Orkun Kökçü scores in Turkey v USA, ex-Benfica seals win on 88' (Video) | OneFootball

Already eliminated, Turkey signed off from the World Cup with a stoppage-time win over the United States (3-2), who had already qualified for the round of 32, in the third and final matchday of Group D. Orkun Kökcü, the former Benfica midfielder, scored one of the Eurasian side’s goals. Kerem Aktürkoğlu - his arrival at Benfica was a talking point - remained on the bench.

The United States started brightly and scored the opener as early as the 3rd minute. Auston Trusty, Celtic’s centre-back, finished well after being picked out on the left by Sebastian Berhalter. The Turks responded and equalised in the 10th minute, benefiting from a move down the right involving Baris Yilmaz and Arda Güler, with the Real Madrid midfielder finishing the play.

Turkey completed the turnaround in the 31st minute, following a move on the left between Kenan Yildiz, Güler and Evren Elmali, then a shot by Kökcü that took a slight deflection off Yilmaz, though the goal was credited to the number 6. The former Benfica player once again started at the World Cup.

In the second half, the co-hosts grew into the game. Goalkeeper Ugurcan Çakir pushed away an effort from captain Weston McKennie (45 minutes) and then saw Trusty head over (45+3) on the way to half-time, but he would be beaten again by Berhalter after the restart, in the 49th minute.

Then, in stoppage time, at 90+8, Turkey scored from a move created by substitutes Can Uzun and Kaan Ayhan. The latter beat Matt Turner and secured all three points for the Crescent-Stars. Despite the win, the Turks finished bottom of the group due to defeats against Australia and Paraguay.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.