Turkey earned the title of ‘unofficial world champions’ even though they didn’t make it past the World Cup group stage.
Turkey earned the unofficial world champion title on Thursday after they ended the United States’ unbeaten run in the World Cup.
It’s been a tough tournament for Turkey. Despite taking 62 shots in matches against Australia and Paraguay, they couldn’t score a single goal. That’s pretty unusual—there’s no record of a team missing the net so many times over two games.
Vincenzo Montella’s team was already out of the tournament before their last group game against the US. But they still managed to show some pride in California.
The US started strong again, with center-back Auston Trusty scoring in just the third minute—that’s the second-fastest goal for the US in a World Cup. But Turkey’s Arda Guler, named Player of the Match, quickly tied the game. At 21 years and 120 days old, he became Turkey’s youngest World Cup scorer.
Then, just after 30 minutes, Turkey took the lead for the first time this tournament when Barış Alper Yılmaz scored from Eren Elmali’s pass, beating the US goalkeeper Matt Turner.
The US needed a pep talk from coach Mauricio Pochettino during halftime. Only four minutes after the second half started, Sebastian Berhalter scored a powerful goal to level the score again.
It looked like Turkey wouldn’t win a game this summer—but deep into stoppage time, Kaan Ayhan scored a dramatic late winner.
With that 3-2 victory, Turkey not only grabbed three points but also reclaimed the unofficial world champion title.
For some background, the US had won the unofficial title back on June 19 after beating Australia 2-0. Before that, Australia held it since March 2026 after their win over Kosovo.
So, what’s an unofficial world champion? It’s a fun way to track the best international soccer team, starting from when Scotland beat England in 1967.
To hold the title, a team has to beat the current champion in a knockout-style system, kind of like in some combat sports.
England were the first unofficial winners after beating Scotland 4-2 back in 1873, based on early international matches.
England and Scotland have dominated this title, with Scotland holding it 86 times—the most ever. They last won it in March 2007, while England has won it 73 times, last in June 2000. Turkey has claimed it four times so far.