Turkey in the Semi-Finals of the World Cup - 2002-06-22

The Turkish national football team, thanks to a golden goal by Ilhan Mansiz, defeated Senegal 1-0 and advanced to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. The battle between the two teams, both of whom had surprised everyone by reaching the quarter-finals, was a tough one, with neither team willing to give an inch. The attack lines of Turkey and Senegal were led by Hasan Şaş and El Hadji Diouf from the start of the game. The match remained 0-0 until the end of regular time. In the 4th minute of extra time, Ilhan Mansiz, who had entered the field in the 67th minute in place of Hakan Şükür, scored the winning goal for Turkey from a beautiful cross by Umut Davala, thus marking Turkey's first-ever advancement to the semi-finals of the World Cup in history. This was Turkey's first appearance in the World Cup football tournament in the past 48 years. Senegal, which thrilled spectators with its style of play and created the first surprise of this year's tournament by defeating France, the defending champion, was participating in the World Cup for the first time and is recorded as the second African team to advance this far in World Cup history. Cameroon was the first African team to reach the quarter-finals in the 1990 World Cup. Turkey's match against Brazil in the semi-finals will be the second encounter between the two teams in the 2002 World Cup. Brazil had controversially defeated Turkey 2-1 in their first match, making the upcoming meeting on June 26 a revenge match for Turkey.