Turkey reached their first World Cup in 24 years as Kerem Akturkoglu's goal gave them a narrow win in their play-off with Kosovo.

Turkey had not qualified for the tournament since finishing third in the 2002 edition, but will now face Australia, Paraguay and co-hosts the United States in Group C this summer.

In a tense match in Pristina, Kenan Yildiz cut the ball back for Orkun Kokcu, whose mis-hit shot was turned in at the back post by Fenerbahce striker Akturkoglu in the 53rd minute.

Opponents Kosovo were hoping to reach their first major tournament since their Fifa and Uefa memberships were accepted in 2016.

They hit the bar in the first half when Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir tipped Fisnik Asllani's effort onto the woodwork.

But Turkey, which only had one other shot on target outside of their goal, held on to reach their third World Cup.

The victory ended a run of five straight failed qualification campaigns.

Four years ago, they were two games away from a place in the World Cup but were beaten by Portugal in their play-off semi-final.

Turkey had won four of their first six World Cup 2026 qualifying games but missed out on an automatic spot to Spain, who finished three points above them in their group.

Brighton's Ferdi Kadioglu helped Turkey to a 1-0 win over Romania in their path C semi-final on Thursday which set up their winner-takes-all tie in Kosovo.

Led by stars Arda Guler of Real Madrid and Inter Milan's Hakan Calhanoglu, Turkey were the heavy favourites, ranked 23rd in the world, 55 places above Kosovo.

Turkey have recent tournament pedigree having reached the quarter-finals of the 2024 Euros, losing to the Netherlands in the last eight.

Kosovo get to brink of World Cup 12 years after first game

Defeat ended Kosovo's dream of a first World Cup appearance less than 10 years after they played their first ever World Cup qualifier.

The Balkan nation, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, were allowed to play their first match by Fifa in March 2014 - a 0-0 draw with Haiti.

Their second was a 6-1 loss to Turkey.

Kosovo finished their qualifying group just three points behind Switzerland and an automatic spot at this summer's World Cup.

It meant they faced Slovakia in their path C semi-final, winning a thrilling tie 4-3, but they were unable to break down Turkey in their historic winner-takes-all match.

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Turkey beats Kosovo to qualify for World Cup after 24 years

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