.jpg) Kahveci playing forTurkey in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | İrfan Can Kahveci[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-07-15)15 July 1995 (age 30) | ||
| Place of birth | Bayat,Ayaş,Ankara, Turkey | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Kasımpaşa (on loan fromFenerbahçe) | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2012 | Gençlerbirliği | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2016 | Gençlerbirliği | 71 | (9) |
| 2013–2014 | →Hacettepe (loan) | 34 | (4) |
| 2017–2021 | İstanbul Başakşehir | 116 | (12) |
| 2021– | Fenerbahçe | 128 | (22) |
| 2026– | →Kasımpaşa (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2012 | Turkey U17 | 7 | (1) |
| 2013 | Turkey U18 | 4 | (0) |
| 2014 | Turkey U20 | 3 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Turkey U21 | 12 | (0) |
| 2018– | Turkey | 44 | (6) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 5 October 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 November 2025 | |||
İrfan Can Kahveci (born 15 July 1995) is a Turkish professionalfootballer who plays as anattacking midfielder or awinger forSüper Lig clubKasımpaşa, on loan fromFenerbahçe, and theTurkey national team.
He started playing football at Gençlerbirliği Football School at the age of 7.[3] After the years he spent at the football school, İrfan entered the Gençlerbirliği youth team by showing himself in the selections. He signed a professional contract withGençlerbirliği during theFuat Çapa period. On 27 April 2012, Kahveci played in the last 5 minutes of the match againstKayserispor for the first for the club in theSpor Toto Cup match.[4]
In the 2013-2014 season, he loaned toHacettepe, the satellite team of Gençlerbirliği, to gain experience. Kahveci, who scored 4 goals in 34 matches here and contributed to Hacettepe's promotion to theTFF Second League at the end of the 2013-2014 season.[3]
On 29 August 2014, Irfan Can made hisSüper Lig debut for the first team againstRizespor during the2014–15 season. On 9 November 2014, he scored his first league goal in the 63rd minute againstKasımpaşa. He finished the season with 6 goals in 30 matches in league and cup competitions.
In hissecond season with Gençlerbirliği he amassed 3 goals in 33 matches in all competitions.
On 26 December 2016, Kahveci signed a contract withİstanbul Başakşehir until the end of 2021-22 season.[5] On 14 January 2016, he made debut with the team againstKayserispor as a substitute, Başakşehir won the match 5-0.
On 19 September 2017, he made his continental debut againstHoffenheim in aUEFA Europa League away match, they lost 3-1.
On 2 December 2020, he scored a hat-trick againstRB Leipzig in theUEFA Champions League. His team, however, lost the match 3–4.[6] It made him only the third player to score a hat-trick in a losing cause in theChampions League, afterRonaldo andGareth Bale.[7]
On 31 January 2021,Fenerbahçe announced viaTwitter that Kahveci joined the team.[8] He signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Fenerbahçe for a €7 million fee.[9][10]
On 4 March 2021, he made his debut againstAntalyaspor at theŞükrü Saracoğlu Stadium,Süper Lig match tied 1–1.[11] On 30 October 2021, he scored his first goal againstKonyaspor, Fenerbahçe lost 2–1.[12]
In2023–24 season, he made a very strong start with new coach and team's local legendİsmail Kartal and became one of the key players who took more responsibility on the field.[13] He scored 12 goals in 31Süper Lig matches and 6 goals in 14UEFA Conference League matches.
On 26 October 2023, he wore a Fenerbahçe jersey for the 100th time in all competitions againstLudogorets Razgrad inUEFA Europa Conference League Group H third week match, Fenerbahçe won 3–1 inŞükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.[14]
On 12 January 2025, Fenerbahçe announced that they had signed a three-year contract with Kahveci until June 2028.[15]
Kahveci was called up by managerFatih Terim forTurkey's friendly match againstRussia on 31 August 2016 and subsequentWorld Cup 2018 qualifier againstCroatia.[16] He made a debut in the national team on 23 March 2018 in a 1–0 win againstIreland.[17] In his second match in June 2019, a friendly against Uzbekistan, he had a chance to score his first international goal, but he missed a 90th-minute penalty kick. Turkey still won the game 2–0 courtesy of a brace fromZeki Çelik.
In his early years atGençlerbirliği, he played as a left-back[3][18] position and then, his loan period atHacettepe and senior career with Gençlerbirliği, Kahveci was deployed in several positions, most notably as adeep-lying midfielder and awide midfielder primarily on the right side as he was deemed too small to play in the middle of the park.[3] After transfers toİstanbul Başakşehir in the2016–17 season, managerAbdullah Avcı inserted Kahveci into theplaymaker role, where his vision, passing, technical skill and ability to read and understand the game suited him. Since that season, Kahveci was primarily deployed in the position or as acentral attacking midfielder at both club and international level. The player personally said that playing central midfield was his preference.[19]
As a result of his versatility, Kahveci could also function on the wing and spent the majority of his career atFenerbahçe, occupying the role in the team's 4–3–3 formation.[20] His close control with the ball, speed,dribbling,crossing and shots from outside the box, which resulted in former managerİsmail Kartal deploying Kahveci in the role during the player's situation at the club.[13]
| Club | Season | League | Turkish Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hacettepe (loan) | 2013–14 | TFF Third League | 34 | 4 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 38 | 6 | ||
| Gençlerbirliği | 2014–15 | Süper Lig | 24 | 5 | 6 | 1 | – | – | 30 | 6 | ||
| 2015–16 | Süper Lig | 32 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 33 | 4 | |||
| 2016–17 | Süper Lig | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 1 | |||
| Total | 71 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 11 | ||
| İstanbul Başakşehir | 2016–17 | Süper Lig | 12 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 1 | ||
| 2017–18 | Süper Lig | 25 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4[a] | 0 | – | 33 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19 | Süper Lig | 32 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | – | 37 | 4 | ||
| 2019–20 | Süper Lig | 29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10[b] | 2 | – | 39 | 6 | ||
| 2020–21 | Süper Lig | 18 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6[c] | 3 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 6 | |
| Total | 116 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 150 | 19 | ||
| Fenerbahçe | 2020–21 | Süper Lig | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Süper Lig | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | – | 29 | 4 | ||
| 2022–23 | Süper Lig | 27 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 10[d] | 3 | – | 42 | 7 | ||
| 2023–24 | Süper Lig | 31 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 14[e] | 6 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 18 | |
| 2024–25 | Süper Lig | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14[f] | 1 | – | 42 | 3 | ||
| 2025–26 | Süper Lig | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[g] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| Total | 128 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 46 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 183 | 32 | ||
| Career total | 349 | 47 | 34 | 6 | 68 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 451 | 68 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | |||
| 2018 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 4[a] | 1 | |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 7[b] | 2 | |
| 2025 | 7 | 2 | |
| Total | 44 | 6 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1[24] | 20 June 2021 | Baku Olympic Stadium,Baku, Azerbaijan | 21 |  Switzerland | 1–2 | 1–3 | UEFA Euro 2020 |
| 2[25] | 16 June 2023 | Skonto Stadium,Riga, Latvia | 25 |  Latvia | 3–2 | 3–2 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
| 3[26] | 11 October 2024 | Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium,Samsun, Turkey | 36 |  Montenegro | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2024–25 UEFA Nations League B |
| 4[27] | 15 October 2024 | Laugardalsvöllur,Reykjavík, Iceland | 37 |  Iceland | 1–1 | 4–2 | |
| 5[28] | 20 March 2025 | Rams Park,Istanbul, Turkey | 38 |  Hungary | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs |
| 6[29] | 11 October 2025 | Vasil Levski National Stadium,Sofia, Bulgaria | 43 |  Bulgaria | 6–1 | 6–1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
İstanbul Başakşehir
Fenerbahçe
Turkey squads | |||||||
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