Turkey was the clear favorite in its opening match against Australia, but ultimately left the field as the loser. Australia sat very deep and countered with clinical precision. Calhanoglu, Güler, Yildiz, and the rest of the team lacked creativity on offense.
Turkey returned to the World Cup stage after 24 years and was the clear favorite against Australia on Matchday 1 in Group D. Captain Calhanoglu recovered in time and was in coach Vincenzo Montella’s starting lineup. Juve star Yildiz, on the other hand, had not yet recovered from his calf injury and started on the bench. On the other side, Australia’s Tony Popovic initially benched Irvine (St. Pauli). His Hamburg teammate Metcalfe, however, was allowed to start.
Former Bayern player scores to give Australia the lead
The match began with the Australians coming out surprisingly aggressively in the opening minutes. Even in these early moments, it was clear that the Turks had something to lose. Although the pressure quickly subsided, the fact remained that Turkey failed to live up to its own expectations. The star-studded team had plenty of possession but barely managed any dangerous shots on goal. Real Madrid star Arda Güler had the first good chance in the 26th minute. After that shot, Australia launched an immediate counterattack: Okon found the speedy Irankunda (formerly of Bayern II), who was unstoppable for the Turkish defense and scored Australia’s first goal to make it 1-0 (27th minute).
Shortly after the shock for Turkey, Bardakci nearly equalized immediately, but his powerful shot from the second line was tipped onto the post by Australia’s goalkeeper Beach with his fingertips (30th minute). After that, the Turks struggled considerably. Australia sat very deep and offered no openings. There was another long-range shot from Güler (42′), but overall, Turkey had hardly any shots on goal. At the other end, the speedy Irankunda managed to get a shot off (45′). At the halftime whistle, Turkey trailed 0-1—a false start was in the air.
Even with Yildiz, there is no salvation
In the second half, Turkey looked a bit more determined, but the first chance belonged to the Australians, who once again executed a counterattack well; in the end, however, Bos’s shot was deflected. Shortly thereafter, the Turks also became dangerous: a deflected shot by Yüksek narrowly missed the left post (50th minute). Turkey remained overwhelmingly dominant, but Australia also ventured forward at times in the second half. Following a corner, Cakir was called into action to stop a Souttar header (54′). The Turks kept pushing forward—often through Yildiz, who had come on at halftime—but most of their shots were blocked.
For the remaining attempts, Australia’s goalkeeper Beach was on hand, saving a good free kick from Arda Güler (57th minute) and blocking a shot from a tight angle by Celik (72nd minute). And then Australia struck again with clinical precision: St. Pauli’s Metcalfe moved toward the penalty area after a Turkish turnover and fired the ball into the bottom right corner from 18 meters out (75th minute). Turkey continued to press afterward, but the favorites only posed a real threat once more: Aktürkoglu, after a header layoff from a central position in the penalty area, sent the ball straight at Beach (77′). Then there was only one more chance—a Calhanoglu free kick, which Beach also saved (86′).
This sealed Turkey’s disastrous start. Australia won surprisingly 2-0. Incidentally, this is Turkey’s third opening-match loss in their third World Cup appearance.
Australia faces a showdown with co-host the U.S. this coming Friday (9 p.m.). Turkey takes on Paraguay in the early hours of Saturday morning (5 a.m.).