Montella’s three-year spell in charge is over four days after a 3-1 defeat in Bologna completed a Nations League blackout of four straight losses.
The Turkish Football Federation confirmed the departure in a brief statement, saying it had “decided not to continue with the coach of our senior national team, Mr Vincenzo Montella.”
The 52-year-old Italian leaves after 40 matches, with a record of 21 wins, 5 draws and 14 losses. Six of those defeats have come in his last seven competitive games. The one bright spot in that run was a 3-2 win over co-hosts the United States at the summer World Cup, a result that did not save Turkey from becoming the first nation eliminated from the tournament.
From a Euro 2024 quarter-final to bottom of the World Cup group
Montella took charge in September 2023, succeeding Stefan Kuntz, and guided Turkey to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, where they lost 2-1 to the Netherlands. He also steered the country to only its third World Cup, but the summer campaign ended with a bottom-place group finish behind the United States, Australia and Paraguay.
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The autumn made things worse. Turkey lost all four of their UEFA Nations League A matches: 1-0 to France, 4-1 at home to Italy in Bursa, 3-0 away to Belgium in Liege, and the 3-1 defeat in Bologna on 5 October. Across the four games they scored twice and conceded 11.
Turan emerges as the frontrunner
The federation did not name a successor. Several reports point to Arda Turan, the 39-year-old former Atletico Madrid and Barcelona midfielder currently coaching Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk, as the frontrunner. Yahoo Sports lists him as the top candidate, while Goal cites Italian reporting that a dual role alongside Shakhtar is being discussed. No official appointment has been made, and one Turkish outlet notes that “Arda Turan’s name” has been “at the forefront of reports regarding the succession.”
Whoever walks in will inherit a squad that reads like a top-flight starting XI on paper: Hakan Calhanoglu at Inter, Arda Guler at Real Madrid, and Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz. The talent on the roster is why four defeats in a row felt less like a cycle and more like a crisis.
Turkey host Belgium in Istanbul on 12 November and travel to France three days later to close the Nations League campaign.
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