İrfan Kahveci

İrfan Can Kahveci (born 15 July 1995) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Turkey national team.

Club career Early career He started playing football at Gençlerbirliği Football School at the age of 7.

Hacettepe (loan) In the 2013-2014 season, he loaned to Hacettepe, the satellite team of Gençlerbirliği, to gain experience. Kahveci, who scored 4 goals in 34 matches here and contributed to Hacettepe's promotion to the TFF Second League at the end of the 2013-2014 season. On 14 January 2016, he made his debut with the team against Kayserispor as a substitute, Başakşehir won the match 5-0.

On 19 September 2017, he made his continental debut against Hoffenheim in a UEFA Europa League away match, they lost 3-1.

On 2 December 2020, he scored a hat-trick against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League. His team, however, lost the match 3–4. It made him only the third player to score a hat-trick in a losing cause in the Champions League, after Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Fenerbahçe On 31 January 2021, Fenerbahçe announced via Twitter that Kahveci joined the team. He signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Fenerbahçe for a €7 million fee.

On 4 March 2021, he made his debut against Antalyaspor at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Süper Lig match tied 1–1. On 30 October 2021, he scored his first goal against Konyaspor, Fenerbahçe lost 2–1.

In 2023–24 season, he made a very strong start with new coach and team's local legend İsmail Kartal and became one of the key players who took more responsibility on the field.

On 12 January 2025, Fenerbahçe announced that they had signed a three-year contract with Kahveci until June 2028.

International career

Kahveci was called up by manager Fatih Terim for Turkey's friendly match against Russia on 31 August 2016 and subsequent World Cup 2018 qualifier against Croatia. He made a debut in the national team on 23 March 2018 in a 1–0 win against Ireland. In his second match in June 2019, a friendly against Uzbekistan, he had a chance to score his first international goal, but he missed a 90th-minute penalty kick. Turkey still won the game 2–0 courtesy of a brace from Zeki Çelik.

On 2 June 2026, Kahveci was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Playing style In his early years at Gençlerbirliği, he played as a left-back position and then, his loan period at Hacettepe and senior career with Gençlerbirliği, Kahveci was deployed in several positions, most notably as a deep-lying midfielder and a wide midfielder primarily on the right side as he was deemed too small to play in the middle of the park. After transfers to İstanbul Başakşehir in the 2016–17 season, manager Abdullah Avcı inserted Kahveci into the playmaker role, where his vision, passing, technical skill and ability to read and understand the game suited him. Since that season, Kahveci was primarily deployed in the position or as a central attacking midfielder at both club and international level. The player personally said that playing central midfield was his preference.

As a result of his versatility, Kahveci could also function on the wing and spent the majority of his career at Fenerbahçe, occupying the role in the team's 4–3–3 formation. His close control with the ball, speed, dribbling, crossing and shots from outside the box, which resulted in former manager İsmail Kartal deploying Kahveci in the role during the player's situation at the club.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.

+ List of international goals scored by İrfan Can Kahveci No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition 1 20 June 2021 Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan 21 1–2 1–3 UEFA Euro 2020 2 16 June 2023 Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia 25 3–2 3–2 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 3 11 October 2024 Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium, Samsun, Turkey 36 1–0 1–0 2024–25 UEFA Nations League B 4 15 October 2024 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland 37 1–1 4–2 5 20 March 2025 Rams Park, Istanbul, Turkey 38 3–1 3–1 2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs 6 11 October 2025 Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria 43 6–1 6–1 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours Club İstanbul Başakşehir Süper Lig: 2019–20

Fenerbahçe Turkish Cup: 2022–23

Individual Turkish Footballer of the Year: 2020 Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2021–22, 2022–23