Türkiye’s World Cup start derailed by Australia’s clinical 2-0 victory

The FIFA World Cup 2026 began with a victory for the Australian national football team, which defeated the Turkish national football team 2–0 in their opening Group D match.

The game was played at BC Place in Vancouver, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Australia took the lead in the 27th minute when Nestory Irankunda finished a team move following a pass from Paul Okon-Engstler to put his side ahead. After conceding, Türkiye increased their attacking pressure, created several dangerous chances and hit the post, but failed to equalise before halftime.

The result was sealed in the 75th minute when midfielder Connor Metcalfe struck a precise long-range effort from outside the penalty area to double Australia’s advantage and set the final score at 2–0.

With the win, Australia collected their first three points and joined the United States national football team at the top of Group D standings after the Americans defeated the Paraguay national football team 4–1 earlier.

In the second round of fixtures, Australia will face the United States on June 19, while Türkiye will meet Paraguay a day later.

By Jeyhun Aghazada