‘An Unforgettable Experience’ – Izzet’s FIFA World Cup Memories

In one of several interviews over the years with Club Historian John Hutchinson, Muzzy Izzet, a star midfielder for Leicester City between 1996 and 2004, recalled playing for Turkey in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Semi-Final against eventual winners Brazil.

2026-06-09T09:00+01:00

by John Hutchinson

Published

11 Hours 12 Mins Ago

‘An Unforgettable Experience’ – Izzet’s FIFA World Cup Memories

In one of several interviews over the years with Club Historian John Hutchinson, Muzzy Izzet, a star midfielder for Leicester City between 1996 and 2004, recalled playing for Turkey in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Semi-Final against eventual winners Brazil.

John Hutchinson

2026-06-09T09:00+01:00

‘An Unforgettable Experience’ – Izzet’s FIFA World Cup Memories

In one of several interviews over the years with Club Historian John Hutchinson, Muzzy Izzet, a star midfielder for Leicester City between 1996 and 2004, recalled playing for Turkey in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Semi-Final against eventual winners Brazil.

John Hutchinson

2026-06-09T09:00+01:00

‘An Unforgettable Experience’ – Izzet’s FIFA World Cup Memories

In one of several interviews over the years with Club Historian John Hutchinson, Muzzy Izzet, a star midfielder for Leicester City between 1996 and 2004, recalled playing for Turkey in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Semi-Final against eventual winners Brazil.

John Hutchinson

2026-06-09T09:00+01:00

‘An Unforgettable Experience’ – Izzet’s FIFA World Cup Memories

In one of several interviews over the years with Club Historian John Hutchinson, Muzzy Izzet, a star midfielder for Leicester City between 1996 and 2004, recalled playing for Turkey in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Semi-Final against eventual winners Brazil.

John Hutchinson

2026-06-09T09:00+01:00

A hugely popular player at Filbert Street and then Walkers Stadium, now called King Power Stadium, England-born Muzzy was often linked with playing for the Three Lions during his time as a Fox. That never materialised, however, and it was Turkey who he would go on to represent on the international stage.

“My father is Turkish,” Muzzy said. “The [England] manager at the time when I was being suggested for the squad was Kevin Keegan. I felt I was playing well enough to get a chance to get in the squad. Whether I would be playing or not was another matter. At that time there was Gazza (Paul Gascoigne), Paul Ince, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes and they were all at their best.

“I had had an offer to play for Turkey, so my agent had a word with Keegan, and he said l might get into the squad but that I was not someone who would necessarily play. So, I thought maybe playing for Turkey would be the best scenario for me.

“A lot was made of me having to do Turkish National Service in the army, but the Turkish authorities said at the outset that I wouldn’t have to do this. It was just that I had to get a Turkish passport. Anyone who has a Turkish passport has, by law, to do two years National Service. However, because I was never going to live in Turkey, but just represent the national team, they waived this.”

With this in mind, Muzzy took out Turkish citizenship in early 2000 and made his international debut against Sweden at UEFA EURO 2000 in June of that year, a fortnight after Martin O’Neilll, who had done so much for Muzzy’s career, had left Filbert Street to manage Celtic.

In October 2000, with City top of the Premier League under Peter Taylor, Muzzy played for Turkey in two World Cup qualifying matches. These were a 0-0 draw against Sweden again in Gothenburg and a 1-0 victory against Azerbaijan in Baku. A month later, he also played against France in Istanbul. In 2002, Muzzy was selected for the Turkey squad which had qualified for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

Remembering his time with the Turkish World Cup squad, Muzzy recalled: “I went to Turkey for a week to a training camp. Then we had two weeks in Hong Kong to acclimatise. From there we went to South Korea. When we left Korea, we went back to Turkey. I had just had my first child and was away from home. However, I tried my best to enjoy the tournament because it was the World Cup.

“Our opponents in the group stage in South Korea were Brazil, Costa Rica and China but I had to watch each game from the bench. We came second in the group to Brazil and were drawn against Japan in the second round. We beat Japan 1-0 and then defeated Senegal 1-0 with a golden goal in extra-time in the quarter-finals in Osaka.

“I did play for the last 20 minutes in the semi-final against Brazil (in Saitama) and that was an unforgettable experience. I played on the right, against Roberto Carlos, but we lost 1-0. After the game, I swapped shirts with Carlos. We beat South Korea in their third-place play-off but I was on the bench again.”

The next day, the team flew home to Istanbul, escorted by four fighter jets once they were in Turkish airspace. They were greeted by 200,000 Turkish fans and then went on an open top bus parade around Istanbul.

A year later, a bronze statue featuring Muzzy and all the other players and coaches from Turkey’s 2002 World Cup squad was unveiled in Istanbul. In all, Muzzy made nine appearances for Turkey.

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