The Turkish Football Federation has appointed Sergen Yalçın as the new head coach of the national team. The announcement was made on Tuesday, with Yalçın succeeding Vincenzo Montella.

Montella was dismissed after Türkiye were eliminated in the World Cup group stage and made a poor start to their UEFA Nations League campaign. The team lost all four of their Nations League matches. Among those results was a 3-1 defeat to Italy on 5 October. With zero points from the last four games, the team is in a difficult position in the Nations League standings. It was recorded that the team played a total of 540 minutes across these four matches, scoring only 2 goals in that time.

Yalçın said the role was a source of pride and happiness for him. "This duty is a very important one. The crescent and star are above everything. It is a position every coach wants to reach." he said.

YALÇIN'S CAREER

The Istanbul-born manager began his professional playing career at Beşiktaş in 1991. After also playing for Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor, he returned to Beşiktaş in 2002. He earned caps for the national team between 1993 and 2003.

Yalçın began his coaching career in Beşiktaş's youth setup before managing Gaziantepspor, Sivasspor, Kayserispor, Konyaspor, Alanyaspor and Yeni Malatyaspor. He took charge of Beşiktaş in January 2020, winning the Super Lig and Turkish Cup in the 2020-21 season. His second spell at the club ran from August 2025 to May 2026.

THE FIRST TEST AHEAD

Sergen Yalçın's first official match in charge of the national team will be against Belgium on Friday, 12 November 2026. This is the team's first fixture on the upcoming schedule. Türkiye lost all four of their Nations League matches in September and October, suffering defeats to France, Italy (twice) and Belgium. The match against Belgium, Yalçın's first test, is the first of the team's final two Nations League games. This fixture will be followed by the group finale against France on Monday, 16 November 2026. The length and other terms of Yalçın's contract have not yet been disclosed.

This story first appeared at turkiyetoday.com