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Türkiye faced Mexico in a friendly match and lost 1-0. The only goal of the game came in the 45th minute from Orbelin Pineda.
In the friendly match against Mexico held in the United States, Turkiye’s head coach Vincenzo Montella made four changes to his starting lineup compared to the game against the U.S.
The Italian coach replaced Eren Elmali, Zeki Celik, Orkun Kokcu, and Oguz Aydin with Yasin Ozcan, Mert Muldur, Kaan Ayhan, and Irfan Can Kahveci in the starting 11.
The national team will face Georgia on Sept. 4 in their next match as part of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
Following Türkiye’s 1-0 defeat to Mexico in an international friendly, national team coach Vincenzo Montella stated that the loss was undeserved. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Montella emphasized his team’s dominance in the first half and the high number of shots they attempted.
“We completely controlled the first half and took many shots,” he said. “We faced a team in mid-season form, and naturally, we felt the difference in physical conditioning. Despite that, we had three times more shots than our opponent—unfortunately, our accuracy was low. We conceded a goal when everyone was behind the ball, and we shouldn’t make such small mistakes. But it gave us valuable experience.”
Montella also highlighted the opportunity given to four new players during the training camp, expressing optimism for the future: “We’re not happy to lose, and I don’t think we deserved to. But we’ll take these experiences with us and use them going forward.”
Praising the overall team performance, Montella added: “Everyone played their role. I was satisfied with the performance both throughout the camp and in this match. The team spirit was reflected on the pitch. When I took over, we were ranked 40th in FIFA rankings; now we’re 27th. Mexico are ranked 17th, so we must acknowledge the quality of our opponent.”
Despite missing several key players, Montella rejected the idea that Türkiye was physically inferior. “It was an even battle. Some of our players have played over 50 games this season and barely had rest after the European Championship. Still, we didn’t fall behind physically.”
When asked whether Arda Guler would continue wearing the number 10 jersey, Montella responded briefly: “That’s not a question I ask myself. I’ve made mistakes in the past about shirt numbers, so I stay out of those discussions.”
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