Turkey has been waiting 24 years for its return to the World Cup, but the end of this eternal drought is in sight. A win against hosts Kosovo at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium on Tuesday would secure Çalhanoğlu, who said that his "only goal is to play in the World Cup as captain," and Turkey a ticket to the FIFA World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
"One last game to go satisfy the longing we've had since 2002," the Inter Milan midfielder wrote on Instagram.
Back then, when the team led by star striker Hakan Şükür was defeated by eventual world champions Brazil in the semi-finals and then won the third-place clash with co-hosts South Korea, Calhanoglu was still playing for Waldhof Mannheim's youth team. Now, more than two decades later, he can follow in the footsteps of players like Sükür and goalkeeper Rüstü Reçber.
Turkey under pressure
The expectations of the team, peppered with young talents such as Arda Güler and Kenan Yildiz, are enormous ahead of the play-off final.
"This is the best generation Turkey has ever had," explained former international Erdal Keser in an interview with kicker. The former Dortmund striker hardly wants to think about a possible failure.
"It would really be a big disappointment if it doesn't work out at the last minute."
But Keser has "a very good feeling" ahead of the clash with Kosovo, even if they should not underestimate their opponents, as a World Cup appearance would be "the greatest thing" for them too, even historic, to be precise. The nation, which has been a FIFA member only since 2016, has never participated in a European Championship or a World Cup.
After beating Slovakia 4-3 in the semi-final of the play-offs, the euphoria is correspondingly high. The final stadium in Pristina only holds 13,000 spectators, German coach Franco Foda told kicker,"but if it were possible, 100,000 would certainly turn up".
"World Cup our big goal"
As an added incentive, the government led by Prime Minister Albin Kurti had even offered a bonus of 1 million euros in the event of qualification, but the World Cup dream alone is motivation enough for former Bundesliga professional Foda and his team. Now they want to "clear the last hurdle", the 59-year-old emphasised.
This also applies to Turkey, which can continue to hope thanks to a brilliant assist from Güler in their 1-0 win over Romania and have reportedly been offered seaside villas of they qualify for the World Cup.
"The World Cup is our big goal, and we'll give it our all," emphasised the Real Madrid youngster.