It is a number that tells the story of an entire tournament in one brutal statistic. Sixty-two shots. Zero goals. Turkey have been eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup and they leave behind a record that no team in the history of the competition has ever had the misfortune of owning.
Turkey fired 62 shots across their opening two group-stage matches in a 2-0 loss to Australia and a 1-0 defeat to Paraguay without finding the back of the net once. It is a record that goes all the way back to 1966, when World Cup statistics were first recorded as no team across those six decades has ever attempted more shots in their first two matches without scoring a single goal.
The numbers are almost impossible to comprehend. Against Australia in Vancouver, Turkey registered 30 shots and became the first team to take 30 or more shots in a single World Cup match without scoring and still walked away with nothing after goals from teenage winger Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe handed the Socceroos a shock 2-0 win. Against Paraguay in San Francisco, they piled on a further 32, with five shots on target and an xG value of 2.12 and 50 touches in the opposition box - yet Matias Galarza's goal, scored 65 seconds into the match in the fastest strike of the tournament, proved the only one that mattered.
The cruel irony is that Turkey were considered one of the dark horses of this World Cup. Arda Guler, the Real Madrid playmaker who turned heads at Euro 2024, arrived in North America carrying the weight of a nation's expectations. He produced moments of individual brilliance in both matches. None of them resulted in a goal.
Coach Vincenzo Montella , who was himself booked on the touchline against Paraguay, cut a devastated figure after the final whistle. "I'm sad, but also very proud of my players. They gave their all until the final whistle. Football is like that sometimes," he said.
Turkey had waited 24 years to return to the World Cup stage since their last appearance was the iconic 2002 campaign in South Korea and Japan, where they finished third. They bow out in 2026 having played 180 minutes, created chance after chance, and scored absolutely nothing. The record is theirs. They will not want.
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