Australia kicked off its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a stunning 2-0 win over Turkiye at the BC Place in Vancouver, Canada, on Sunday.
Promising young forward Nestory Irankunda gave the Socceroos the lead in the first half after receiving a lobbed pass over the back line from Paul Okon-Engstler before calmly firing the ball into the net.
Turkiye created chance after chance in the second half as he tried to reduce the deficit, but the Asian side scored a sucker punch in the 75th minute when Connor Metcalfe found the bottom right corner with his shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Australia move behind the US at the top of Group D with three points and will next meet the co-hosts on June 19. Turkiye will take on Paraguay later the same day.
Player Ratings
Australia
Patrick Beach (8.8), Alessandro Circati (7.2), Harry Souttar (7.5), Cameron Burgess (7.1), Jacob Italiano (6.9), Jordan Bos (7.0), Connor Metcalfe (8.2), Aiden O’Neill (6.8), Paul Okon-Engstler (7.4), Nestory Irankunda (8.3), Mohamed Touré (6.7)
Substitutes: Nishan Velupillay (6.5), Jason Geria (6.4), Tete Yengi (6.3), Jackson Irvine (6.6)
Turkey
Ugurcan Çakir (6.2), Zeki Çelik (6.1), Merih Demiral (6.3), Abdülkerim Bardakci (6.0), Ferdi Kadioglu (6.2), Ismail Yüksek (6.4), Hakan Çalhanoglu (6.5), Arda Güler (6.8), Orkun Kökcü (6.3), Baris Alper Yilmaz (6.4), Kerem Aktürkoglu (6.2)
Substitutes: Kenan Yildiz (6.1), Yunus Akgün (6.0), Salih Özcan (6.0), Mert Müldür (5.9), Aziz Behich (6.0), Deniz Gül (6.0)
Published on June 14, 2026
