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Football in Turkey

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boxwidth250
titleFootball in Turkey
imageFile:Atatürk_Olimpiyat.jpg
imagesize240px
image_alt
captionAtatürk Olympic Stadium has a capacity of 74,753 spectators.
unionTFF
countryTurkey
sportassociation football
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nationalteamTurkey
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Football is the most popular sport in Turkey, followed by basketball, tracing its roots to the Ottoman Empire. Approximately three-quarters of the Turkish people are interested in football.

The first matches were played in Ottoman Salonica in 1875. The sport was introduced by English residents. The Turkish football league system comprises five professional leagues, one of which is dedicated to female athletes.

History

League system

Main article: Turkish football league system

Süper Lig

Main article: Süper Lig

The Süper Lig (Super League) is the top division in Turkey since 1959. There are 18 clubs in the league (as of 2025–26 season). The league ushered in clubs from all over Turkey to compete with each other. Currently, clubs finishing in the top four places in the league enter qualifying rounds of European competitions, and the winners of the Turkish Cup, if not one of the top four, are also given a spot. Each season, the four teams with the least points are relegated to the TFF First League. A total of 75 clubs have competed in the Süper Lig, but only six clubs have been champions so far: Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş, Trabzonspor, Başakşehir and Bursaspor. Galatasaray has won the most Süper Lig trophies with 25 trophies (the club has also won more Turkish Cups and Turkish Super Cups than any other team).

The most popular Süper Lig clubs on X as of 6 May 2025: !#!!Football club!!City!!Followers |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Galatasaray || Istanbul || 16.2 million |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Fenerbahçe || Istanbul || 13.7 million |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Beşiktaş || Istanbul || 6.2 million |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Trabzonspor || Trabzon || 2.1 million |- |} }}

Reserve leagues

Clubs in the Turkish football league system do not have reserve teams with the exception of Genclerbirligi and Altinordu. Hacettepe SK is the reserve side of Genclerbirligi, and Nigde Anadolu FK is of Altinordu. Other clubs have U21 and U18 teams which compete outside the main league system.

Amateur football

Below the four professional leagues in Turkish football are amateur leagues. Amateur football clubs include:

  • Seniors’ First Amateur League: 2145 clubs
  • Seniors’ Second Amateur League: 1743 clubs
  • Seniors’ Third Amateur League: 1 club
  • Women's League: 9 clubs
  • Juniors’ First Amateur League: 27 clubs
  • Juniors’ Second Amateur League: 100 clubs
  • Juniorsclubs
    • Antalya: 10 clubs
    • Bursa: 16 clubs
    • Istanbul: 18 clubs
    • İzmir: 12 clubs
    • Diyarbakır: 7 clubs
    • Trabzon: 13 clubs
    • Samsun: 10 clubs

Amateur clubs are put into leagues included in the Amateur League system and are eligible for promotion to the Turkish Third League.

Largest football stadiums in Turkey

#ImageStadiumCapacityCityHome team(s)Opened
1[[File:Istanbul Atatürk Olympic Stadium 1.jpg150px]]Atatürk Olympic Stadium74,753IstanbulTurkey2002
2[[File:Galatasaray Arena North-West Corner.jpg150px]]Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi53,978Galatasaray SK2011
3[[File:İzmir Atatürk Stadyumu.jpg150px]]İzmir Atatürk Stadium51,337İzmirKarşıyaka SK1971
4[[File:Sukrusaracoglu.jpg150px]]Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium47,430Istanbul Fenerbahçe SK1908
5[[File:Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Stadium (15.11.2025).jpg150x150px]]Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Stadium43,361BursaBursaspor2015
6[[File:Vodafone Park Panorama.jpg150px]]Beşiktaş Stadium42,590IstanbulBeşiktaş JK2016
7[[File:TORKU ARENA - panoramio.jpg150px]]Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium42,000Konya Konyaspor2014
8[[File:Şenol Güneş Stadium.jpg150px]]Şenol Güneş Sports Complex40,782TrabzonTrabzonspor2017
9[[File:Kocaeli Stadium.jpg150px]]Kocaeli Stadium34,829İzmitKocaelispor2018
10[[File:Samsunspor-Kırklarelispor (14.10.19).jpg150px]]Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium33,919SamsunSamsunspor2017

Cup competitions

The two major cup competitions are the Turkish Cup and Turkish Super Cup. The Turkish Cup includes clubs from every division. The Super Cup is an annual match held between the winners of the Süper Lig and Turkish Cup.

Now-defunct Turkish cup competitions include the Prime Minister's Cup, Atatürk Cup, Istanbul Football Cup and Spor Toto Cup.

Qualification for European competitions

CompetitionWho QualifiesNotes
UEFA Champions League league phaseClub finishing 1st in the Süper Lig
UEFA Champions League play-off roundClub finishing 2nd in the Süper Lig
UEFA Europa League second qualifying roundClub finishing 3rd in the Süper Lig
UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying roundClub finishing 4th in the Süper Lig
UEFA Europa League play-off roundWinner of the Turkish CupIf the winner is already guaranteed a place in Europe, the highest ranked club in Süper Lig which did not qualify to UEFA Champions League will replace them.

In addition, once in a European competition, it becomes possible to qualify for others:

  • All the losers of the Champions League third qualifying round go forward to the UEFA Europa League Play-off round
  • All the losers of the Champions League play-off round go forward to the UEFA Europa League group stage

European competition records

Main article: Turkish football clubs in European competitions

The following teams have made the last eight of European competitions:

UEFA Super Cup

  • Galatasaray (2000 – Champions)

European Cup / UEFA Champions League

‡ Galatasaray was one of the eight teams in the group stage of the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, however, UEFA does not consider this a quarter-final participation.

UEFA Cup / Europa League

UEFA Europa Conference League

  • Fenerbahçe ( 2023-24 – Quarter-finals)

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Balkans Cup

UEFA Cup Winners Cup

UEFA Intertoto Cup

  • Kayserispor (2006 – Joint Winners)
  • Trabzonspor (2007 – Runners-up)
  • Sivasspor (2008 – Runners-up)
  • İstanbulspor (1997 – Semi-finals)
  • Samsunspor (1998 – Semi-finals)
  • Trabzonspor (1999 – Semi-finals)
  • Bursaspor (1995 – Quarter-finals)

Turkey national team

Main article: Turkey national football team

The Turkey national team made its debut on October 26, 1923. The match ended in a 2–2 draw against the Romania. Turkey have qualified for the FIFA World Cup twice: 1954 and 2002. Their longest duration of competing for the Cup was coming third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Turkey also finished third in the 2003 Confederations Cup, reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008 and played in the quarter-finals of Euro 2000. Turkey will host the UEFA Euro 2032 alongside Italy.

Women's football

Main article: Women's football in Turkey

Records

Seasons

2020s:2020–212021–222022–232023–242024–25*2025–26**2026–27**2027–28**2028–29**2029–30*

Attendances

The average attendance per top-flight football league season and the club with the highest average attendance:

SeasonLeague averageBest clubBest club average
2024-2511,840Galatasaray43,039
2023-2411,026Galatasaray43,133
2022-2312,426Galatasaray45,186
2021-22———
2020-21———
2019-2013,930Fenerbahçe39,352
2018-1914,088Galatasaray36,160
2017-1812,874Galatasaray40,778
2016-1710,313Beşiktaş30,448
2015-168,427Fenerbahçe28,589
2014-157,989Galatasaray23,812
2013-1412,131Fenerbahçe34,811
2012-1312,984Fenerbahçe42,585

Source:

Notes

References

  1. Aslan Amani. (2013-07-19). "Football in Turkey: A force for liberalisation and modernity?". openDemocracy.
  2. https://countrycassette.com/rankings-sports-football-fans-by-country/
  3. "Before the national Turkish leagues". Erdinç Sivritepe.
  4. "Stat Arama Detay TFF".
  5. "Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi Nef Stadyumu - GALATASARAY.ORG".
  6. "Stat Arama Detay TFF".
  7. "Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi - Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü".
  8. "Stat Arama Detay TFF".
  9. "Stat Arama Detay TFF".
  10. "Stat Arama Detay TFF".
  11. "Stat Arama Detay TFF".
  12. James Davis. (2002-04-28). "Turkey's world challenge born in Germany". [[The Observer]].
  13. Ian Hawkey. (2010-10-11). "Ozil's choice is Germany's gain and Turkey's loss". [[The National (Abu Dhabi).
  14. (2010-09-17). "Reverse Immigration: Turkey Recruits Players 'Made in Germany'". [[Spiegel Online]].
  15. McCarra, Kevin. (7 October 2003). "German foundation beneath Turkey's rise to greatness".
  16. (16 May 2004). "Dawn of a new Turkish era - Soccer - www.theage.com.au".
  17. https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/nav/attntur.htm
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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