Football Daily | Turkey need another rebrand after failing to take flight at World Cup

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

When Turkey changed to Türkiye in 2022, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced it was because the new name was “the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilisation, and values.” The rebrand, though, also had a less lofty reason. “The association with the bird genuinely annoys Erdoğan and the people around him,” explained Selim Koru of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, while even state broadcaster TRT conceded that the loose-necked Christmas bird was at least a factor in the revamp.

And although getting names right is important – just ask the good folk at Starbucks – some things never change. Save for the 2002 tournament in which the country finished a remarkable third, Turkey/Türkiye have an absolutely dreadful record when it comes to the World Cup – with 2026 being just their third appearance at a finals – and now they are out again after two miserable defeats to the flamin’ Socceroos and Paraguay. The latter was made all the more painful by the fact that the South American side played for more than a half with 10 men, after former Newcastle scuttler Miguel Almirón became the first player to be shown a red card for covering his mouth while speaking to an opponent. “We should have won these games … everybody’s sad, everybody’s crying,” sobbed umlaut enthusiast/Turkish wonderkid Arda Güler, who alongside Juventus’s Kenan Yildiz, it had been hoped might inspire his nation to come good on their “dark horses” tag. “We tried very hard ‌but it didn’t work. But we should have scored some goals.”

Paraguay’s Matías Galarza struck the GWC’s fastest goal with a stunning ping after just 65 seconds, before Turkey/Türkiye laid siege to their opponents. But La Albirroja survived despite enduring more shots than a busy vaccination centre. In all there were 32 Turkish attempts on Paraguay’s goal, adding to their 30 fruitless shots against Australia in their opening match – the 62 shots combined are the most without a goal in any two-match span in the World Cup on record. “Somehow the ball didn’t go in,” ⁠wailed Vincenzo Montella, Turkey/Türkiye’s Italian manager. “It’s really shocking to say goodbye ‌to the [Geopolitics] World Cup ‌after only two matches. Perhaps, even unconsciously, the pressure of playing in a major tournament after such a long absence affected us.”

The fallout to elimination is yet to be established. Heads will surely roll, but does the rebrand now need a rebrand? Not everyone can enjoy the same generational reboot as Football Daily. But then our name isn’t also a domesticated flightless bird as well as being a Cambridge English Dictionary’s definition of both “something that fails badly” and a “silly person”. Hard luck, Turkey/Türkiye. See you again in four years. Maybe.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I am deeply ashamed ⁠to have been the vehicle for this pain. I must clarify that this false information was provided to me during the live broadcast as verified ​by the production team of the show, and I trusted ‌it. Even so, I take responsibility for ‌being part of the mistake, and that’s why I decided to step aside and end my participation. I apologise again ‌from the heart; I was wrong” – Argentinian host Florencia Peña resigns and issues an apology, blaming the crew for feeding incorrect ⁠information via her earpiece, after announcing on air that Lionel Messi’s father, Jorge, had died and that the player would not play any further matches at the tournament.

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FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

When did it become a thing for the refereeing team to have their names on the backs of their shirts? I’m amazed that Fifa isn’t looking to cash in by selling replicas” – Phil Taverner.

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. Please, up your game! Australian rules football and American football do not play with anything egg-shaped. It’s a prolate spheroid. How different the game would be (could it even exist?) if it were” – Kate Clements.

Re: Trevor Wastell and US commentary (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). I am lucky to speak Spanish but, even if I did not, anyone who would watch football in the USA USA USA (or anywhere else) in any other language is off their rocker. Also, one needs only the barest anglicised Spanglish to get the gist. Luckily for United Statesians, Peacock TV are showing my home nation’s characteristic enthusiasm for multilingual audiences, with the basic subscription having thrown in streaming of every GWC partido en Español, much like they would reruns of ‘Betty la Fea’ or ‘María la del Barrio’. I almost hear NBC suits saying: ‘Who would be watching this? I can’t even understand it!’ Highly recommended” – Thad Brown.

If you have any, please send letters to [email protected]. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … Thad Brown. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

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