Sent off like champions, eliminated first: the epic disgrace of the Turkish national team at the World Cup (2 photos + 3 videos)
There is a golden rule in football: be humble. But the Turkish national team completely forgot about this rule. 
As a result, their early exit from the 2026 World Cup became not just a sporting failure, but a grand, epic disgrace that the entire internet is now laughing at.
The team with all its stars managed to finish last in Group D, losing two opening matches in a row:
To Australia — 0:2
To Paraguay — 0:1 (playing the entire second half with a numerical advantage!).
The Turks have a big fat zero in the "points" column and the same in the "goals scored" column. And that would be fine—it happens to everyone—but just remember HOW they were sent off there! 
In early June, when the national team was just departing for the USA, a real national holiday was staged in Istanbul. The team returned to the World Cup after 24 years, and the fans decided: since we qualified, the trophy is already ours.
The national team's bus to the airport was accompanied by a crazy, giant red motorcade of over 100 brand-new TOGG electric cars (the pride of the Turkish auto industry). Traffic came to a standstill, fans lit flares, blocked famous bridges, sang songs, and roared as if Arda Güler were already holding the gold trophy in his hands.
Across the ocean, the carriage instantly turned into a pumpkin. The vaunted "golden generation" with Çalhanoğlu from Inter and Güler from Real Madrid showed phenomenal impotence in attack.
In two games, the Turks took 62 shots on their opponents' goal and scored nothing.
During the Paraguay – Turkey match, when a scuffle broke out between players on the pitch, the referee breaking them up lost his watch from his wrist. Paraguayan midfielder Matías Galarza, walking past, found it and tried it on. Well, why let a good thing go to waste.
Against Paraguay, they held 78% possession, pressed with all their might, but conceded a goal in the 65th second and went off to pack their bags.
You don't even need to know the language to understand the reaction to their play.
