İsmail Kartal was born on June 15, 1961 in Istanbul. Kartal, who started his football career in Sarıyer, gained experience by transferring to Gaziantepspor after a short time. Kartal, who played 235 times for Fenerbahçe between 1983 and 1993, contributed to the team by scoring 15 goals during this period. Then, in the 1993-94 season, he scored 12 goals in 32 matches for Denizlispor; This was the most productive period of his football life. Finally, after completing the 1994-95 season in Adanaspor, he retired from active football.
At the national level, Kartal wore the Türkiye U-21 jersey twice and the A team six times; He carried the national jersey eight times in total.
Kartal, who stepped into the role of coach after his retirement, first served in the Fenerbahçe infrastructure and gained his first presidential experience at Kardemir Karabükspor. Making Sivasspor the 1st League champion and promoting them to the Super League was one of his most notable achievements. He worked as a commentator for Mardinspor, then Malatyaspor and FB TV in the 2006-07 season.
After working as assistant coach of Orduspor, Konya Şekerspor and Fenerbahçe, he took over the position of Fenerbahçe in the 2014-15 season; In the 8th week, they achieved a derby victory by winning 2‑0 against Beşiktaş. He later managed Eskişehirspor, Ankaragücü (leading the team to the Super League in 2017‑18) and Fenerbahçe again in the 2023‑24 season; This season, the team finished second in the league with 99 points.
In the first half of 2025, he was the coach of Persepolis FC and played 16 matches, and on June 18, 2026, it was announced in the FBTV program that he became the coach of Fenerbahçe again.
Kartal, whose origin is from Rize, is married and has two children.
