For my money, the Socceroo with the highest ceiling is 23 year old Jordy Bos. The Feyenoord left wingback has young Gareth Bale vibes. his speed carrying the ball from deep will be vital to how Australia attack in transition.
double quotation mark The son of Dutch backpacker Jacco who met mother Sandra while travelling in Australia. Bos grew up in Point Cook in the western suburbs of Melbourne. “I’m more of a guy that just plays and gets on with it,” he says.
His junior club, Hoppers Crossing, is best known as the place where Mad Max was filmed. That movie’s protagonist Max Rockatansky is fuelled by vengeance in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Bos appears less complicated. “Whatever everyone’s saying, it’s nice to hear,” he says. “But, you know, I don’t put any pressure on myself.”
27th ranked Australia ended 2025 with a hat-trick of friendly defeats on US soil. They rebounded to begin 2026 with a pair of farewell friendly victories, with their World Cup preparations concluding in California with a 1-0 defeat to Mexico. a 1-1 draw with Switzerland.
Goals are the problem. In those five matches without a win across their past seven outings they scored just twice.
23rd ranked Turkey have been flying since the beginning of 2025, winning 11 of their 14 matches.
They have won all four matches this year, conceding only once along the way.
“It’s a youthful line-up,” admits Tony Popovic, “a lot of excitement, a lot of enthusiasm,. I have a lot of trust in them.” The Australia coach not fudging his decision to drop Mat Ryan and Jackson Irvine.
New to the Socceroos? Fear not.
double quotation mark After reaching the last 16 for the second time. in 2022, the hope is that the Socceroos can win a first knockout game. It will be easier said than done while starting in an evenly matched group but. as is his way, Popovic has insisted the side are up to the challenge. “We’re always deemed as the underdog or the team that will be fighting for the bottom spot. we have an opportunity through our actions and our performances and results to show that that can be different,” the Socceroos coach said in early May.
Need to know anything about Turkey? Emre Sarigul has the answers.
double quotation mark Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella has been building one of the nation’s strongest teams in living memory. A youth-driven squad with two genuine stars – Arda Guler. Kenan Yildiz – several players were not even born when the Crescent Stars last qualified for a World Cup and finished third in 2002.
In past tournaments. Turkey were often labelled as “dark horses” – which turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing. This time, Montella has constructed a squad that sits among those on the rung below heavyweights Spain, France and Argentina.
“I really thought Haiti Scotland would be the first really fun game with loads of goals,. it seems I was wrong. Turkey’s faith being in two players so young surely gives Australia a chance, no?” ponders Sid Hutchings.
While Yildiz. Guler are the standout names, Turkey have nine players in their squad at clubs in Europe’s top five leagues, including the highly credentialed Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Inter Milan), experienced Zeki Çelik Roma), and Brighton regular Ferdi Kadıoğlu. Now that we know Australia’s XI. this will clearly be a clash of proven quality against the excitement of the unknown.
Kenan Yildiz starts on the bench as he recovers from a slight knock. Kerem Aktürkoğlu starts up front in the only deviation from what you might consider Turkey’s best XI.
23 Cakir (gk). 20 Kadioglu, 14 Bardakci, 3 Demiral, 2 Celik; 16 Yuksek, 10 Calhanoglu (c); 21 Yilmaz, 6 Kokcu, 8 Guler; 7 Akturkoglu.
Australia begin their World Cup campaign with an incredibly inexperienced line-up, missing leaders Jackson Irvine and Mat Ryan. Skipper for the day Harry Souttar is the most-capped man in the starting XI with just 38 appearances under his belt. Cameron Burgess is the only starter out of his 20s with seven players 24 or younger.
18. Patrick Beach (gk), 4. Jacob Italiano, 3. Alesandro Circati, 19. Harry Souttar, (c) 21 Cameron Burgess, 5. Jordy Bos; 13. Aiden O’Neill, 24. Paul Okon-Engstler; 8. Connor Metcalfe, 17. Nestory Irankunda, 9. Mo Toure.
Jack Snape is our man in Vancouver today, and he sets the scene with Australia relishing their status as underdogs.
double quotation mark Though they have not reached a World Cup in 24 years, they are ranked higher than the Socceroos. are clear favourites ahead of the Saturday evening clash in Vancouver, the first fixture of the tournament in a city that – far more than the San Francisco Bay Area where Australia are based – has come alive for the World Cup.
Turkey’s supposed superiority became a key theme of the match eve. Captain Hakan Calhanoglu described his side as “more talented” than Australia in an afternoon press conference,. predicted his side would “dominate” the game.
Scotland have held on to claim a nerve-wracking 1-0 win over a spirited Haiti to take an early lead in Group B. The Scots can finally look forward to knockout football for the first time in their long history.
Vancouver has an Australian presence throughout the year, but the city will be green and gold this evening.
double quotation mark Roughly 25,000 people in Canada claimed Australia as their birthplace in the 2021 census. Almost half live in British Columbia. Many of them are only here because of the mountains that crisscross Canada’s westernmost province.
The ski town of Whistler 120 km away is colloquially known as “Whistralia”. Snow-obsessed Australians make up a significant part of the region’s alpine culture thanks to an uncapped visa scheme that allows working holiday stays for two years. longer than most countries. Many never leave.
There are Australian-owned hospitality businesses, like the bakery Peaked Pies. the downtown pub Moose’s Down Under, which has a kangaroo burger on the menu. Nearby wildlife retreat Great Bear Lodge is managed by an Australian. Marg Leehane, a software developer from Melbourne who pursued a life in the wilderness.
As Jack just mentioned, today’s fixture is at Vancouver Stadium, AKA BC Place. It is the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS and hosted the 2015 Women’s World Cup final. It has a capacity of just over 50,000.
double quotation mark Australians are everywhere in downtown Vancouver, as the tune of Waltzing Matilda bounces between the skycrapers. With two hours until kick-off against Turkey. Socceroos fans are making their way into BC Place, including one large group marching through the city. Australia is in the top 10 nations overall in terms of ticket purchases by country of residency. The others are USA, Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina. France - all footballing powers or hosts, underscoring the commitment of Australia’s fans to this tournament.
double quotation mark Many also appear to be committed drinkers. given the spirits already evident among Socceroos fans on this steamy afternoon. Three hours before kick-off, police outside the stadium told The Guardian there had not been any incidents. The Socceroos have walked off their team bus decked out in dark suits. ties and white shirts, with Tony Popovic adopting an all-black ensemble. Inside BC Place. the air is muggy under the translucent roof at the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS, a team with an uncertain future.
Before we get stuck into the main event, let’s have a quick whip around the day’s action so far.
Brazil looked very ordinary against a Morocco side who might regret not capitalising on their early ascendancy.
Switzerland registered 3.24 xg to Qatar’s 0.76. the spoils were shared to leave Group B perfectly even after the opening round of matches.
If you’re new to this page you might not know that The Guardian has an Australian edition. Consequently there is plenty of Socceroos related content to enjoy, and my coverage will naturally skew in that direction.
If you would like to contribute anything, please send it via email to jonathan.howcroft.casual@guardian.co.uk.
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of match six of the 2026 World Cup between Asutralia and Turkey. Kick-off in this Group D clash at Vancouver Stadium is 9pm local time (2pm AEST/12am EST/5am BST).
This is a fixture with refined context following the USA exploding out of the blocks against Paraguay. The tournament co-hosts laid down a significant marker for Group D supremacy to the highly fancied Turkey. while Australia must have watched Los Guaraníes toiling with increasing confidence at least third place is theirs for the taking.
The Socceroos only qualified for one World Cup up to 2006. since that coming out party in Germany they have been ever-present. They overachieved in Qatar, reaching the knockout stage for only the second time,. winning twice for the first time in finals history.
Remarkably, this is only Turkey’s third World Cup, and their first since 2002 when they finished third. They have been on a steady rankings rise since 2024, a run that coincides with the emergence of two of the brightest stars in the game, Real Madrid’s Arda Guler,. Juventus’s Kenan Yildiz. Much is expected of that pair of 21 year olds.
There is plenty of time before kick-off so settle in, enjoy the second half of Haiti v Scotland,. send me some emails to get the conversation flowing.
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