Turkey soccer fans cheer at Mesa, AZ World Cup training session

MESA – Flags flying, supporters singing, red and white as far as the eye could see. Fans brought the World Cup atmosphere to Turkey’s open training session on Monday.

The mood was so festive that it felt more like a final than a practice, with chants echoing throughout Mesa’s Arizona Athletic Grounds.

It’s a moment 24 years in the making. For some, a lifetime.

“Last World Cup, I’m 18 years old. This time, I’m 42,” super fan Fuat Karadag said.

Turkey placed third in that tournament, losing 1-0 in the semifinal to eventual-champion Brazil. Fans are hopeful this team will have a similar placement in their return to the World Cup.

“I hope final, but I think semifinal,” Karadag said.

“We will be very happy with at least third or fourth place,” fan and K-12 school field director Nilgul Ozkus added. “At least!”

Turkey might not be considered one of the favorites to win the tournament, but fans are eager to see their golden generation of talent take over the world’s biggest stage.

“Some of these guys like Arda (Güler), Hakan (Çalhanoğlu), Kenan Yildiz, they’re playing in top leagues in Europe, so the expectations are high,” fan Batuhan Avkiran said.

Güler and Yildiz, both 21, weren’t even born the last time their country played in the World Cup. Çalhanoğlu, the Turkish captain, will need to utilize his experience to lead a team ripe with young talent. 

While some top players might not be able to remember the Crescent-Stars’ last World Cup run, fans certainly can.

“I was still living in the country, I was still in school, so the TVs would roll out into classrooms,” Avkiran said. “They stop everything, all the shops were closed when they were playing.”

Ozkus has similar memories.

“All the stores, all apartments, everybody came running to the street. They were crazy, hugging each other, kissing each other, jumping up and down,” she said. “It was great. We want to make the same memory again.”

The soccer-loving nation is proud to see Turkey back in the World Cup.

“It’s a national event so everyone tunes in for it, everyone stops what they’re doing for it. It’s the most important thing going on in the country at the time,” Ozkus said.

Many questioned Turkey’s choice to train in the Arizona heat, but supporters are showing the decision was worth it. 

“They are not alone in the United States,” Ozkus said. “Like you see, the Turkish population around the United States, they’re crazy, they miss this.”

Fans flooded Arizona Athletic Grounds not just for a training session, but also for a community event, featuring Turkish music and street food.

“I feel like I’m in Turkey right now,” Radio Anatolia CEO İlhan Sami Özulu said. “I feel like I’m in Istanbul because when I turn right and left, I see all red and white. We call it ‘Kırmızı Beyaz,’ ‘Red White’, so we feel like we are home.”

Despite the heat, local fans relished the opportunity to watch their team play in Mesa.

“We are so excited, so happy that they chose Arizona,” Turkish-American fan Serap Kaftanoglu said. “It’s so refreshing to have them here, and we believe in them, we trust them, we have a really good team.”

With heightened ticket prices being a main storyline in this year’s World Cup, fans were overjoyed to see their team play live in front of them, even if only for one practice.

“I don’t have that much money, it’s very expensive (to go to Turkey’s World Cup matches),” Ozkus said. “So we are going to be very happy to see them, I’m very glad.”

“It’s a very good experience for my life, I’m 65, so it’s good.”

Others are traveling across North America to show their national pride.

“Wherever they go, we’ll go to support them. The next stop is Vancouver, Canada,” said fan Ayfer, who was born in Istanbul.

Like the U.S., Turkey is competing in Group D this World Cup. Both teams are expected to advance to the knockouts, with their June 25 match in Los Angeles likely to decide first and second place in the group. 

While Americans are hoping for a host-nation bump, Turkey’s fans are confident their young stars will bring them back to glory.

“The 2002 World Cup team was a good team, but this team is the best team,” Karadag said. “I’m 42 years old, I’ve seen a lot of players, a lot of teams in the Turkish national team. But this team is the best team, trust me.” 

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