Before 2002 the Turkish national selection qualified only for the 1954 World Cup final phase in Switzerland. The Turkish players happened to end in an extremely difficult Group though, the Group B: besides Korea there were, actually, also great Hungary of Ferenc Puskás and West Germany of Fritz Walter, the selections that would eventually reach the final. That time strange rules did not make the Turkish play against Hungarians but only against West Germans (a 1-4 defeat) and Koreans (a 7-0 great victory). The qualification for the quarter finals was decided by the play-off between West Germany, that won eventually the World Cup, and Turkey that lost 7-2. After that first experience, the crescent moon country had to wait 48 years for playing a World Cup (2002) once again, but that is another story...