria (a) | L | 1-6 | Calhanoglu (pen) | |
| 4 June | Friendly | Italy (a) | D | 0-0 |
A 3-2 friendly win over Germany in November offered encouragement to Turkey, but March defeats to Hungary and Austria have tempered expectation.
The 6-1 loss in Austria was particularly humiliating. The Crescent-Stars trailed 2-1 at half-time before conceding four more goals after the break, two of which were penalties.
However, they did at least rediscover some of the defensive solidity witnessed in qualifying earlier this week, when they played out a 0-0 draw in Italy.
In a match of few chances, they restricted their opponent to just two shots on target.
MOST RECENT INTERNATIONAL LINE-UPS
04/06/2024 – Italy (a)
(4-2-3-1): Bayindir; Celik (Ozkacar 66), Kabak (Demiral 42), Bardakci, Muldur; Calhanoglu, Ayhan (Ozdemir 67); Aydin (Omur 46), Yazici (Kokcu 55), Yildiz; Yilmaz (Kilicsoy 82)
UPCOMING FIXTURES
| Date | Competition | Opposition |
|---|---|---|
| 10 June | Friendly | Poland (a) |
GROUP FIXTURES
- 18 June: Georgia
- 22 June: Portugal
- 26 June: Czech Republic
HOW FAR WILL THEY GET?
