Turkey will be looking to bounce back to winning ways when they battle Norway for the second spot of Group G of the UEFA World Cup qualifiers at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Friday with kickoff at 21:45.
Turkey have had a solid World Cup qualifying campaign as they have just lost one of their six Group G matches while they have recorded three wins and two draws, collecting 11 points that has left them in the third spot two points behind their Friday opponents.
However, the Crescent-Stars exited the Euro 2020 tournament in the first round following a disappointing tournament for the national team who lost all their three-group stage matches despite being tipped as the potential dark horses of the competition.
Stefan Kuntz’s side extended their poor form in the September World Cup qualifying fixtures as they only won one of the three matches ending the run with a 6-1 defeat to the Netherlands. They enter the contest in a poor form having just won one match in their last six matches across all competitions with just a draw and four defeats.
Turkey will now be looking to bounce back as they aim to qualify for the finals of a World cup for the first time since 2002 when they finished third.
Meanwhile Norway have also had a strong qualifying campaign having just lost one of their six qualifying matches so far, winning four and drawing one to collect 13 points, level with leaders Netherlands who pose a superior goal difference.
Although Norway couldn’t qualify for the Euro 2020, they enjoyed an impressive September picking up two wins and a draw in their three qualifying fixtures against Netherlands (1-1), Latvia (0-2) and Gibraltar (5-1). Thus, the Lions head into the match in strong form having just lost one, drawn one and won four of their last six matches across all completions including a three-match away winning streak.
Norway will be looking to salvage at least a point in this match given they have two huge matches against Montenegro and Netherlands with Latvia sandwiched between them in their remaining qualifying matches, thus Stale Solbakken’s side will give everything in this match as they eye to qualify for the finals of a World Cup for the first time since 1998.
Turkey vs Norway head to head
Both sides have met in three encounters since 2007 with Turkey collecting two wins while Norway are yet to claim a triumph and one match ended in a draw.
- Norway 0-3 Turkey 27/03/21
- Norway 1-2 Turkey 17/11/07
- Turkey 2-2 Norway 28/03/07
Home
- Netherlands 6-1 Turkey
- Gibraltar 0-3 Turkey
- Turkey 2-2 Montenegro
- Switzerland 3-1 Turkey
- Turkey 0-2 Wales
Away
- Norway 5-1 Gibraltar
- Latvia 0-2 Norway
- Norway 1-1 Netherlands
- Norway 1-2 Greece
- Norway 1-0 Luxemburg
Turkey team news
Turkey will miss the services of Caglar Soyuncu, Ozan Kabak and Orkun Kokcu in the Friday’s match through suspensions while Kenan Karaman has pulled out due to an injury.
Norway team news
Norway will be without their main man Haaland who has been to withdraw from the squad through injury, while Kristoffer Ajer, Jonas Svensson, Alexander Sorloth and Joshua King have also pulled out due to fitness problems.
Prediction and odds
- Draw
- Double chance
- Goals over 2.5
