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The Republic of Turkey is a Middle Eastern country that has a long history of
playing international football. It has a national football team that is
controlled by the Turkish Football Federation (Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu), the
country's official football governing body which is affiliated with UEFA.
The Turkey national football team has a long association with the FIFA
World Cup, having entered the competition for the first time in 1934. That year
the team withdrew during qualifying and it wasn't until the 1954 World Cup that
Turkey made some progress, when it made it through to the first round.
Although the Turkish national team was put in a group with West Germany, South
Korea and Hungary, it never actually got to play Hungary due to the tournament's
format at the time. Turkey lost by 4-1 to West Germany, but went on to trounce
South Korea by 7-0. However, Turkey's loss to West Germany in a play-off by 7-2
ensured the country's exit from the competition.
The following World Cup saw the Turkey national football team once again
withdraw during qualifying and it failed to qualify for the next 10 World Cups.
However, the team notched up its best result to date in the 2002 World Cup,
where it finished third behind Germany and ultimate victors, Brazil.
The top goal scorers over the years for the Turkish national football team
include Hakan Şükür, Lefter Küçükandonyadis, Metin Oktay, Cemil Turan, Tuncay
Şanlı, Nihat Kahveci, Zeki Rıza Sporel, Arif Erdem and Ertuğrul Sağlam.
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