Kerem Akt\u00fcrkoglu<\/a> scored from close range early in the second half in the Kosovan capital Pristina to send T\u00fcrkiye to its first World Cup since 2002.<\/p>\n The prize is a spot in a group with the U.S., Australia<\/a> and Paraguay<\/a> this summer. T\u00fcrkiye will open against Australia in Vancouver before facing Paraguay in Santa Clara, California, and finally the U.S. at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrkiye’s last trip to the World Cup ended with a surprise run to the semifinals and an eventual third-place finish.<\/p>\n The U.S. and T\u00fcrkiye have met five teams previously, with each team winning twice. However, T\u00fcrkiye came out on top when the sides last faced off in a friendly in East Hartford, Connecticut, last June.<\/p>\n Kosovo was hoping to qualify for the World Cup for the first time, less than 10 years since the national team was out of the international soccer family.<\/p>\n It was in May 2016 that Kosovo and Gibraltar were voted into FIFA as its 210th and 211th member federations. That was eight years after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.<\/p>\n Kosovo had the best chance of an entertaining first half, but T\u00fcrkiye goalkeeper Ugurcan \u00c7akir<\/a> pulled off a superb one-handed save to push Fisnik Asllani’s strike onto the crossbar.<\/p>\nKerem Akt\u00fcrkoglu scored the crucial goal for T\u00fcrkiye against Kosovo.\u00a0Serhat Cagdas\/Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n