Orkun Kokçu 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 goals for the Euro-Asian side. Kerem Aktürkoğlu - his arrival at Benfica was a talking point - stayed on the bench.

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

Turkey completed the turnaround in the 31st minute after a move on the left involving Kenan Yildiz, Güler and Evren Elmali, followed by a shot from Kökcü that took a 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 stepped up. Goalkeeper Ugurcan Çakir pushed away a shot from captain Weston McKennie (45 minutes) and then saw Trusty head over (45+3) on the way into the break, but he was beaten again by Berhalter after the restart, in the 49th minute.

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

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