Talk Before the Match, Silence After It: Australia 2–0 Turkey

Before the World Cup match against Australia, Turkey captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu made headlines by saying that Turkey was the more talented team and that they would “dominate” Australia. He stated that Turkey had greater individual quality and expected to control the game.

After Australia won 2–0, the comments were widely discussed. Australian players, including Nestory Irankunda, referenced the pre-match “talk” from Turkey and said the Socceroos had answered on the field.

Interestingly, after the defeat, Çalhanoğlu still argued that Turkey had dominated large parts of the match because they had much more possession and created many chances, despite losing 2–0.

The final result was:

Australia’s goals came from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe in what many described as one of the biggest surprises of the opening round of the 2026 World Cup.