Football is the most popular sport in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, followed by basketball, tracing its roots to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. The first matches were played in Ottoman

Salonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

in 1875. The sport was introduced by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

residents. The

Turkish football league system The Turkish football system is divided into the following leagues. Men Süper Lig Süper Lig is the highest level in the Turkish football league system and is operated by the TFF. Other professional divisions TFF 1. Lig, is the second highes ...

comprises five professional leagues, one of which is dedicated to female athletes.

History

Turkey's first football league was established as the

Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League ( tr, İstanbul Futbol Ligi) was founded as a regional football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Emp ...

in 1904. Regional football leagues were founded in many other cities such as

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart of Cilicia, wh ...

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...

, and

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

. Before the introduction of the professional nationwide league, known as

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

today, there were two top-level national championships: the former

Turkish Football Championship The Turkish Football Championship ( tr, Türkiye Futbol Şampiyonası) was a top-level football competition in Turkey. It was the first nationwide championship in Turkish football history. The championship was organised by the Turkish Football Fed ...

and National Division. Fenerbahçe dominated Turkish football in those decades, having won three Turkish Championship titles and six National Division titles, both of them records. They were replaced by the Süper Lig in 1959.

League system

Süper Lig

The

(Super League) is the top division in Turkey since 1959. The league contains 18 clubs. The champions used to receive an automatic berth in the group stage of the

European Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competiti ...

until the 2020/2021 season.

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş, and

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

are the most successful Turkish clubs that participate in the competition, having won the most titles so far. Galatasaray have won the highest number of Süper Lig trophies (the club won more Süper Lig and Turkish Cup trophies than any other team), while Fenerbahçe have won the most Turkish championship titles in total to date. However, the Turkish Football Federation denies and does not recognise the titles won in the former

and National Division, even though they were official championships organised by the TFF itself. The league ushered in clubs from all over Turkey to compete with each other. Currently, clubs finishing in the top four places in the league enter qualifying rounds of European competitions, and the winners of the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupas� ...

, if not one of the top four, are also given a spot. The three teams with the fewest points each season are relegated to the

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...

. The top two teams are nominated for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

while the 3rd and 4th placed clubs are nominated for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

Reserve leagues

Clubs in the Turkish football league system do not have reserve teams with the exception of Genclerbirligi and Altinordu. Hacettepe SK is the reserve side of Genclerbirligi, and Nigde Anadolu FK is of Altinordu. Other clubs have U21 and U18 teams which compete outside the main league system.

Amateur football

Below the four professional leagues in Turkish football are amateur leagues. Amateur football clubs include: * Seniors’ First Amateur League: 2145 clubs * Seniors’ Second Amateur League: 1743 clubs * Seniors’ Third Amateur League: 1 club * Women’s League: 9 clubs * Juniors’ First Amateur League: 27 clubs * Juniors’ Second Amateur League: 100 clubs * Juniorslubs **

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

: 10 clubs ** Bursa: 16 clubs **

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

: 18 clubs **

: 12 clubs **

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...

: 7 clubs **

: 13 clubs **

Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The cit ...

: 10 clubs Amateur clubs are put into leagues included in the Amateur League system and are eligible for promotion to the

Turkish Third League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and m ...

Cup competitions

The two major cup competitions are the

and

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known ...

. The Turkish Cup includes clubs from every division. The Super Cup is an annual match held between the winners of the Süper Lig and Turkish Cup. Now-defunct Turkish cup competitions include the

Prime Minister's Cup The Prime Minister's Cup ( tr, Başbakanlık Kupası) was a association football, football competition organised by the Turkish Football Federation in Turkey. It began in 1944 and continued until 1950 as a unique kind of super cup competition bet ...

Atatürk Cup The Atatürk Cup was a football competition in Turkey. The first edition was played between the winners of the Prime Minister's Cup and the Presidential Cup in 1998 to memorialize the 60th anniversary of Atatürk's death. Fenerbahçe defeated Beş ...

Istanbul Football Cup The Istanbul Football Cup ( tr, İstanbul Futbol Kupası) was a football competition for Istanbul clubs in Turkey. The cup replaced the Istanbul Shield in 1942 and lasted until 1947. The final match between Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe was cancelle ...

and Spor Toto Cup.

Qualification for European competitions

In addition, once in a European competition, it becomes possible to qualify for others: * All the losers of the Champions League third qualifying round go forward to the UEFA Europa League Play-off round * All the losers of the Champions League play-off round go forward to the UEFA Europa League group stage * Any clubs playing in the Champions League that finish third in the group stage go into the UEFA Europa League round of 32

European Competition Records

The following teams have made the last eight of European competitions:

UEFA Super Cup

( 2000 – Champions)

European Cup / UEFA Champions League

( 1988–89 – Semi-finals) *

( 1962–63 – Quarter-finals) *

( 1969–70 – Quarter-finals) * Besiktaş ( 1986–87 – Quarter-finals) *

( 1993–94 – Group stage)^‡ *

( 2000–01 – Quarter-finals) * Fenerbahçe ( 2007–08 – Quarter-finals) *

( 2010-11 – Group stage) (*Fenerbahçe excluded due to matchfixing scandal) *

( 2012–13 – Quarter-finals) ^{‡ Galatasaray was one of the eight teams in the group stage of the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, however, UEFA does not consider this a quarter-final participation.}

UEFA Cup / Europa League

( 1999–00 – Champions) * Fenerbahçe ( 2012–13 – Semi-finals) * Besiktaş ( 2002–03 – Quarter-finals) * Besiktaş ( 2016–17 – Quarter-finals)

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

* Göztepe ( 1968–69 – Semi-finals)

Balkans Cup

* Fenerbahçe ( 1966–67 – Champions) * Sarıyerspor ( 1991–92 – Champions) *

Samsunspor Samsunspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Samsun. The club was formed through a merger of five clubs: 19 Mayıs, Akınspor, Fener Gençlik, Samsunspor, and Samsunspor Galatasaray.1993–94 – Champions) *

Eskişehirspor Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Eskisehirspor has a total of six trophies, making them the sixth most trophies holders in Turkey. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top division ...

( 1975 – Runners-up)

UEFA Cup Winners Cup

* Fenerbahçe ( 1963–64 – Quarter-finals) * Göztepe ( 1969–70 – Quarter-finals) *

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In t ...

( 1974–75 – Quarter-finals) *

( 1991–92 – Quarter-finals)

UEFA Intertoto Cup

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fi ...

( 2006 – Joint Winners) *

( 2007 – Runners-up) *

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...

( 2008 – Runners-up) *

İstanbulspor İstanbulspor is a Turkish football and sports club founded by Istanbul High School students in 1926. In 2004–05 they were relegated from the Turkish Süper Lig (Super League) to TFF 1. Lig. For many decades it was the fourth most famous and ...

( 1997 – Semi-finals) *

( 1999 – Semi-finals) *

( 1995 – Quarter-finals)

Turkey national team

The Turkey national team made its debut on October 26, 1923. The match ended in a 2–2 draw against the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Turkey have qualified for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

twice: 1954 and 2002. Their longest duration of competing for the Cup was coming third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Turkey also finished third in the

2003 Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vi ...

, reached the semi-finals of

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

and played in the quarter-finals of

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Women's football

Stadiums

Records

Seasons

Notes

External links

TurkishFootballNews.com - your source for the latest in Turkish football

Turkish soccer live scores and newa and blog by Ahmet Bob Turgut

All of results in Turkish Football

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