This study investigated the relationship between motivation and academic self-efficacy of teacher candidates during the COVID-19 pandemic period. In addition, the mediating role of self-directed learning skills was also explored. In this study that is based on a correlational design, data were collected from 992 teacher candidates studying in various undergraduate programs of 48 different faculties/colleges of education in Turkey. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping method. According to the findings, the significant relationships among the variables show that high motivation of teacher candidates is necessary for high academic self-efficacy, and their academic self-efficacy increases even more when they have self-directed learning skills. As a result, during the pandemic candidate teachers with high self-directed learning skills were able to keep their motivation and maintain their academic self-efficacy at a high level. Accordingly, such results could be useful for improving teacher training policies and program content during the pandemic.