Australia will chase an upset win against Turkiye in a 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D clash at BC Place in Vancouver on the morning of Sunday 14 June, kick-off at 6am CAT.
FORM
Australia warmed up for the World Cup with a 1-0 loss to Mexico on May 31, as well as a 1-1 draw with Switzerland last weekend – both in California. In the draw with the Swiss, the Socceroos fought back from a goal down to salvage a draw thanks to Tete Yengi’s second-half equaliser.
Australia will be appearing at their seventh World Cup – and sixth in succession. Their best showings were in 2006 and 2022 when they advanced from the group stage and reached the round of 16, losing narrowly to the respective eventual champions, Italy and Argentina.
Turkiye’s warm-up programme saw them claim back-to-back wins over North Macedonia (4-0 in Istanbul) and Venezuela (2-1 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) on 1 June and 7 June respectively. The latter match saw Ay-Yıldızlılar (the Crescent Stars) triumph thanks to goals from Baris Alper Yilmaz and Yunus Akgun.
Turkiye will be appearing at just their third World Cup. On debut in 1954 they crashed out in the group stage, but their last appearance in 2002 was a raging success, with Ay-Yıldızlılar finishing in third place.
WHAT THE TEAMS ARE SAYING
Australia coach Tony Popovic was happy with his side’s showing against Switzerland: “Conditions were warm, it’s sticky – the pitch – so it’s a good experience for us [against] a wonderful opponent. We just had to get through that first part and fortunately we didn’t concede another goal, but [in the] second half we had a good passage of play there where we looked quite good for 20 minutes.”
Turkiye coach Vincenzo Montella wants his side to take things one step at a time: “We’re just focused on giving it our all and going as far as we possibly can. I prefer to take things step by step. We’ll need to go into the tournament with the right mentality, and the first objective is to make it out of the group stage. Australia are no strangers to these competitions, and Paraguay are used to coming up against top-quality South American sides. Then you’ve got the USA, who are a very competitive side.”
HEAD-TO-HEAD
In head-to-head terms, Australia and Turkey have met just twice before, playing back-to-back international friendlies ‘Down Under’ in May 2004 which were both won by Turkiye (3-1 and 1-0).
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