Beach’s debut heroics help Australia upset Türkiye in their World Cup opener

Australia were not supposed to win this one. Türkiye arrived in Vancouver as the fancied side, back at a World Cup after a 24-year absence and packed with European talent, yet it was Tony Popovic’s Socceroos who walked off BC Place with all three points. Goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe earned Australia a 2-0 win in their Group D opener on June 13, with a debutant goalkeeper doing as much as anyone to make it stand up.

A debutant goalkeeper holds the line

Patrick Beach was 22 and making his first competitive appearance for Australia. By the final whistle he had made eight saves, the most by an Australia goalkeeper in a World Cup match. His best moment came when he tipped a long-range strike from Abdulkerim Bardakci onto the post.

Australia finished the night with just 28 percent of the ball. Popovic set his side up to sit deep and strike on the break, and Türkiye, for all their territory, rarely worked an opening that Beach could not deal with. It was the kind of away-day discipline that does not always get rewarded. This time it did.

Irankunda and Metcalfe make the chances count

Irankunda broke the deadlock in the 27th minute, running onto a long ball from Paul Okon-Engstler. At 20, the forward became the youngest player to score for Australia at a World Cup, a record that says plenty about where this Socceroos side is heading. Metcalfe settled it in the 75th minute, finishing off the counter-attacking plan that had frustrated Türkiye all night.

For Vincenzo Montella’s Türkiye, appearing at a World Cup for the first time since 2002, it was a chastening way to begin. Captained by Hakan Calhanoglu and built around emerging talents like Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz, they dominated the ball and still lost, the oldest story in tournament football.

Group D opens up

The win lifted Australia in a Group D that also contains co-host the United States and Paraguay. Türkiye, so many people’s pick to advance, now have ground to make up after one game. Popovic will not get carried away, and the tougher questions about whether Australia can keep soaking up this much pressure are still to come. For a team few backed before kick-off, though, it was a near-perfect start.

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