Turkey beat Albania 1-0 at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in their seventh Euro 2020 Group H qualifier on Friday.
The Crescent-Stars headed into the game missing star names in attack such as Roma winger Cengiz Under and Trabzonspor rising star Abdulkakir Omur.
Midfield veteran Emre Belozoglu, 39, made his 101th appearance for Turkey and was honoured by Turkish football association for his services to the national team.
Everton striker Cenk Tosun ended up scoring the winner with a last-gasp goal capitalizing on the Albanian defence having a comedy of errors.
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Tosun has struggled for playing time at Everton this season but has scored three goals and provided one assist in his last two games for Turkey.
In total, he has scored five goals in seven games in the group stage making his the top scorer in Group H.
The victory kept the Crescent-Stars top of Group H ahead of world champions France and third-place Iceland.
Turkey take on France next on Monday at Stade de France in Saint-Denis before facing Iceland.
See More: Past & Present – Turkish Stars in the Premier League
Turkey 1-0 Albania
Stadium: Şükrü Saracoğlu
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan, Octavian Sovre, Sebastian Gheorghe (Romanya)
Turkey: Mert Günok, Mehmet Zeki Çelik, Kaan Ayhan (min. 46 Çağlar Söyüncü), Merih Demiral, Umut Meraş, Mahmut Tekdemir, Emre Belözoğlu (min. 66 İrfan Can Kahveci), Ozan Tufan (min. 80 Yusuf Yazıcı), Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Burak Yılmaz, Cenk Tosun
Albania: Strakosha, Djimsiti, Dermaku, Ismajli, Veseli, Bare, Gjasula, Lenjani (min. 57 Roshi), Cikalleshi (min. 83 Balaj), Manaj, Memushaj (min. 72 Abrashi)
Goal: min. 90 Cenk Tosun (Türkiye)