‘We are ashamed,’ says Turkiye’s Arda Guler after elimination from the 2026 World Cup

Turkiye suffered an early exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup after suffering their second consecutive defeat in Group D.

Despite playing more than half against a Paraguay side reduced to ten men following a red card for Miguel Almiron, Turkiye failed to find the net and conceded a 0–1 defeat.

Turkish midfielder Arda Guler apologized for his side’s performance during a post-match interaction.

«We would like to apologize, we are ashamed. We all play for top clubs and we should do much better in this competition,» Guler said.

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Turkiye dominated possession and fired 33 shots at the Paraguayan goal, but failed to convert a goal. This was similar to the defeat to Australia in the tournament opener, where they made plenty of shots without any reward.

“In two games we scored zero goals and that is not acceptable,” Guler said.

Turkiye’s 62 shots from the first two matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup are the most attempts by a team in a two-match period in the tournament without scoring a goal since 1966.

Published on June 20, 2026