The Fenerbahce forward scored the winner in the 53rd minute at Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri, ending Turkiye's 24-year wait to return to the World Cup finals.

Turkiye started on the front foot as Kenan Yildiz, Hakan Calhanoglu and Akturkoglu all fired shots off in the opening 15 minutes, but it was Kosovo which went closest in the first half as Fisnik Asllani saw his effort tipped onto the crossbar.

Tensions rose just before the break as Akturkoglu and Albian Hajdari faced off, firing up the home crowd, though they were silenced eight minutes into the second half as Akturkoglu turned Orkun Kokcu's mishit shot into the bottom-left corner.

Turkiye pushed to add a second and almost did so through Yildiz after the hour mark, but his curling effort was pushed well away by Arijanet Muric in the Kosovo goal.

The host side absorbed the pressure and gave everything in hopes of taking the match to extra time, but their best chance, which fell the way of Florent Muslija on the edge of the box, flew just wide of the left post as Turkiye booked its trip to North America.