Turkey and Norway made little progress on Friday evening with the mutual draw in Istanbul: 1-1. Due to the draw, the Dutch national team, which itself won 0-1 in Latvia, now has a lead of two points over the Norwegians and four over the Turks. There are still three rounds of play in Group G and only the group winner qualifies directly for the World Cup in Qatar. As number two, an admission ticket can also be enforced via the play-offs, which is why Turkey is pinning its hopes on the Dutch national team.
The Netherlands will play the last group match against Norway in their own home on November 16: a duel in which the top position of Group G will most likely be battled. A defeat of the Norwegians could be beneficial for Turkey, if they also win the remaining three matches in the qualifying cycle. “It is now up to us to take nine more points and then we hope that the Netherlands will beat Norway,” Orkun Kökçü, who was suspended on Friday, agreed in conversation with the NOS.
Turkey is already ahead! ???? The Turks benefit from fumbling at Norway and Kerem Aktürkoglu rounds off: 1-0 ??#ZiggoSport #WCQ2022 #TURNOR pic.twitter.com/46TZF4poEH
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) October 8, 2021
Stefan Kuntz was on the bench for the first time as national coach of Turkey, which said goodbye to Senol Günes after last month’s 6-1 defeat in Amsterdam. “Before the game I asked my players to give everything and they did,” the German said. “Of course we would have liked to have won in front of our fans in this atmosphere, but we still have a chance of qualifying for the World Cup. The two teams were not far apart. We started the second half a little better, but I know it wasn’t enough.”
“In the second half we went along with Norway’s long balls and then you know there was nothing to be gained,” said Kökçü. “We have now embarked on a new path with the new coach. I like that, because the German school is somewhat the same as the Dutch school, which is quite different from the Turkish school. So I think it’s progress. The quality is there, but it hasn’t really come out lately.”
“We had chances for more and could have scored a goal, but we didn’t succeed. We still have three games to go and we remain hopeful. Nothing is over yet”, emphasized Cengiz Ünder in turn. Kerem Aktürkoglu gave Turkey the lead after more than five minutes after good work by Ünder. Just before half time, Kristian Thorstvedt made it 1-1 from close by. Shortly before time, Norway had a great chance at the 1-2 via Mohamed Elyounoussi, but it remained a draw.