Arda Guler Shines Despite Turkey's Defeat to Belgium
Arda Guler’s rise has been obvious inside Real Madrid. On Thursday night in the UEFA Nations League, it became impossible to ignore outside it as well.
Turkey lost 2-1 to Belgium, another bleak result in a difficult international stretch, but the story of the night was a 21-year-old who keeps playing as if the stage is finally the right size for his talent.
A star Real Madrid already knew about
Since arriving at the Bernabéu, Arda Guler has carried the tag of prodigy. The technique, the vision, the audacity – all of it was clear. This season, under Jose Mourinho, it has hardened into something more serious.
Mourinho has not just trusted him; he has built around him. Guler has become the creative axis of Madrid’s attack, drifting into spaces he chooses, not ones assigned to him, and dictating the rhythm with the authority of a veteran. The Turkish international is no longer the promising kid waiting for minutes. He is the player others now look for.
That evolution travelled with him into Turkey’s clash with Belgium.
De Bruyne’s verdict
After the match, Kevin De Bruyne did not bother with guarded compliments. Speaking to A Spor, the Belgium captain went straight to the point.
“Arda Guler is one of the best players in the world. He also plays for one of the best clubs in the world,” he said.
Coming from one of the game’s finest playmakers, it was more than a polite nod. It was an acknowledgement that Belgium had treated Guler as the main problem to solve. De Bruyne revealed that his side had prepared specifically to contain the Madrid midfielder, identifying him as Turkey’s primary attacking threat and keeping their defensive focus locked on him throughout the game.
That in itself tells the story. At 21, Guler is already the man opponents game-plan for.
De Bruyne also pointed toward a wider issue for Turkey: too much of the attacking burden sits on Guler’s shoulders. Others, he suggested, need to share that responsibility instead of leaving one young star to carry the weight.
A free-kick that stunned Belgium
Even with the spotlight and the attention, Guler still found a way to leave his mark.
On 20 minutes, he stood over a long-range free-kick and struck it with the kind of conviction that makes goalkeepers feel suddenly very small. The ball flew past Senne Lammens, who could do nothing but watch it sail in.
Sometimes a goal silences a stadium. This one seemed to silence the man in gloves.
“Sometimes, all you can do is applaud your opponent's goal, and Arda Guler's goal is one of those. Hats off,” Lammens admitted afterwards.
It was the sort of moment that separates talent from status. A big game, an organised opponent, a set piece from distance – and Guler turned it into a statement.
Defeat for Turkey, momentum for Guler
Belgium responded as elite sides do. De Bruyne took command, Charles De Ketelaere joined him on the scoresheet, and the home team overturned the deficit to win 2-1, handing Turkey yet another frustrating defeat.
The result underlined the problems in the Turkish setup. The dependence on Guler is glaring. When he creates, they threaten. When he is crowded out, the structure around him rarely steps up with enough invention or control.
Yet his individual trajectory cuts against the national team’s struggles. With every match, his reputation grows. The Nations League loss did nothing to slow that rise; if anything, it sharpened the focus on how far he has come.
At Real Madrid, Mourinho has given him the freedom to roam, to drop deep for the ball, to appear between the lines and to attack the final third on his own terms. That positional liberty has unlocked the full range of his creativity and movement. You can see it now with Turkey as well: team-mates instinctively look for him, trusting that something will happen when the ball reaches his feet.
The question is no longer whether Arda Guler belongs at this level. It is how much higher he can climb – and how quickly his club and country can build teams worthy of the player he is becoming.
