Georgia – Turkey (2026 World Cup Qualifiers match summary)

The Turkish National Football Team is facing Georgia away in their first match of Group E in the 2026 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers. You can find all the details about the match on euromatch.news

The match is being played at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium in Tbilisi, kicking off at 19:00 local time, and is broadcast live on TV8.

Group format

The group winners will qualify directly for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted by USA, Mexico and Canada with 48 nations competing.

The qualifiers finish in November. Twelve group winners go straight to the World Cup, while the 12 runners-up will join four Nations League teams in the playoffs in March 2026 to fight for the remaining four spots.

Turkey squad for Georgia clash

Goalkeepers: Altay Bayindir, Berke Ozer, Mert Gunok, Ugurcan Cakir
Defenders: Abdulkerim Bardakci, Caglar Soyuncu, Eren Elmalı, Ferdi Kadioglu, Merih Demiral, Mert Muldur, Samet Akaydin, Yusuf Akcicek, Zeki Celik
Midfielders: Demir Ege Tiknaz, Hakan Calhanoglu, Ismail Yuksek, Kaan Ayhan, Orkun Kokcu, Salih Ozcan
Forwards: Arda Guler, Baris Alper Yilmaz, Can Uzun, Deniz Gul, Irfan Can Kahveci, Kenan Yildiz, Kerem Akturkoglu, Oguz Aydin, Yunus Akgun

Georgia – Turkey

Starting XIs

Georgia: Mamardashvili, Kakabadze, Goglichidze, Lochoshvili, Kashia, Kochorashvili, Mekvabishvili, Tsitaishvili, Davitashvili, Kvaratskhelia, Mikautadze

Turkey: Ugurcan, Mert, Merih, Abdulkerim, Eren, Ismail, Hakan, Arda, Yunus, Kerem, Kenan

LIVE Commentary | Georgia 0-2 Turkey

1′ Kick-off! Turkey get us underway with Kerem Akturkoglu’s first touch.

2′ Big chance! Yunus Akgun steals the ball from Mamardashvili’s poor pass and finds Arda Guler, who slips it into Kerem Akturkoglu inside the box. Kerem can’t quite connect and the Georgian keeper recovers.

⚽  |GOAL | 3′ Arda Guler whips in a corner, Mert Muldur rises highest and heads into the net! Turkey lead early!

Opta stat 02:29 – Mert Muldur’s strike is the earliest goal ever scored by Turkey in an away World Cup qualifier.

10′ So close to 2-0! Arda Guler’s shot inside the area is deflected wide for a corner.

21′ Ismail Yuksek is booked for a foul on Kvaratskhelia.

39′ Lochoshvili shown yellow for blocking Ugurcan Cakir’s kick.

40′ Another yellow! Kakabadze pulls back Kenan Yildiz and goes into the referee’s book.

⚽  |GOAL | 41′ Turkey double their lead! The ball falls kindly to Kerem Akturkoglu inside the area and he smashes it past Mamardashvili. Georgia 0-2 Turkey!

The first half is over.

Georgia – Turkey

At the start of the second half, Orkun Kokcu came on for İsmail Yuksek in the Turkish National Team.

⚽  | 52′ GOAL! Arda Guler played a pass to Yunus Akgun inside the box, Yunus squared it to the unmarked Kerem Akturkoglu, and the national star extended the lead to 3!

⚽ | 64′ GOAL! Georgia pull one back through Davitashvili, cutting the deficit to 2.

67′ Double change for Turkey: Yunus Akgun and Kerem Akturkoglu make way for Oguz Aydın and Barıs Alper Yılmaz.

🟥 | 70′ RED CARD! After a VAR review, Barıs Alper Yılmaz is sent off for his foul.

73′ Yellow card for Kochorashvili after a foul on Kenan Yıldız.

79′ Kenan Yıldız was substituted off, and Ferdi Kadıoglu came on.

84′ Arda Guler was substituted off, and İrfan Can Kahveci came on.

90′ Mikautadze received a yellow card for kicking the ball after the referee’s whistle.

⚽ GOAL | 90+8′ Kvaratskhelia reduced the deficit to one.

90+10′ Hakan Calhanoglu was shown a yellow card.

🏁  Match Result🏁 

The Turkish National Team started their 2026 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers Group E campaign with a 3-2 away victory against Georgia.
Next up, Turkey will host Spain in Konya on Sunday, September 7.