Kubilay Türkyilmaz Explained

Kubilay Türkyilmaz
Birth Date:1967 3, df=yes
Birth Place:Bellinzona, Switzerland
Height:1.82 m
Position:Forward
Youthyears1:1985–1986
Youthclubs1:US Semine
Years1:1986–1989
Clubs1:Bellinzona
Caps1:79
Goals1:46
Years2:1989–1990
Clubs2:Servette
Caps2:46
Goals2:25
Years3:1990–1993
Clubs3:Bologna
Caps3:83
Goals3:24
Years4:1993–1995
Clubs4:Galatasaray
Caps4:43
Goals4:16
Years5:1995–1998
Clubs5:Grasshoppers
Caps5:84
Goals5:51
Years6:1998
Clubs6:Locarno
Caps6:12
Goals6:6
Years7:1999
Clubs7:Luzern
Caps7:14
Goals7:6
Years8:2000
Clubs8:Bellinzona
Caps8:13
Goals8:15
Years9:2000–2001
Clubs9:Brescia
Caps9:9
Goals9:3
Years10:2001
Clubs10:Lugano
Caps10:6
Goals10:3
Totalcaps:389
Totalgoals:195
Nationalyears1:1988–2001
Nationalteam1:Switzerland
Nationalcaps1:64
Nationalgoals1:34

Kubilay Türkyilmaz (; born 4 March 1967) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a forward. He ended his international career as the all-time joint leading goal scorer for the Switzerland national team, with 34 goals in 64 appearances between 1988 and 2001, equalling the goals scored by Max Abegglen. Their record was bettered by Alexander Frei in 2008.[1]

Club career

Born in Bellinzona, Ticino, Türkyilmaz began his club career with the local club Bellinzona in 1986 and later joined Servette in 1989. He left the country in 1990 for the Italian club Bologna before joining Galatasaray of Turkey, where he won the Süper Lig in his first season, 1993–94, and scored twice against Manchester United in the next season's UEFA Champions League. In 1995, he returned to Switzerland with Grasshoppers, winning the league in 1995–96 and 1997–98.

International career

Türkyilmaz made his international debut on 2 February 1988 against France[2] in Toulouse as a 65th-minute substitute for Hans-Peter Zwicker. Switzerland lost the Tournoi de France match 2–1. His first goals were two against Luxembourg in qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, on 21 September 1988, his seventh match.

He missed the 1994 FIFA World Cup with serious injury, but appeared at Euro 1996, scoring Switzerland's equaliser against England in the opening match of the tournament, a 1–1 draw at Wembley.[2]

His last 8 international matches, from 1997 to 2001, saw him score 14 times, including his first international hat-trick, versus Azerbaijan in qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He added another hat trick, of three penalty kicks on 7 October 2000 in a 5–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Zürich against the Faroe Islands. It was the first hat-trick of its kind in the competition's history.[3] In his final match, on 5 September 2001, he scored twice against Luxembourg away in qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life

Türkyilmaz was born in Switzerland to a family of Turkish descent that immigrated from the Yozgat Province;[4] he has said that he would have played for Turkey had they inquired first.[2] He once refused to play for Switzerland in a game against Turkey for fear of being branded a traitor.[5] He now runs a café in his native Bellinzona.[2]

Career statistics

Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Türkyilmaz goal.

List of international goals scored by Kubilay Türkyilmaz[6]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 21 September 1988 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg 2–0 4–1 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 4–0
3 21 June 1989 St. Jakob Stadion, Basel, Switzerland 1–0 1–0 Friendly
4 20 September 1989 Stade de la Maladière, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 1–0 1–2 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 11 October 1989 St. Jakob Stadion, Basel, Switzerland 2–1 2–2 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 15 November 1989 Espenmoos, St. Gallen, Switzerland 2–1 2–1 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 8 May 1990 Wankdorfstadion, Bern, Switzerland 1–1 1–1 Friendly
8 21 August 1990 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria 1–1 3–1 Friendly
9 2–1
10 12 March 1991 Sportplatz Rheinau, Balzers, Liechtenstein 4–0 6–0 Friendly
11 1 May 1991 Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria 3–2 3–2 UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
12 5 June 1991 Espenmoos, St. Gallen, Switzerland 7–0 7–0 UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
13 21 August 1991 1–1 1–1 Friendly
14 9 October 1991 Stadion Allmend, Lucerne, Switzerland 3–0 3–1 Friendly
15 17 April 1993 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard, Malta 2–0 2–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
16 12 October 1994 Wankdorfstadion, Bern, Switzerland 4–2 4–2 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
17 16 August 1995 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
18 11 October 1995 Hardturm, Zürich, Switzerland 1–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
19 24 April 1996 Cornaredo Stadium, Lugano, Switzerland 2–0 2–0 Friendly
20 8 June 1996 Wembley Stadium, London, England 1–1 1–1 UEFA Euro 1996
21 30 April 1997 Hardturm, Zürich, Switzerland 1–0 1–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
22 11 October 1997 Hardturm, Zürich, Switzerland 1–0 5–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
23 2–0
24 5–0
25 4 September 1990 Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark 1–1 1–2 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
26 8 September 1999 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
27 2–0
28 7 October 2000 Hardturm, Zürich, Switzerland 3–1 5–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
29 4–1
30 5–1
31 11 October 2000 Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia 1–0 2–2 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
32 2–1
33 5 September 2001 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg 2–0 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
34 3–0

Honours

Galatasaray

Grasshoppers

Individual[7]

Notes and References

  1. News: Switzerland coast home against Liechtenstein. 25 May 2015. Swissinfo. 30 May 2008.
  2. News: Turkyilmaz: Swiss star, Turkish heart. https://web.archive.org/web/20150525181731/http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/news/y=2013/m=7/news=turkyilmaz-would-have-loved-play-for-turkey-2134375.html. dead. 25 May 2015. 25 May 2015. FIFA. 10 July 2013.
  3. News: Ronaldo, 3e joueur à transformer 3 penalties. Ronaldo, 3rd player to convert three penalties. 25 May 2015. RDS. 3 June 2004. fr.
  4. News: Yozgat, Kubilay'la temasa geçiyor. NTV. 16 June 2000. 27 September 2019. Tr. https://archive.today/20190927101708/http://arsiv.ntv.com.tr/news/11897.asp. 27 September 2019. live.
  5. News: Staniforth. Tommy. Football: New start for depleted Germans. 25 May 2015. The Independent. 10 October 1998.
  6. Web site: Kubilay Türkyilmaz. European Football. 25 May 2015.
  7. Web site: Player of the year » Switzerland. World Football. 29 July 2019.