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Australia v Turkey: World Cup 2026 – live | World Cup 2026
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Conditions tonight are perfect – because the fixture is taking place beneath the closed BC Place roof. No concerns regarding heat and altitude that will be guiding the preparations of other World cup contenders.
Popovic’s selection of the English Championship pair of Mo Toure and Nestory Irankunda up front is an enormous moment for Australia’s African diaspora.
And now James Paraskevas. “Look I think we can get something from the game today. Yes Turkey have some technically gifted players, but to be fair they have always had that. Their main problem has been their inconsistency over the years – which I believe we can exploit. If I was Popovic I would tell the players to press Turkey and don’t let their technicians get time on the ball. The last thing you want to do here is give Turkey all the time and space of The Black Sea because they will eventually put you away.”
With such a youthful energetic side selected there’ll be no excuses if Australia fail to deny Turkey time on the ball.
A pair of Paraskevas’s (Paraskevi?) have joined in. First up, here’s Chris, with the kind of tactical analysis that makes my job much easier.
“Have largely enjoyed the World Cup despite the anticipated dilution of quality: actually I think the games between the lower tier teams have had a weird festive atmosphere, wrapped up in a clear tension as nations debut or return after long periods away.
Australia are no longer in that category: this is our sixth big dance in a row. You could almost lump us in the Mexico category at this point as ever-presents who don’t create too much disruption.
I don’t mind a youthful lineup and I think Ryan hasn’t always been consistent for us at World Cups, though it’s odd that his excellent season in Spain isn’t being capitalised on – his mere presence in the squad is important enough.
Montella’s team will undoubtedly dominate and manipulate the ball, but they are right in their pre-game assertions about our set piece / long-ball threat: it has worked for us before against “better” teams at World Cups.
We will need to be so patient, because this iteration of the Turkish squad seems to be built as a unit, Montella perhaps trying to channel the collective spirit that Fatih Terim was so good at doing.
I think it’s going to be a fascinating tie. Toure and Iranuknda up top? At the very least it’ll give Demiral and co. something to think about while they recycle their 92% of possession.”
Today’s referee is the percussively sounding Jesús Valenzuela from Portuguesa Venezuela.
For my money, the Socceroo with the highest ceiling is 23 year old Jordy Bos. The Feyenoord left wingback has young Gareth Bale vibes and his speed carrying the ball from deep will be vital to how Australia attack in transition.
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.”
Form Guide:
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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 and a 1-1 draw with Switzerland.
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Goals are the problem. In those five matches without a win across their past seven outings they scored just twice.
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23rd ranked Turkey have been flying since the beginning of 2025, winning 11 of their 14 matches.
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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, and 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.
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 and 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.
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 and 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, but 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 and 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.
Turkey XI
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 XI
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.
Though they have not reached a World Cup in 24 years, they are ranked higher than the Socceroos and 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, and 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.
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 and 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.
Jack Snape
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 and France – all footballing powers or hosts, underscoring the commitment of Australia’s fans to this tournament.
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 and 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 but 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.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
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 but 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, and 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, and 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, and send me some emails to get the conversation flowing.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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