Fenerbahçe Sends 13 Players on International Duty!
Following their UEFA Europa League elimination, the Yellow-Navy Blues also dropped points in the title race with this draw in the league. After the weekend matches, the league has paused due to the international break.
A total of 13 Fenerbahçe players have been called up to their national teams. Notably, young talent Yusuf Akçiçek, who has started 6 times under Mourinho in the UEFA Europa League, caught the attention of Turkey’s senior national team coach Vincenzo Montella with his rising performances. Having featured for Turkey’s youth teams since 2023, Yusuf has now received his first senior team call-up. Turkish players Mert Müldür, İsmail Yüksek, İrfan Can Kahveci, and Oğuz Aydın were also selected for the senior national team.
Having finished 2nd in their Nations League B group with 11 points, Turkey will face Hungary in the play-offs. The Turkish national team will host Hungary on Thursday, March 20, in Istanbul, followed by an away fixture on Sunday, March 23.
LIVAKOVIC AND SKRINIAR SET FOR PLAY-OFF DUTY
Fenerbahçe’s Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic will feature in the Nations League A play-offs after Croatia finished in the top two of their group. Croatia will take on France in the quarter-finals under the new format.
Slovakia, who finished 2nd in their Nations League C group behind Sweden with 13 points, will play in the B League promotion play-offs. Slovak star Milan Skriniar has also been called up and will face Slovenia on March 20 and March 23.
DZEKO AND SZYMANSKI BEGIN 2026 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
The 2026 FIFA World Cup European qualifiers for five-team groups will kick off this week. Fenerbahçe’s veteran striker Edin Dzeko has been named in Bosnia and Herzegovina‘s squad. Bosnia will visit Romania on March 21 and then host Cyprus three days later.
Polish midfielder Sebastian Szymanski will face Lithuania on the same day. Poland will play both of their first two matches at home, with Malta up next on March 24.
AFRICA’S QUALIFIERS RESUME
In Africa, the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, which began in November 2023, will resume in March with two matches per team. Fenerbahçe’s striker Youssef En-Nesyri and midfielder Sofyan Amrabat have been included in Morocco’s squad. Morocco will face Niger and Tanzania. Morocco leads their group with 9 points from 3 matches.
Bright Osayi-Samuel, who played in all 4 of Nigeria’s previous qualifiers, has been called up for matches against Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Nigeria currently sits 5th in their group with 3 points after 4 matches (3 draws and 1 loss).
Alexander Djiku’s Ghana has collected 9 points in 4 matches. Ghana will face Chad on March 21 and then travel to Madagascar on March 24.
