Yildiz apologises to Turkish supporters following his outing against Bulgaria | OneFootball

Juventus attacker Kenan Yildiz was far from satisfied with his individual performance in the World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria.

As usual, the 20-year-old was in the starting lineup for Turkiye, who hosted the struggling Bulgarians in Bursa on Saturday evening.

Having beaten their foes away from home by six goals to one in the reverse fixture, the Turkish supporters were eyeing another goal festival.

However, Vincenzo Montella’s men only scored twice: a spot-kick from Inter star, Hakan Calhanoglu, and a late own goal from the unfortunate Atanas Chernev.

Kenan Yildiz uhappy with his display against Bulgaria

For his part, Yildiz admitted this wasn’t his most impressive outing. The Juventus No.10, who started as a left winger in the 4-2-3-1 formation, displayed flashes of brilliance, but was guilty of squandering two inviting goal-scoring chances.

“Bulgaria played very well, we congratulated them at the end because they caused us problems,” said the Juvenus No.10 in his post-match interview via IlBianconero.

Kenan Yildiz (Photo by Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)

“The pitch was slippery, so it was difficult for us. But we played well as a team and won with a good performance.”

“We had so many chances. I should have scored at least two goals. Therefore, I apologise for not being able to find the back of the net. We’ll try to do even better in the next matches.”

What’s next for Yildiz & Turkiye

Turkiye’s last World Cup qualifier will be against Spain on Tuesday. It will take place at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville.

La Roja are currently leading the group with a perfect record of 15/15, while the Turks are second with 12 points.

The reverse fixture was utterly one-sided, with the Euro 2024 champions putting six unanswered goals past their hosts.

Therefore, barring a surreal result on Monday, Spain will officially book their place in the World Cup on Monday, while Turkiye and Yildiz will take part in the play-offs in March.