Turkey has a footballing tradition that has been bad. In World Cup competition Turkey has qualified three times for the 1950, 1954, and 2002 editions. Turkey failed to make an appearance for the 1950 World Cup because they withdrew.
Turkey made it to the semi-finals during the UEFA Euro 2008, but then lost to Germany.
↑Since the Republic was not formally declared by the time of the event, the game was played between Romania and TFF. The city also was not consistently known as Istanbul in the English speaking world until 1930
↑Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.