Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 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 highest ...

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 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 agglo ...

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, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

, Eskişehir, Edirne, 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 Bl ...

. 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 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 until the 2020/2021 season. Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe,

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

, 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 Turkish Football Championship 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 Kupası ...

, 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. It ...

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 Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

: 10 clubs **

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

: 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: 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 mi ...

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 a ...

. 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,

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 The Istanbul Shield ( tr, İstanbul Şildi) was a football tournament for Istanbul clubs in Tu ...

and

Spor Toto Cup The Spor Toto Cup was a league cup 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 Ana ...

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

* Galatasaray (

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

– Champions)

European Cup / UEFA Champions League

* Galatasaray ( 1988–89 – Semi-finals) * Galatasaray ( 1962–63 – Quarter-finals) * Galatasaray ( 1969–70 – Quarter-finals) * Besiktaş ( 1986–87 – Quarter-finals) * Galatasaray ( 1993–94 – Group stage)^‡ * Galatasaray ( 2000–01 – Quarter-finals) * Fenerbahçe ( 2007–08 – Quarter-finals) *

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

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

– Quarter-finals) ^{‡ Galatasaray was one of the eight teams in the group stage of the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League

The 1993–94 UEFA Champions League was the 39th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club football tournament, and the second season with the UEFA Champions League logo (it was adopted in the group stage and semi-finals, the rest o ...
, however, UEFA does not consider this a quarter-final participation.}

UEFA Cup / Europa League

* Galatasaray ( 1999–00 – Champions) * Fenerbahçe (

– 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 ( 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 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

– 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 th ...

( 1974–75 – Quarter-finals) * Galatasaray ( 1991–92 – Quarter-finals)

UEFA Intertoto Cup

* Kayserispor (

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

– Joint Winners) *

(

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

– Runners-up) * Sivasspor (

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

– 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 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

– Semi-finals) * Samsunspor (

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

– Semi-finals) *

(

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

– Semi-finals) *

(

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

– 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 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. 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 and played in the quarter-finals of Euro 2000.

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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