Turkey is back on the World Cup stage after a 24-year gap. The Turkish national football team faces Australia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D opening match. The match will start at 07:00 Turkey time on Sunday, June 14 at the iconic BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada. Local times: Vancouver PT 21:00 (Saturday, June 13), US ET 00:00 (Sunday, June 14), CEST 06:00. The match will be officiated by Venezuelan referee Jesus Valenzuela; assistant referees Jorge Urrego and Tulio Moreno, fourth referee Peruvian Kevin Ortega.
The team under Vincenzo Montella's management could not appear in six consecutive tournaments after finishing third at the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup. Turkey came to the 2026 tournament by beating Romania 1-0 in the semi-final and Kosovo 1-0 away in the final of the European qualifying playoffs. The USA, Paraguay and Australia are in Group D with Turkey. In the group's opening match, the USA beat Paraguay 4-1 and took the lead in the group.
The biggest uncertainty in Turkey's squad is Kenan Yildiz. The young Juventus star's injury has not completely healed; whether he will be ready for the first match will be followed until the last moment. If Kenan cannot play, Galatasaray's Yunus Akgun will take the field. In the forward line, a choice between Kerem Akturkoglu and Deniz Gul is expected. Roma's experienced name Zeki Celik will be at right-back, Brighton's Ferdi Kadioglu at left-back. Merih Demiral and Abdulkerim Bardakci will form the centre-back pairing. In midfield, Hakan Calhanoglu and Orkun Kokcu will take on the playmaking duty; Real Madrid's young star Arda Guler will play in front of them.
On the Australia side, the Socceroos under Tony Popovic's management face Turkey with an experienced squad. Australia was eliminated in the round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup and finished the tournament with a strong performance. Captain Maty Ryan, who has held his place in goal for many years, will serve in front of an experienced defence line. Alessandro Circati and Harry Souttar form the centre-back pairing. The midfield core is shaped with Aiden O'Neill, Cameron Metcalfe and vice-captain Jackson Irvine. Young talent Adrian Velupillay and forward line leader Mohamed Toure stand out as the most critical threats for the Turkish defence.
Turkey Probable XI
Goalkeeper: Ugurcan Cakir
Defence: Zeki Celik - Merih Demiral - Abdulkerim Bardakci - Ferdi Kadioglu
Midfield: Hakan Calhanoglu - Orkun Kokcu
Attack line: Yunus Akgun (or Kenan Yildiz) - Arda Guler - Baris Alper Yilmaz
Forward: Kerem Akturkoglu
Australia Probable XI (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Maty Ryan
Defence: Italiano - Alessandro Circati - Harry Souttar - Cammy Burgess
Midfield: Jordy Bos - Cameron Metcalfe - Aiden O'Neill
Attack: Jackson Irvine - Mohamed Toure - Adrian Velupillay
Image: noktagazetesi.com.tr
Tuna Başkan
Discuss this in Forum
Join the conversation with thousands of sports fans. Share your opinion, predict the results, and earn reputation points!
forum Comments (0)
No results found
