By 1910 however Turkey had caught the football bug and the three major Turkish clubs, Besiktas, Galatasaray and Fenerbah e had all been established. However, despite the establishment of the Turkiye Futbol Fedcerasyono in 1923 league competitions remained open to regular re-organisation for several decades and not until 1959 was a professional, national league established. In the meantime, Turkey's national side had achieved some early encouragement. A 7-0 slaughter of Syria secured qualification for the 1950 World Cup, although Turkey then withdrew from the tournament. However, four years later they qualified for World Cup action again and this time took part in the finals proper in Switzerland.
Turkey are yet to have a kick of World Cup finals action since.
Despite the emergence of the gifted Lefter K c kandonyadis, an attacker of formidable ability who scored 21 goals for Turkey in 46 international appearances, Turkey's qualifying performances for major championships remained resolutely uninspiring. By 1987 however, Turkish international football appeared to have hit a new low as they collapsed 8-0 in a European Championship qualifier at Wembley against England, and failed to win any of their six group games. Rehabilitation from that game was steady. With fanatical support still to rely on Turkey's re-building mission was helped by a gradual influx of foreign coaches into the domestic game. The reward was reaped when they qualified for EURO 96 with a swagger, a full six points separating them from Sweden, who just two years previously had reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup.