Turkey’s Coach Regrets Early Exit from 2026 World Cup: ‘Luck Was Not on Our Side’

Vincenzo Montella, the head coach of the Turkish national team, expressed his disappointment following his team’s early exit from the 2026 World Cup, emphasizing that bad luck played a significant role in their departure despite the players’ performance during the group stage.

Turkey suffered its second consecutive defeat in Group D, falling to Paraguay with a score of 1-0 in the second round, which left them at the bottom of the group and eliminated from the competition early.

After the match, Montella remarked that what happened to his team is a rare occurrence in football, noting that losing two consecutive matches in such a manner is not something that happens often.

He stated, “I have been working in football for 35 years, and what happened to us is exceptional; it is rare to lose two matches in a row like this. Luck was not on our side.”.

Montella expressed full support for his players, stressing that he holds no negative feelings towards them. He added that the team performed admirably in both matches despite the final results.

He explained: “I have no blame towards the players; everyone gave their all and fought until the last moment. What I witnessed in terms of commitment, effort, and determination was exceptional.”.

The coach pointed out that statistics reflect Turkey’s struggles in front of goal, revealing that the team attempted dozens of shots without finding the net.

Strange Cases in World Cup History

Turkey’s participation in this tournament witnessed one of the strangest occurrences in World Cup history as they failed to score despite taking 62 shots during their first two matches, including 30 attempts against Australia and 32 against Paraguay.

This statistic makes Turkey the first team in World Cup history to fail to score after 62 attempts—marking the highest number of attempts without scoring across two consecutive matches in tournament history.

The remarkable statistics did not end there; Turkey had a possession rate of 76% during both matches, clearly indicating their field dominance. However, they completely lacked offensive effectiveness, dashing their hopes of advancing further in their first World Cup appearance after years of absence.

Historic Achievement for Paraguay

Conversely, Paraguay secured a valuable win with minimal chances, scoring from just seven shots taken during the match, including two on target.

Paraguay also etched its name into tournament records by becoming only the second team in World Cup history to win a match while playing with ten men for a full 45 minutes since Belgium achieved this feat against South Korea in 2014.

The Turkish national team now faces a new phase of reassessment and rebuilding as they aim to learn from this current experience and work towards returning stronger for future tournaments after an agonizing exit that left many questions despite favorable performances and statistics.