World Cup: Calhanoglu's Türkiye eliminated

Türkiye's FIFA World Cup campaign will come to an end on Friday after they suffered a second defeat in as many matches and were eliminated from the tournament. Paraguay claimed a 1-0 victory at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara thanks to Matías Galarza's early goal, leaving Vincenzo Montella's team rooted to the bottom of Group D without a point. Hakan Calhanoglu made his second consecutive start and played the full 90 minutes.

The match was decided after just two minutes. Paraguay won possession high up the pitch before Enciso laid the ball off for Galarza, whose low left-footed strike from outside the area found the bottom corner beyond Cakir. Türkiye's best opportunity to equalise came in the 35th minute from a Calhanoglu free-kick. His delivery picked out Muldur, whose header struck the crossbar before bouncing off the post and away. Just before half-time, Paraguay were reduced to ten men following Almiron's dismissal, but despite playing the entire second half with a numerical advantage, Turkey were unable to find an equaliser. Gul came closest in the 89th minute, sending a left-footed close-range effort wide.

Türkiye will play the final match of their tournament against the United States, who top the group with six points and have already secured qualification for the knockout stage. The two teams will meet at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood at 04:00 CEST on Friday 26 June.