He became a popular player at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium and he made international headlines after he scored a hat-trick against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League in December 2004.

After winning three Süper Lig titles with Fenerbahçe he left for English club Middlesbrough on a free transfer.

Tuncay spent two seasons with Middlesbrough and won the player of the year award in 2009, but he was unable to help them avoid relegation.

He was unable to earn a regular place under manager Tony Pulis and joined German side VfL Wolfsburg in January 2010.

After he had left Fenerbahçe, his former manager, Brazilian Legend Zico, stated: "Tuncay has been a great loss to us, he was the one giving us the soul and the hope.

In May 2009, Matt Le Tissier of Sky Sports acknowledged his performances: "If they [Boro] had 11 Tuncay's they'd be in the top half of the table; this boy is quality, he works his socks off as well.

[26] He turned down the chance to move abroad, after German Bundesliga clubs Wolfsburg[27] and Stuttgart[28] and Spanish La Liga side Villarreal[29] making offers for him, in favour of staying in England.

Prior to the end of the transfer window, he left Middlesbrough and joined Premier League side Stoke City.

[30] On 29 December 2007, he scored his fourth goal in Boro's 1–0 away victory against Portsmouth[31] which was the first time in 54 years that Middlesbrough had won at Fratton Park in the top flight.

After a knee injury while playing for Turkey against Belgium in the World Cup Qualifiers in early September 2008, Tuncay was sidelined for five weeks.

[34][35] He returned to first team action against Blackburn Rovers on 10 October, and scored an overhead kick goal which was wrongly ruled out for offside.

The win against West Ham takes Boro to their fourth Quarter Final in the FA Cup in four consecutive seasons.

[41] He was eligible to play for Stoke the day after his transfer in the fourth league game of the season, and made his debut coming on as a substitute for Ricardo Fuller in the 84th minute,[42] against Sunderland at the Britannia Stadium.

[43][44] He made his first start for Stoke in a third-round League Cup game against Blackpool,[45] setting up two goals and winning a penalty.

[47] Although much was made after the event, Tuncay subsequently denied rumours that he was unhappy and insisted that his future lies with the Premier League club.

[54] On 27 November 2010, Tuncay played a major role in the 92nd minute against Manchester City, assisting Matthew Etherington for an equalising goal in a 1–1 draw.

[55] He left Stoke on the final day of the January transfer window joining German side Wolfsburg.

[59] The clearance was given on 23 August and Tuncay scored on his Bolton Wanderers debut in the League Cup tie against Macclesfield Town a day later.

[64][65] On 31 July 2014, Tuncay signed a one-year deal with Qatar Stars League side Umm Salal.

[66][67] Tuncay was signed by Indian Super League Side FC Pune City to play with them for their Second Season.

For a period of time Tuncay was the vice-captain of the Turkey national team behind the main captain Emre Belözoğlu,[68] and has scored 22 international goals in 80 appearances to date.

The game ended 4–2, however the Swiss advanced due to the away goals rule, and meant Turkey would not play in the finals of the 2006 World Cup.

Tuncay made his full international debut for the Turkey national team on 19 June 2003, having been promoted the day before when he scored twice in a match for the Under-21 side.

Just three minutes after the opponents had taken the lead, he won a penalty after being fouled by Danny Califf and Frankie Hejduk, and Okan Yılmaz converted it to equalise.

Tuncay then went on to score the winner in the second half, after picking up Volkan Arslan's cross to slot the ball past the American goalkeeper Tim Howard.

After a World Cup qualifier on 6 September 2008 between Armenia and Turkey, two sides which have historical political problems, both teams received a FIFA Fair Play Award for 2008.