Read 3 minutes13 Jun 2026 09:15 PM IST
Australia and Turkey kicked off their FIFA World Cup campaign in Vancouver on Sunday morning (India time), but before that, the war of words began.
Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu didn’t mince words when he predicted his side would dominate the Socceroos because they have “more points and a more talented squad”.
If this is a ploy to tease the opposition ahead of the big game, it certainly got the attention of the Australian team. However, they did not respond to the taunt, with coach Tony Popovic simply stating that his team was ready to “spoil the party”.
“I think we can beat them,” said not only the captain but also defender Ozan Kabak.
Calhnoglu was quite forward in his assessment.
“Our coach analyzed them together with us. So, we know they are a physical team, they are good at corner kicks and free kicks because they are tall and strong,” the Inter Milan midfielder said.
“I think we dominate the game tomorrow because we have more points and (a) more talented team, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Turkey are at the World Cup for the first time in 24 years but have some exciting talent in their ranks – notably Real Madrid’s Arda Guler and Juventus’ Kenan Yildiz, both 21.
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Popovic believed that not only Turkey but the other two teams in the group – the United States and Paraguay – would consider themselves better than Australia and it was up to his players to prove them wrong.
“I respect his comment, and he has a right to ask questions and he has a right to answer as he likes,” he said. “They expect to win, but so do most people; they hope they beat Australia tomorrow, so it’s no different. All we can do is try and spoil the party; tomorrow is our challenge and that’s what we want to do.”
The Australian coach expects a tough game at BC Place.
“We know they’re strong; we’ve analyzed them, but we have to think about ourselves and think about how we can cause them problems and show Australian football at the World Cup,” Popovich said.
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“Our aim tomorrow is to be very competitive, to show that we are a strong nation and that we deserve respect. We understand that outside of our own people, our own media, our own team, our own employees, not many people expect a lot from us, but we are used to it.”