Game is over and the final score is Turkey 1-2 Belgium. Belgium rallied from a goal down to beat Turkiye 2-1 in the Nations League, leapfrogging Italy into second place in Group A1.
2026/2027 UEFA Nations League
1-2
Match Report:
Having parted company with Vincenzo Montella and hired Sergen Yalcin since the previous international break, Turkiye looked determined to impress their new boss early on.
And they went ahead in spectacular fashion after 20 minutes, as Real Madrid midfielder Arda Guler whipped a glorious, left-footed free-kick around the Belgium wall and into the top-left corner from 30 yards out.
That lead only lasted seven minutes, though, as Jeremy Doku tricked his way past Oguz Aydin and centred from the left, with his former Manchester City team-mate Kevin De Bruyne crashing a first-time finish high into the net.
And Belgium's rapid turnaround was complete on the half-hour mark.
Doku was involved again, riding Aydin's challenge as he bustled his way to the right side of the area, before seeing his cross blocked. Nicolas Raskin pounced on the loose ball and found Maxim De Cuyper at the far post, and though the Brighton man saw his first attempted cutback blocked, his second found Charles De Ketelaere for a tap-in.
De Bruyne De Ketelaere #NationsLeague https://t.co/Ci4iG5DwV7
— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) November 12, 2026
Diego Moreira curled an effort over the crossbar prior to the interval, and Belgium had a better chance to extend their lead just before the hour, only for Ugurcan Cakir to thwart De Ketelaere.
Turkiye applied some pressure, with Guler shooting straight at Senne Lammens as he hit the deck somewhat easily under the attention of Raskin, while Deniz Gul and Hakan Calhanoglu both saw angled drives blocked by the Manchester United goalkeeper, but that positive spell came too late for Turkiye.
Daring Doku takes the fight to Turkiye
When Belgium fell behind to Guler's stunning free-kick – his eighth goal in 37 senior internationals – they were staring at the prospect of their Nations League quarter-final hopes being ended with a game to spare, depending on Italy's result versus France.
But Mark van Bommel's side fought back to pile the pressure on the Azzurri, and Doku was the catalyst for their revival.
The livewire Manchester City winger attempted a staggering 15 dribbles during Thursday's match, seven of which were successful, including one that led to him assisting De Bruyne.
There are only two instances of a player attempting more dribbles in a single Nations League match. One of those was Doku himself, against Ukraine in March 2025 (16), with the other being Georgia's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia against North Macedonia in September 2020 (17).
Doku's 24 duels contested have only ever been bettered three times in a Nations League game, with those aforementioned performances from Doku (26) and Kvaratskhelia (27), in addition to England's Raheem Sterling tallying 25 against Iceland in September 2020.
Van Bommel can now sit back and await the result of Italy's clash with France, but whatever happens in Milan, Belgium will have a chance of clinching a quarter-final place on Sunday, when they host the Azzurri.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
3' Highlight from Turkey vs Belgium
17' Match Event for Turkey vs Belgium
20' GOAL! Turkey 1-0 Belgium (Arda Güler)
27' GOAL! Turkey 1-1 Belgium (Kevin De Bruyne)
31' GOAL! Turkey 1-2 Belgium (Charles De Ketelaere)
34' Match Event for Turkey vs Belgium
37' Match Event for Turkey vs Belgium
46' Highlight from Turkey vs Belgium
51' Match Event for Turkey vs Belgium
54' Highlight from Turkey vs Belgium
56' Match Event for Turkey vs Belgium
60' Highlight from Turkey vs Belgium
63' Highlight from Turkey vs Belgium
69' Match Event for Turkey vs Belgium
76' Highlight from Turkey vs Belgium
83' Match Event for Turkey vs Belgium
89' Match Event for Turkey vs Belgium
92' Match Event for Turkey vs Belgium
Line-ups
Turkey XI: E.Ünal, Demiral, Uğurcan Çakır, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Ozan Kabak, Akgun, Barış Alper Yılmaz, Oğuz Aydın, Orkun Kökçü, İsmail Yüksek, Güler
Subs: Calhanoglu, Zeki Çelik, Özcan, Mustafa Eskihellaç, Berke Özer, Emirhan Topçu, Ersin Destanoğlu, Eren Elmalı, Ahmetcan Kaplan, Can Uzun, Deniz Gül, İlhan Fakılı
Belgium XI: De Bruyne, Mechele, Tielemans, Castagne, Nicolas Raskin, Senne Lammens, Maxim De Cuyper, De Ketelaere, Doku, Nathan Ngoy, Diego Moreira
Subs: Vanaken, Trossard, Dodi Lukébakio, Hugo Cuypers, Maarten Vandevoordt, Arthur Theate, Mandela Keita, Kyriani Sabbe, Mike Penders, Joaquin Seys, Josué Kongolo, Mika Godts