İlayda Cansu Kara (born 28 April 2005) is a Turkish

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

defender who plays in the

Turkish Women's Football Super League The Women's Football Super League, also known as the Turkcell Women's Football Super League () for sponsorship reasons, is the top level women's Association football, football league of Turkey. In the 2024–25 Turkish Women's Football Super Leagu ...

for Fenerbahçe S.K. She was part of the girls' national U-17 and women's national U-19 teams. She is a member of the Turkey women's team.

Early years in sport

Kara started performing

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

already in the first grade of her primary school. The next year, she switched over to football after one day she returned home crying. She accompanied her football coach father to trainings. On 15 April 2015, she obtained her license from Körfez Bld. Hereke Yıldızspor, which her father was coaching. She joined the local club Harb-İş Spor, and later moved to Kocaeli Bayan FK in 2017, where she was a member of the youth team until 2021 without having a chance to be promoted to the A-team.

Club career

On 22 September 2021, Kara signed a deal with the newly established

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

-based club Fenerbahçe S.K. to play in the

2021-22 Turkish Women's Football Super League Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

season. Her team reached the semi-finals in the 2021–22 season, and became the runners-up in the 2022-23 Super League season. The center-back player is left-footed.

International career

Turkey girls' U-17

Kara played for the first time for Turkey girls' U-17 team in the friendly match on 21 November 2019 against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. She played in seven matches, among them three at the 2022 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification.

Turkey womem's U-19

On 14 September 2022, she debuted in the Turkey women's U-19 team in the friendly match against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. She participated in six matches at the 2023 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship qualification and in two games at the 2024 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship qualification. She scored four goals in a total of fifteen matches.

Turkey women's

Kara was selected to the Turkey women's national team for the first time in July 2023. In 2024, she was called up again to play at the

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying League B League B of UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying was the second division of qualifying for UEFA Women's Euro 2025, the international football competition involving the women's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The results were also ...

matches.

Career statistics

Personal life

İlayda Cansu Kara was born to Gülşen and Bülent Ecevit Kara in Derince, Kocaeli, Turkey on 28 April 2005. Her father is a former footballer, and works as the head coach of the local football club Hereke Yıldızspor. She has a four-year-older sister, Göksu, and a four-year-younges brother, Kerem. She graduated from the Merter Final Schools in

, to which she had transferred from her hometown in the 11th grade, when she joined Fenerbahçe S.K. She is a student in the School of Physical Education and Sports at Fenerbahçe University.

Honours

;

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

:; Fenerbahçe S.K. :: ''Runners-up'' (1): 2022-23,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kara, Ilayda Cansu 2005 births Living people People from Derince Sportspeople from Kocaeli Province Sportspeople from İzmit Turkish women's footballers Women's association football defenders 21st-century Turkish sportswomen Turkey women's youth international footballers Turkey women's international footballers Turkish Women's Football Super League players Kocaeli Bayan FK players Fenerbahçe S.K. (women's football) players