Football

Turkey has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades. Football has seen a rapid transformation earning it third place in the coveted 2002 FIFA World Cup. Its domestic teams are dominated by Trabzonspor, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş. Of these, Fenerbahçe’s European triumph came in the now defunct 1967 Balkans Cup. Galatasaray has seen the most success, winning the 2000 UEFA Cup and European Super Cup, as well as fielding many of the players for the international team. In recent years, Turkey has exported many of its players into top foreign teams including Inter Milan, Barcelona, Parma, AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen, among others. As well as sending players abroad, the Turkish league has also attracted players into Turkey. World class players such as Gheorghe Hagi, Ariel Ortega, Cláudio Taffarel, Pierre Van Hooijdonk, Gheorghe Popescu, Mario Jardel, Nicolas Anelka, John Carew, Harald ‘Toni’ Schumacher, Falko Götz, Radomir Antić, Oscar Cordoba, Lincoln, Hakan Şükür, Mateja Kežman, Kleberson, Ricardinho, Roberto Carlos da Silva, Zoran Simovic, Frank De Boer, Rigobert Song and many more have played at some point, or continue to play in Turkey.