A disgrace? Turkey played with a man advantage for half a match yet still crashed out early! Two games, 62 shots, zero goals—wasting a €500 million star-studded squad.

The match on June 20 Beijing time saw Turkey, with a numerical advantage for most of the second half, fall 0-1 to Paraguay in their second Group D fixture. This loss, their second in a row, sealed their elimination with one round to spare. Turkey joined Haiti as the second team to exit the tournament.

Before the World Cup began, few would have predicted Turkey would be heading home after the group stage. After all, they boasted Real Madrid's wonderkid Güler, valued at €90 million, and Juventus's rising star Yıldız, worth €75 million, along with 32-year-old Inter Milan captain Çalhanoğlu, who is still in his prime.

Furthermore, Turkey had familiar names like Demiral, Özcan, Çelik, and Kadioglu, with a total squad value of nearly €500 million (€474 million), ranking 13th among all 48 teams.

However, the "Crescent-Stars" performance was shocking. In their opener, despite firing 30 shots, they lost 2-0 to Australia in an upset. Then, in the second match against Paraguay—a team far weaker on paper—Turkey fell behind just 65 seconds in due to a defensive error that led to a breakaway goal.

Although Paraguay's No. 10, Almiron, was sent off after the first half for covering his mouth, Turkey failed to capitalize on their man advantage for the entire second half, eventually losing 0-1. They took 32 shots in this match alone, and across two games, 62 attempts—yet failed to score a single goal.

Despite Turkey's abundance of talented young players, the team seemed overly emotional. They dominated possession but struggled to create meaningful chances. Ultimately, their surprising early exit from the group stage was both unexpected and, in hindsight, understandable.