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Ferdi Kadioglu could have played for three countries involved in this summer’s World Cup.
He has never doubted his decision to choose Turkey but was also eligible for the Netherlands and Canada — the latter co-hosts of the tournament with the United States and Mexico.
Kadioglu’s father is Turkish, his mother Dutch-Canadian. He was born in Arnhem in the east of the Netherlands near the border with Germany, but the nation of Kadioglu’s birth lost the fight to retain his services.
“I played from the under-16s to the under-21s for the Netherlands,” Kadioglu says, speaking to a small group of journalists, including The Athletic. “There was a moment when I couldn’t play any more for the under-21s. Canada and Turkey were also interested in me. I had to make a decision in that moment.
