Sergen Yalçın will officially begin his tenure as Türkiye national team head coach with a signing ceremony tomorrow after being appointed on a four-year contract to replace Vincenzo Montella following the team's disappointing World Cup campaign and four consecutive UEFA Nations League defeats.
According to a statement from the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), the ceremony will take place at 2:00 p.m. local time Thursday at the Orhan Saka Conference Hall at the TFF's Hasan Doğan National Teams Camp and Training Facilities in Riva. TFF President İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu is expected to attend.
The federation confirmed Yalçın's appointment on Oct. 20 following a board meeting. The 53-year-old becomes the 48th head coach in the senior national team's history and the 27th Turkish manager to hold the position. He is the first Turkish coach to lead the team since Abdullah Avcı's departure in 2013.
Yalçın's appointment follows Montella's dismissal on Oct. 9 after Türkiye's World Cup campaign ended in the group stage and the team lost its first four Nations League matches, including defeats against France, Belgium and Italy twice.
Montella, who took charge in September 2023, had overseen a period of considerable progress. Türkiye reached the quarterfinals of Euro 2024, qualified for the 2026 World Cup for the first time in 24 years and earned promotion to UEFA Nations League A. However, the subsequent run of defeats left the team bottom of its group without a point, prompting the federation to make a change.
Yalçın publicly confirmed his appointment on Tuesday, describing the opportunity to lead the national team as a source of pride. He said representing the country carried special meaning and that financial considerations were secondary to the importance of the role. He also indicated that his four-year deal was structured around the next European Championship and World Cup cycles.
Born in Istanbul on Nov. 5, 1972, Yalçın is a prominent figure in Turkish football. He developed in Beşiktaş's youth system and later played for all four of the country's traditional major clubs: Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor.
As a player, he won league titles and Turkish Cups and made 37 appearances for Türkiye between 1994 and 2003, scoring five goals. He also represented the country at Euro 1996 and Euro 2000.
Yalçın began his coaching career in 2013 and has managed several Süper Lig clubs, including Gaziantepspor, Sivasspor, Kayserispor, Eskişehirspor, Konyaspor, Alanyaspor, Yeni Malatyaspor, Antalyaspor and Beşiktaş.
His most successful spell came in the 2020-21 season, when he led Beşiktaş to the Süper Lig title and Turkish Cup, becoming the first person in the club's history to win the league championship as both a player and a coach. He returned for a second spell at the Istanbul club in August 2025, but the tenure ended by mutual consent in May 2026.
Yalçın is expected to bring several members of his Beşiktaş coaching staff into the national team setup, including assistants Murat Kaytaz and Ozan Köprülü, alongside specialists in performance, analysis and goalkeeping.
The new coach has also indicated that he intends to speak with players who lost their places under Montella, including goalkeeper Berke Özer, as he evaluates his options and reshapes the squad.
Türkiye's coaching history includes several managers who delivered landmark international achievements. Fatih Terim, who led the team across four spells between 1990 and 2017, holds the record for the most matches in charge with 135 and the most victories, with 70, including one awarded by forfeit.
Terim guided Türkiye to its first European Championship finals at Euro 1996 and the semifinals at Euro 2008. Mustafa Denizli led the team to the Euro 2000 quarterfinals, while Şenol Güneş took Türkiye to the 2002 World Cup, where it finished third, and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, where it also claimed third place.
