Turkey sacks coach Vincenzo Montella after four straight Nations League defeats

Dismissal without a stated reason

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) said on Friday that its executive board had decided not to continue with Vincenzo Montella as national team coach. The statement gave no reason for the decision and named no replacement. Montella, 52, had been in charge since September 2023, and the move followed a run of results that had already drawn criticism at home. Domestic media had reported the separation before the federation confirmed it officially, according to dpa.

It was decided to end the cooperation with our national coach, Mr Vincenzo Montella.

The federation published the decision on X after a board meeting.

Four defeats in the Nations League

Turkey lost all four of its Nations League matches in the current campaign and has no points. The most recent was a 3-1 defeat away to Italy on Tuesday, the second time Montella's side lost to Italy in the competition. Earlier defeats came against Belgium and France. Blick puts the goal difference at 2:11 after four games. Fans whistled Montella during matches, and social media posts called for his resignation. Dpa noted that criticism of the coach had already emerged after Turkey's World Cup group-stage exit.

World Cup exit and earlier results

Montella took Turkey to the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, the United States and Canada, the first finals appearance in 24 years. There Turkey won one of its three matches and was eliminated in the group stage. At Euro 2024 Turkey reached the quarter-finals before losing 2-1 to the Netherlands. Early in his tenure, Turkey won 1-0 away to Croatia, the first away win over Croatia in the country's history. Turkey then qualified directly for Euro 2024 as group winners. In March 2025 Turkey won the play-off against Hungary 3-1 and 3-0 and was promoted to the top league of the Nations League.

Record and succession

Turkish coverage gives Montella's record over 40 matches as 21 wins, 5 draws and 14 defeats. Before Turkey he coached Adana Demirspor from 2021 to 2023, after earlier spells at Roma, Catania, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Milan and Sevilla. He succeeded Stefan Kuntz, who coached Turkey from September 2021 to September 2023 and was a European champion in 1996, according to dpa. The federation did not name a replacement. Adnkronos reports that Arda Turan, currently at Shakhtar Donetsk, is the most widely tipped name.

Board changes

The TFF board decided that its current leadership will remain in office until the next ordinary elective general assembly. According to the federation note, the alternate members Ibrahim Ozbay and Metin Akyuz will replace two full board members who resigned. Ahmet Erzurumlu, the TFF's director of registration affairs, was named to replace Secretary General Abdullah Ayaz, who had recently resigned. BBC Turkish coverage refers to five board members stepping down, a figure that differs from the two in the federation's note.