The coach of “Turkey” opens the thorny case of the Saudi “Al Hilal” player

Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella opened up about the difficult decisions ahead of the 2026 World Cup, commenting on the exclusion of Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal defender Yusuf Akcicek from the final roster for the tournament hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Despite the good performances of the defender of Saudi “Al Hilal” in the previous season, which brought him close to entering the Turkish national team, he was left out of the final list.

Akcicek’s absence from the final squad is a huge disappointment for the youngster, who was hoping to get his first World Cup experience and will continue his career looking for an opportunity to return to the national team in the future.

Montella said in statements reported by the Saudi newspaper Al-Midan Sports. “Making final decisions in the lineup was really difficult.”

“I know it’s part of our mission, but we’re sad because we couldn’t include some players. When I made decisions, I did so with complete freedom. I picked the players who could contribute a lot.”

Akcicek was among the names touted by the technical staff in the pre-season before he was dropped from the reckoning at the last minute, given the hope of main defender Merih Demiral as a mainstay at the heart of the defence.

Akcsek joined Al Hilal in the summer of 2024, arriving from Fenerbahce as one of the most prominent emerging Turkish talents in the center of defence.

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With Al-Zaim, he took part in the 2025-26 season, which saw the team finish unbeaten in the Roshen League (25 wins and 9 draws), and he managed to establish himself as a reliable alternative in Simone Inzaghi’s system, using his strength in the air and his composure at the back to build his composure at the back while he battled the collie in the national team.