The Inspiring Story of Turkey in World Cup 2002 Part 1

FIFA World Cup 2002 was the seventeenth edition of the FIFA World Cup, which took place from May 31 to June 30, 2002, in South Korea and Japan, jointly organized by the two countries. This tournament is the first time that it will be held in Asia after it was held in Europe and the Americas.

Japan and South Korea were chosen to host the 2002 World Cup by acclamation at the meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee on May 31, 1996, in Zurich, The rivalry was between Japan, South Korea, and Mexico.

Japan and Korea agreed on the joint organization of the tournament, which contributed to a strong weighting of their balance, especially that they would host the tournament for the first time, unlike Mexico, which had previously hosted it in 1970 and 1986.

The draw placed Turkey in Group C along with Brazil, China PR, and Costa Rica.

Turkey represented the following squad in that tournament:

Goalkeeper: Rüştü Reçber

Defenders: Emre Aşık,, Fatih Akyel, Umit Özat

Midfielders: Tugay Kerimoğlu, Yıldıray Baştürk, Ergün Penbe, Emre Belözoğlu, Umit Davala

Forwards: Hakan Şükür, Hasan Şaş

Turkey opened its group stage matches against Brazil on June 3, 2002, at Ulsan Munsu Stadium in Ulsan.

The Turkish team opened the scoring at the 45+2 minute through its striker Hassan Sas, but Brazil managed to come back in the second half with the goals of Ronaldo and Rivaldo, and thus Turkey lost its first match 2-1.

In its second match, Turkey faced Costa Rica, on June 9, 2002, at the Incheon Munhak Stadium in Incheon.

At six o'clock local time in South Korea, international referee Kofi Kodja blew his whistle, announcing the start of the match.

In the 56th minute, then Inter Milan player Emre Belözoğlu opened the scoring for Turkey.

The Turkish team tried to maintain the result so that it could achieve its first victory in the tournament, but the Costa Rican Winston Parks had a different opinion, scoring the equalizer in the 86th minute.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Turkey concluded its group stage matches against China PR on June 13, 2002, at the World Cup stadium in the South Korean capital, Seoul.

At 3:30 South Korean time, Colombian international referee Oscar Ruiz blew his whistle, announcing the start of the match.

The Turkish team opened the scoring early, specifically in the 3rd minute, through striker Hasan Şaş.

Before defender Bülent Korkmaz added the second goal in the 9th minute.

The other defender, Ümit Davala, concluded the Turkish goal celebration by scoring the third goal in the 85th minute.

Thus, Turkey defeated China 3-0 and qualified for the second round in second place in the group after leaders Brazil.