İrfan Kahveci

Early career

He started playing football at Gençlerbirliği Football School at the age of 7. 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 with Gençlerbirliği during the Fuat Çapa period. On 27 April 2012, Kahveci played in the last 5 minutes of the match against Kayserispor for the first for the club in the Spor Toto Cup match.

Hacettepe (loan)

In the 2013-2014 season, he loaned to Hacettepe, the satellite team of Gençlerbirliği, to gain experience. Kahveci, who scored 4 goals in 34 matches here and contributed to Hacettepe's promotion to the TFF Second League at the end of the 2013-2014 season.

Gençlerbirliği

On 29 August 2014, Irfan Can made his Süper Lig debut for the first team against Rizespor during the 2014–15 season. On 9 November 2014, he scored his first league goal in the 63rd minute against Kasımpaşa. He finished the season with 6 goals in 30 matches in league and cup competitions. In his second season with Gençlerbirliği he amassed 3 goals in 33 matches in all competitions.

İstanbul Başakşehir

On 26 December 2016, Kahveci signed a contract with İstanbul Başakşehir until the end of 2021-22 season. On 14 January 2016, he made his debut with the team against Kayserispor as a substitute, Başakşehir won the match 5-0. On 19 September 2017, he made his continental debut against Hoffenheim in a UEFA Europa League…

Kahveci was called up by manager Fatih Terim for Turkey's friendly match against Russia on 31 August 2016 and subsequent World Cup 2018 qualifier against Croatia. He made a debut in the national team on 23 March 2018 in a 1–0 win against Ireland. 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 from Zeki Çelik. On 2 June 2026, Kahveci was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

In his early years at Gençlerbirliği, he played as a left-back position and then, his loan period at Hacettepe and senior career with Gençlerbirliği, Kahveci was deployed in several positions, most notably as a deep-lying midfielder and a wide midfielder primarily on the right side as he was deemed too small to play in the middle of the park. After transfers to İstanbul Başakşehir in the 2016–17 season, manager Abdullah Avcı inserted Kahveci into the playmaker 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 a central attacking midfielder at both club and international level. The player personally said that playing central midfield was his preference. As a result of his versatility, Kahveci could also function on the wing and spent the majority of his career at Fenerbahçe, occupying the role in the team's 4–3–3 formation. His close control with the ball, speed, dribbling, crossing and shots from outside the box, which resulted in former manager İsmail Kartal deploying Kahveci in the role during the player's situation at the club.

Club

As of match played 5 September 2026

International

As of match played 25 June 2026

Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.