Kuntz appointed Turkey national team coach

Germany's Stephan Kuntz has been appointed Turkey national team coach, the nation's football federation TFF announced on Sunday, reported dpa.

"The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) executive committee has agreed terms with German coach Stefan Kuntz to take helm at the senior national team," a statement said.

Kuntz will join a signing ceremony and presentation in Istanbul on Monday, the federation added.

We wish this decision to be auspicious for Turkish football," the TFF said.

Kuntz, 58 led Germany's under-21 team into the Euro final three straight times and won the title 2017 and 2021.

He takes the place of Senol Gunes ahead of the deciding stages of 2022 World Cup qualifying.

Turkey team general manager Hamit Altintop told dpa that Kuntz had been the top candidate from the outset, while former Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann and Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko were also mentioned as potential candidates.

Gunes had to go after a string of poor results over the past months, a Euro 2020 exit with three defeats and a 6-1 defeat in the Netherlands in qualifying two weeks ago.

Turkey had a strong start into qualifying in March but have now slipped behind the Dutch and Norway, with only the group winner qualifying directly for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

Turkey have not qualified for the World Cup since a surprise third-place finish in 2002.

Kuntz' first game in charge will be a key qualifier against Norway on October, followed by a trip to Latvia three days later.

The former Germany striker and Euro 1996 winner played one season in Turkey, 1995/96 at Istanbul top club Besiktas.

The German Football Federation (DFB) said last week it would release Kuntz out of his contract until 2023 should he reach an agreement in Turkey.

Altintop said that "the talks, including those with the DFB, were all perfect and very, very fair."