Turkey national under-21 football team

Turkey Under-21
Nickname(s)	Ümit Millî; (The Youth Team); Ay-Yıldızlılar; (The Crescent-Stars); Bizim Çocuklar; (Our Guys)
Association	Turkish Football Federation (TFF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Gökhan Gönül
Captain	Doğan Alemdar
Most caps	Nihat Kahveci (32)
Top scorer	Berkant Göktan (11)
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Turkey 3–1 Egypt ; (Ankara; 28 October 1950)
Biggest win
	Turkey 5–0 Austria ; (Istanbul; 15 November 1983)
Biggest defeat
	Germany 7–0 Turkey ; (Berlin; 25 October 1983)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2000)
Best result	Group stage

The Turkey national Under-21 football team (Turkish: Ümit Millî Futbol Takımı), also known as Turkey Under-21s or Turkey U-21s, is the Under-21 years of age team of the Turkey national football team.

History

This team is for Turkish players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year UEFA European Under-21 Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. Also in existence are teams for Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments), Under-19s and Under 17s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U-21s, senior side and again for the U-21s, as Oğuzhan Özyakup has done recently. It is also possible to play for one country at youth level and another at senior level (providing the player is eligible).

Competitive Record

Summer Olympics record

Olympic Games record
Year	Host	Round	Pos.	Pld.	W	D	L	GF	GA
1992	Barcelona
1996	Atlanta
2000	Sydney
2004	Athens
2008	Beijing
2012	London
2016	Rio de Janeiro
2020	Tokyo
2024	Paris
Total			0/9	0	0	0	0	0	0

UEFA European Under-21 Championship Record

Edition	Round	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
No host 1978	did not qualify
No host 1980
No host 1982
No host 1984
No host 1986
No host 1988
No host 1990
No host 1992
1994
1996
1998
2000	Group stage	3	0	0	3	2	11	-9
2002	did not qualify
2004
2006
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
2023
2025
2027	To be determined
Total	1/25	3	0	0	3	2	11	-9

UEFA Under-23 Qualification

#	Year	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	1972 UEFA European Under-23 Championship	6	0	3	3	0	8	-8
2	1974 UEFA European Under-23 Championship	2	0	0	2	1	4	-3
3	1976 UEFA European Under-23 Championship	2	1	0	1	2	4	-2
Total	3/3	10	1	3	6	3	16	-13

UEFA Under-21 Qualification

As of 2025

#	Year	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	1978 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	4	1	2	1	5	8	-3
2	1980 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	4	1	0	3	2	11	-9
3	1982 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	4	1	1	2	2	5	-3
4	1984 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	6	1	1	4	6	11	-5
5	1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	6	0	4	2	3	7	-4
6	1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	4	1	2	1	4	6	-2
7	1990 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	6	1	2	3	4	11	-7
8	1992 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	6	1	1	4	6	11	-5
9	1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	10	6	2	2	15	10	+5
10	1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	8	4	2	2	13	12	+1
11	1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	8	5	0	3	16	8	+8
12	2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	8	4	4	0	11	4	+7
13	2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	12	8	2	2	21	10	+11
14	2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	10	7	2	1	19	7	+12
15	2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	12	5	4	3	15	9	+6
16	2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	2	0	2	0	0	0	0
17	2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	10	7	1	2	19	8	+11
18	2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	10	5	1	4	13	11	+2
19	2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	8	5	0	3	13	7	+6
20	2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	8	4	1	3	16	11	+5
21	2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	8	3	2	3	7	8	-1
22	2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	10	5	2	3	14	10	+4
23	2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	10	4	1	5	15	18	-3
24	2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	8	2	2	4	7	11	-4
25	2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	10	4	1	5	21	15	+6
26	2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	26/26	192	85	42	65	267	219	+48

Toulon Tournament

2002 Toulon Tournament - 8th place
2004 Toulon Tournament - 7th place
2008 Toulon Tournament - 6th place
2012 Toulon Tournament - 2nd place
2018 Toulon Tournament - 3rd place

Results and fixtures

Win Draw Loss

2023

17 June International friendly	Turkey	1–0	Azerbaijan	Istanbul, Turkey
18:00 (19:00 TRT)	Destan 59' (pen.)			Stadium: Esenyurt Necmi Kadıoğlu Stadyumu Referee: Mehmet Türkmen (Turkey)

20 June International friendly	Turkey	4–1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Istanbul, Turkey
19:00 (20:00 TRT)	Ilinkovic 45' (own goal) Bayram 50' Yıldırım 80' (pen.)		Cavic 21'	Stadium: Eyüp Stadı Referee: Abdullah Buğra Taşkınsoy (Turkey)

8 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Republic of Ireland	3–2	Turkey	Cork, Ireland
20:30	Andrew Moran 56' Zak Gilsenan 87' (pen.) Aidomo Emakhu 90+6' Sean Roughan 90+9'	Report	Kenan Yıldız 22' (pen.) Cihan Çanak 76'	Stadium: Turners Cross Referee: Joonas Jaanovits (Estonia)

12 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Turkey	0–2	Italy	Adapazari, Turkey
18:30 (19:30 TRT)		Report	Miretti 45+3' Nasti 79'	Stadium: New Sakarya Atatürk Stadium Referee: Pierre Gaillouste (France)

13 October UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Turkey	5–0	San Marino	Istanbul, Turkey
	Destan 5', 37' Yardımcı 80', 82', 87'			Stadium: Ümraniye Municipality City Stadium Referee: Viktor Shimusik (Belarus)

17 October UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Latvia	2-1	Turkey	Jelgava, Latvia
	Vapne 25' Melnis 79'		Yardımcı 14'	Stadium: Zemgale Olympic Center

17 November International friendly	Turkey	1-1	Slovenia	Turkey, Istanbul
	Altunbaş 81'		Zeljkovic 66'	Stadium: Pendik Stadium

21 November UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Turkey	2-0	Norway	Alanya, Turkey
	Çanak 30' Yardımcı 64'			Stadium: Alanya Oba Stadium

2024

22 March International friendly	Turkey	2–1	Georgia	Alanya, Turkey
18:30 (20:30 TRT)	Kılıçsoy 16' Yıldırım 55' (pen.)		Abuashvili 58'	Stadium: Alanya Oba Stadium Referee: Fevzi Erdem Akbas (Turkey)

26 March 2024 (2024-03-26) 2025 Championship qual.	Italy	1–1	Turkey	Ferrara, Italy
18:15	Ghilardi 50'	Report	Kılıçsoy 90+1'	Stadium: Stadio Paolo Mazza Referee: Cesar Soto Grado (Spain)

3 June International friendly	Turkey	2–1	Scotland	Istanbul, Turkey
19:00 (20:30 TRT)	Yıldırım 25' Destan 45'		Conway 17'	Stadium: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Ukraine and Lithuania on 14 and 18 November 2025, respectively.^[3]

Caps and goals updated as of 8 June 2025, after the match against Albania.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Mehmet Erdoğan	(2004-07-04) 4 July 2004	0	0	Ankara Keçiörengücü SK
12	1GK	Deniz Ertaş	(2005-03-20) 20 March 2005	1	0	Konyaspor
23	1GK	Deniz Dilmen	(2005-06-05) 5 June 2005	0	0	Pendikspor

2	2DF	Ayberk Karapo	(2004-07-25) 25 July 2004	0	0	Manisa FK
3	2DF	Yusuf Akçiçek	(2006-01-05) 5 January 2006	0	0	Al Hilal SFC
4	2DF	Yiğit Efe Demir	(2004-08-02) 2 August 2004	5	0	Fenerbahçe SK
5	2DF	Yasin Özcan	(2006-04-20) 20 April 2006	0	0	RSC Anderlecht
13	2DF	Berkay Yılmaz	(2005-02-25) 25 February 2005	0	0	1. FC Nürnberg
15	2DF	Hamza Güreler	(2006-04-10) 10 April 2006	5	0	İstanbul Başakşehir
19	2DF	Furkan Demir	(2004-11-29) 29 November 2004	5	0	SK Rapid Wien
22	2DF	Mertcan Ayhan	(2006-09-08) 8 September 2006	0	0	FC Schalke 04

6	3MF	İsak Vural	(2006-05-28) 28 May 2006	0	0	Pisa SC
8	3MF	Eyüp Aydın	(2004-08-02) 2 August 2004	4	0	Samsunspor
14	3MF	Emre Demir	(2004-01-15) 15 January 2004	1	0	Sakaryaspor
16	3MF	Barış Kalaycı	(2005-08-30) 30 August 2005	0	0	Fatih Karagümrük
17	3MF	Demir Ege Tıknaz	(2004-08-17) 17 August 2004	0	0	Beşiktaş
20	3MF	Emirhan İlkhan	(2004-06-01) 1 June 2004	3	1	Torino FC
21	3MF	İzzet Çelik	(2004-06-20) 20 June 2004	0	0	Alanyaspor
21	3MF	Cihan Çanak	(2005-01-24) 24 January 2005	0	0	Trabzonspor
21	3MF	Başar Önal	(2004-07-06) 6 July 2004	0	0	NEC Nijmegen

10	4FW	Semih Kılıçsoy	(2005-08-15) 15 August 2005	6	5	Cagliari Calcio
11	4FW	Ali Habeșoğlu	(2004-07-29) 29 July 2004	2	0	Bodrum FK
7	4FW	Mustafa Erhan Hekimoğlu	(2007-04-22) 22 April 2007	2	1	Beşiktaş JK

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still eligible to represent.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up

^SEN = Player have been called up to the senior team.
^INJ = Not part of the current squad due to injury.

Player records

As of 3 June 2024

Most appearances

The following is the top 10 most capped under-21 players:

Rank	Name	Period	Caps	Goals
1	Berkant Göktan	1998–2001	29	10
1	Kemal Aslan	2000–2003	29	5
3	Serkan Aykut	1994–1997	24	12
	Erhan Albayrak	1998–2000	24	7
	Nihat Kahveci	1998–2000	24	1
	Feti Okuroğlu	1990–1993	24	0
7	Serhat Akın	2000–2002	23	12
7	Güngör Öztürk	1997–2000	23	2
9	Mehmet Topuz	2004–2005	22	2
	Hüseyin Çimşir	1998–2001	22	1
	Ravil Tagir	2019–present	22	1
	Metin Uzun	1990–1995	22	1
	Mehmet Nas	1998–2001	22	0
	Şenol Yavaş	1992–1995	22	0

Top goalscorers

The following is the top 10 under-21 players goalscorers

Rank	Player	Period	Goals	Caps	Ratio
1	Serhat Akın	2000–2002	12	23	0.52
1	Serkan Aykut	1994–1997	12	24	0.5
3	Tuncay Şanlı	2002–2003	10	14	0.71
3	Berkant Göktan	1998–2001	10	29	0.34
5	Oktay Derelioğlu	1994–1997	9	14	0.64
6	Halil Dervişoğlu	2018-2020	8	11	0.73
7	Bertuğ Yıldırım	2022-2024	7	11	0.64
7	Erhan Albayrak	1998-2000	7	24	0.29
9	Semih Kılıçsoy	2024-present	6	9	0.67
	Bülent Uygun	1992–1993	6	14	0.43
	Mustafa Özkan	1996–1997	6	15	0.4
	Emrah Başsan	2012-2015	6	17	0.35
	Enis Destan	2021-2024	6	21	0.29
	Semih Şentürk	2003-2005	6	21	0.29

Former squads

2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship squads – Turkey

Former players

Former Coaches

1957–1959: Şeref Görkey
1960–1962: Şeref Görkey
1976–1977: Candan Tarhan
1981–1982: Şeref Görkey
1984–1984: Yılmaz Gökdel
1990–1993: Fatih Terim
1993–1996: Erdoğan Arıca
1996–1998: Rıza Çalımbay
1998–2005: Raşit Çetiner
2005–2006: Reha Kapsal
2006–2006: Tolunay Kafkas
2006–2007: Ünal Karaman
2007–2008: Ümit Davala
2008–2010: Hami Mandıralı
2010–2012: Raşit Çetiner
2013–2018: Abdullah Ercan
2018–2018: Alpay Özalan
2018–2020: Vedat İnceefe
2020–2023: Tolunay Kafkas
2023–2024: Levent Sürme
2024–present Gökhan Gönül

Notes

References

^ "Türkiye sneak through as best third-placed team". UEFA. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
^ "Gökhan Gönül, Ümit Millî Takım'ın Yeni Teknik Direktörü Oldu". ttf.org. 2024-09-26. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
^ "Ümit Millî Takım'ın Ukrayna ve Litvanya Maçları Aday Kadrosu Açıklandı" (in Turkish). tff.org. 10 November 2025.

External links

Turkish Football Federation Site

[1] "Türkiye sneak through as best third-placed team". UEFA. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.

[2] "Gökhan Gönül, Ümit Millî Takım'ın Yeni Teknik Direktörü Oldu". ttf.org. 2024-09-26. Retrieved 2024-10-06.

[3] "Ümit Millî Takım'ın Ukrayna ve Litvanya Maçları Aday Kadrosu Açıklandı" (in Turkish). tff.org. 10 November 2025.

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