Turkish Football Federation (TFF) chief İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu defended the national team and head coach Vincenzo Montella on June 22 after Türkiye was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup following consecutive group-stage defeats.
“Let’s not forget that it’s our players who brought us this far. Most of them are young. These players will carry us to future tournaments. We need to support our players,” he told reporters before training in Arizona.
Hacıosmanoğlu also dismissed speculation surrounding Montella’s future, saying the federation remained committed to continuity.
“We will stand by our coach. This isn’t a club team. Clubs fail because there’s a lack of continuity,” he said. “For the last two days, they’ve been writing about potential coaches. We won’t replace those we’ve worked with along the way with those we find along the way.”
The TFF head argued that results did not fully reflect the team’s performances, saying Türkiye had played well despite failing to convert chances.
“You can criticize the coach technically, but the ball that went near the post was in the middle. If Merih [Demiral]’s shot at the last moment had gone in, we would be talking about different things today,” he said. “This team took 65 shots in two matches. Did they play badly?”
Türkiye’s World Cup campaign ended after a 1-0 loss to Paraguay in its second Group D match, following an opening 2-0 defeat to Australia.
Meanwhile, the United States secured first place with a 2-0 victory over Australia.
