Bild has sharpened the criticism of Vincenzo Montella by questioning why Can Uzun was left out of Turkey’s opening World Cup match and only used against Paraguay. The German newspaper said the decision to keep him on the bench was surprising, turning the midfielder’s late appearance into a talking point after A Milli Futbol Takımımız exited the 2026 FIFA Dünya Kupası D Grubu with two defeats.
That search interest is tied to the result and to the selection itself. Turkey lost first to Avustralya and then to Paraguay, and Can Uzun only got on the field in the Paraguay match, where Bild said he brought fresh energy after coming on. The paper also said that, for a player who arrived at the tournament with high expectations, being limited to one appearance was a missed chance.
The detail matters because the criticism is not about one isolated substitution. Bild framed Turkey’s early exit as a disappointment and pointed directly at Montella’s handling of Can Uzun, while also focusing on how the squad’s World Cup campaign unfolded across the two losses. The paper’s point was simple: if a player can change the rhythm when he enters, leaving him out entirely from the opening game becomes harder to explain.
That is where the friction sits. Bild described it as surprising that Can Uzun did not even play in the first match, then added that his cameo against Paraguay offered exactly the kind of lift Turkey had been missing. In other words, the same decision that looked cautious before kickoff looked costly after the tournament ended, especially once the team was out after two defeats.
Bild’s bottom line was blunt: Montella will have to accept this World Cup drama for now. The unanswered question is the one that lingers over every selection debate after an exit — why Can Uzun was not trusted earlier, when Turkey still had room to shape its own fate.
Ozan Kabak is part of the broader conversation around Turkey’s World Cup disappointment, but the focus of this latest criticism is clear: Bild wants Montella to account for a bench decision that left Can Uzun waiting until Paraguay, and perhaps waiting too long.
