Soccer
Australia head coach Tony Popovic was incredibly proud of his “special” young team for their shock 2-0 win over Turkiye.
Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe both scored stunning goals in each half to get Australia off to a winning start in Group D, moving them level on points with their next opponents, the United States.
They were also helped by the impressive Patrick Beach, who made eight saves, the most of any goalkeeper in their World Cup debut since Rustu Recber (nine for Turkiye against Brazil) in 2002.
Australia won their first match at the World Cup for just the second time and the first since 2006. This was also just the fifth time that they have scored two or more goals in a game overall at the tournament.
Australia had 28.3% possession in this match against Turkiye, their lowest possession value in a match in their World Cup history and the lowest of any team at the 2026 World Cup.
But that mattered little as the Socceroos were clinical with the chances they created, and Popovic could not have been more thrilled by their start to the tournament.
“Proud. Proud to be here as head coach,” Popovic said when asked how he felt.
“Proud to experience this and put a smile on these people’s faces, who have travelled so far to support us. Happy for a wonderful group of young men.
“At the moment, just proud – proud of the staff for the work they put in. Some good decisions, they were outstanding.
“It was quite special. You see the young boys combining to score a goal, and you can’t underestimate what this will do for their confidence and belief.
“Emotionally, it will take a lot out of the players this game, so we’ve got to get back and recover well and focus on the USA.”
It was a frustrating outing for Turkiye, who were shut out for just the second time in a World Cup match, having scored an average of 3.5 goals across their four previous matches against AFC opposition.
They had 30 shots in total, the most by a team without scoring a goal in a World Cup match since Portugal in 2006 (31 against England).
Real Madrid’s Arda Guler was responsible for eight of those; it is the most by any player in a match at this year’s World Cup so far.
Despite their abundance of chances, Turkiye only accumulated 1.4 expected goals (xG), and head coach Vincenzo Montella rued their wastefulness in front of goal.
“We created so many chances, but we couldn’t score. That’s football,” he said.
“They defended very well; it was difficult to get into the box. They did well at scoring on the counter-attack, which is their best weapon.
“All is not lost; there are still two games to play, and I’m confident. We’re disappointed with the result, but there’s time to move on; we have to stay positive.”
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