New coach Guus Hiddink made a solid start to his reign with a 3-0 victory in Kazakhstan before an edgy – yet ultimately crucial – 3-2 home win against Belgium, Arda Turan scoring the decisive goal. October 2010 dealt a major blow to Turkey's chances, however, a 3-0 defeat in Germany preceding a shock 1-0 loss in Azerbaijan that left Turkish hopes in the balance. Their challenge was revived by a 2-0 home win against Austria, and a 1-1 draw in Belgium kept them in touch in the race for second place. Arda Turan crucially struck into added time as ten-man Turkey recorded a 2-1 home win against Kazakhstan in September 2011, although a last-gasp Arda Turan penalty miss meant Hiddink's men had to settle for a goalless draw in Austria next time out. Section winners Germany then left Istanbul with a 3-1 victory in Turkey's penultimate fixture, but a Burak Yılmaz goal against Azerbaijan proved enough to secure victory on the final day and with it a play-off place.

2010 FIFA World Cup
Qualifying Group 5: P10 W4 D3 L3 F13 A10 Pts15
A disappointing campaign marred by injuries to key players ended with Turkey missing out on their second successive World Cup finals and Fatih Terim standing down as coach. Draws against Belgium and Estonia, and back-to-back defeats by eventual section winners Spain meant Terim's side slipped behind Bosnia and Herzegovina in the race for second place. After drawing 1-1 in Zenica in September 2009, a 2-0 loss in Belgium the following month sealed their fate as they ended third, four points – and, tellingly, 12 goals – shy of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

UEFA EURO 2008
Final tournament: semi-finals
Qualifying Group C: P12 W7 D3 L2 F25 A11 Pts24
Turkey qualified for the finals after finishing runners-up to Greece, a 2-1 win in Norway in their penultimate fixture ensuring they finished above their opponents. Terim's side then exceeded expectations by reaching the last four. After an opening loss to Portugal, they stunned co-hosts Switzerland by winning 2-1 through Arda Turan's added-time goal. More drama followed as they overturned a two-goal deficit against the Czech Republic to book a last-eight slot, Nihat Kahveci scoring twice late on. A 120th-minute Semih Şentürk equaliser took them to penalties against Croatia, with Turkey prevailing 3-1, before their luck ran out with a 3-2 semi-final defeat by Germany.

UEFA European Championship best performance
After three defeats on their tournament debut at EURO '96, Turkey caused a stir at UEFA EURO 2000, getting through a group containing Italy, Sweden and co-hosts Belgium before losing 2-0 to Portugal in the quarter-finals. Terim's team went a step further at UEFA EURO 2008 thanks to a rash of late goals, and though suspensions undermined them in their last-four meeting with Germany, it still took a last-minute Philipp Lahm strike to deny them extra time.

Key fact
Having failed to qualify in their first nine UEFA European Championship campaigns, Turkey have reached three of the last four final tournaments.

Play-off record
UEFA EURO 2000
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Turkey
Turkey 0-0 Republic of Ireland (Turkey win on away goals)

2002 FIFA World Cup
Austria 0-1 Turkey
Turkey 5-0 Austria

UEFA EURO 2004
Latvia 1-0 Turkey
Turkey 2-2 Latvia

2006 FIFA World Cup
Switzerland 2-0 Turkey
Turkey 4-2 Switzerland (Switzerland win on away goals)