Turkey Secures Third Place in the World Cup - 2002-06-29

The Turkish national football team secured third place in the 2002 World Cup. Today, in the city of Daegu stadium in South Korea, in front of 63,500 spectators, Turkey defeated the host national team 3-2 despite their brave performance. This match witnessed the fastest goal in World Cup history. Just 11 seconds after the start of the game, Hakan Şükür put Turkey ahead 1-0 against their opponent. The Koreans equalized in the 9th minute with a goal from Yoo Yong Lee. Four minutes later, Hakan Şükür scored Turkey's second goal against South Korea. In the 32nd minute, a beautiful coordination between Mansız and Şükür led to Mansız's second goal in the match, and Turkey ended the first half with a score of 3-1. In the second half, South Korea made a comprehensive effort to recover from the goals conceded, but the only result of this effort was a goal by Chung Kyung-sung in the 93rd minute, leading to a final score of 3-2 in favor of Turkey. After the match, players from South Korea and Turkey joined hands on the field to respond to the emotions of the spectators. This was the greatest achievement in the history of football for both teams, who reached the semifinals for the first time. South Korea became the first Asian team to reach the semifinals of the World Cup, earning new respect for Asian football. Turkey participated in the World Cup for the first time in 48 years, and securing third place undoubtedly elevates the respect for this team among European teams that Turkey competes with in European tournaments. Turkey only lost twice in this World Cup, both times to the finalist Brazil.