Turkey booked a place in Euro 2020 after holding Iceland to a goalless draw at the Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul.
Head coach Senol Gunes fielded a defensively-minded side with Leicester City star man Caglar Soyuncu alongside Juventus’ Merih Demiral as his centre-back pairing. Lille right-back Mehmet Zeki Celik started as right-back with Umut Meras on the left.
The midfield three Okay Yokuslu, Mahmut Tekdemir and Ozan Tufan were deployed to break up play and provide a physical presence and shield in front of the back four.
Cengiz Under returned from injury to provide an attacking spark on the right-wing, with Hakan Calhanoglu on the left flank and Burak Yilmaz filling in for the injured Cenk Tosun.
The plan worked for much of the game. Iceland struggled to create any meaningful chances in the first half.
Soyuncu was imperious in the air and Demiral made a goal-line clearance to prevent Iceland scoring from one of their few clear cut opportunities.
Turkey had the chance to score hitting the crossbar twice over the course of the 90 minutes but they never really took their foot off the breaks.
A draw was all that was needed to qualify and that is exactly what Turkey got.
The Crescent-Stars have conceded just three goals in nine qualification games – none from open play – and kept seven clean sheets.
Turkey could still qualify as group leaders if they beat Andorra on Sunday and France drop points to Albania.
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Turkey 0-0 Iceland
Stadium: Türk Telekom
Referee: Anthony Taylor, Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn (İngiltere)
Turkey: Mert Günok, Mehmet Zeki Çelik (min. 90+4 Ömer Bayram), Merih Demiral, Çağlar Söyüncü, Umut Meraş, Mahmut Tekdemir, Okay Yokuşlu, Ozan Tufan, Cengiz Ünder (min. 81 Yusuf Yazıcı), Hakan Çalhanoğlu (min. 87 Kaan Ayhan), Burak Yılmaz
Iceland: Halldorsson, Palsson, Arnason, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Skulason (min. 85 Anderson), Bödvarsson, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Bjarnason, Traustason (min. 63 Magnusson), Sigthorsson, Finnbogason (min. 24 Arnor Sigurdsson)
Yellow Card: min. 8 Ozan Tufan, min. 56 Şenol Güneş (Manager), min. 82 Okay Yokuşlu, min. 90+4 Mehmet Zeki Çelik (Türkiye), min. 35 Traustason, Dk. 84 Sigthorsson (Iceland)
