Turkiye 4-0 North Macedonia Highlights, International Friendly: Crescent-Stars Win Big In Istanbul Warm-Up

Hello, football fans! This is the start of our live blog covering Turkiye’s friendly match against North Macedonia in Istanbul. Stay tuned for pre-match updates and line-ups as they are released.

• Fixture: Turkiye vs North Macedonia

• Series: FIFA International Friendly

• Venue: Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Istanbul

• Date: Monday, June 1, 2026

• Time: 11:00 PM IST

The Turkiye vs North Macedonia match will not be live-streamed or televised on any platform in India. Fans in Turkiye can watch the match on TRT 1, TRT Spor, atv, Digiturk Play, and tabii. Fans in North Macedonia can watch the match on Arena Sport 1 Serbia, MRT1, MaxTV Go, MRT 2, MRT Play, and MRT 3

The players emerge out of the tunnel and take their positions on the pitch. The referee blows his whistle to get tonight’s friendly underway in Istanbul.

Just over a minute since the kick-off and Kokcu puts the Crescent-Stars ahead in tonight’s match!! Moments after Uzun hits the post, the ball is crossed by Aydin into the box. It’s met by Kokcu, who finds the back of the net.

It has been a really eventful start. After Kokcu’s early strike, Elezi saw his effort from inside the box blocked by th Turkish defence. There was a couple of minutes of stoppage in play due to an injury to Elemali, but overall, it has been a lively contest so far.

Uzun finds the back of the net to double Turkiye’s lead! It was a brilliance counter attacking move from the hosts, with Elmali teeing up Uzun, whose shot from outside the box beats Dimitrievski.

Time for the first drinks break. So far, Turkiye have been absolutely lethal, scoring twice from two shots on target. North Macedonia have had the same number of shots, with more posession and touches in the opposition box, but have drawn a blank in front of Bayindir’s goal.

A massive blow for Turkiye as Elmali goes down in pain and is unable to continue. The Galatasaray left-back is replaced by Celik. Hopefully, it is nothing serious, with just 10 days remaining in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The constant fouls has turned this into a bit of stop-start contest. That will very much suit North Macedonia, with Turkiye’s influence growing in the match. The visitors will be eager to not concede again before the break.

Fetai becomes the first player to be booked tonight for a late tackle. Turkiye continue to boss the tempo of the contest, but the Crescent-Stars are yet to test Dimitrievski in the last 20-odd minutes.

Just as I said that, Aydin had a shot blocked by the Macedonian defence, and Muldur’s strike flies just wide off the post. The visitors also make a rare break at the Turkish goal, with Bayindir making a decent save to deny Alioski.

The game suddenly opened up again towards the end, and after three minutes of additional time, the referee blows his whistle to bring the first half to an end.

The players return to the pitch for the start of the second half. A fair few changes for both sides at the break. The referee blows his whistle to get the action underway.

Turkiye have started the second half right where they left off. Aydin forced a save just a minute after the restart, and Gul finally scores the third goal of the night in the 53rd minute! It comes from a corner floated in by Uzun, which Gul heads past Dimitrievski.

With victory all but sealed up, Vincenzo Montella makes six changes. Uzun, Soyuncu, Ozcan, Gul, Aydin, and Bayindir are off. Simsir, Demiral, Tiknaz, Alper Yilmaz, Guler, and Sengezer are on.

Baris Alper Yilmaz scores to increase Turkey’s lead even futher!! It’s a clinical strike from the substitute, turning in Kahveci’s ball past the goalkeeper. It’s only the third international goal for the Galatasaray forward.

Five minutes left of the regulation time, and Turkiye are in complete control, with seven shots on the Macedonian goal. Just 32% possession of the visitors in the second half, who looks certain to return empty handed from tonight’s match.

Just a single minute of stoppage time added by the referee, who blows the final whistle to bring this warm-up match to an end. Turkiye have ran riot in Istanbul, and could have scored many more than the four they have netted tonight.