Football in Turkey

Turkish Football Federation is the organization which rules the football league system in Turkey and Turkish national football team. Turkish national football team usually did not qualify for FIFA World Cup but with his 2 participation in this tournament they achieved one 3rd place during 2002 year. The team also participate 4 times in UEFA European Championship and reached semi-finals one time. Turkey is placed on 36th place in FIFA all-time table.

Turkish league system is divided in 8 levels. First four of them are with professional football teams and are named:

Super Lig – highest football league in Turkey with 18 clubs in it
TFF 1.Lig is second-highest football division – 18 clubs
TFF 2.Lig – split in 2 groups (White and Red) each with 18 clubs
TFF 3.Lig, split in 3 groups (Group 1, Group 2, Group 3) each of them with 18 clubs

The other football divisions are amateur.

Two national football tournaments are host each year by Turkish Football Federation, named Turkish Cup and Turkish Super Cup. In Turkish Cup participate 156 clubs from each of the divisions. The winner qualifies for UEFA Europa League. Turkish Super Cup is a single match event between champion of Turkey and winner of Turkish Cup.