2026 World Cup: Australia vs. Turkey, probable lineups
Just a few hours before Carlo Ancelotti’s debut at the 2026 World Cup, another of the three Italian coaches participating in the tournament, Vincenzo Montella, will take the bench for the first time at the World Cup, leading Turkey against Australia on the opening day of Group D, which also includes the United States and Paraguay. The match kicks off at 6 a.m. Italian time on Sunday, 9 p.m. on Saturday in Vancouver. In addition to Ancelotti and Montella, the other Italian coach is Fabio Cannavaro, leading Uzbekistan.
This marks Australia’s seventh World Cup appearance, its sixth consecutive one, and its fifth since joining the Asian Confederation—a move made twenty years ago to raise the level of a team facing overly weak competition in Oceania. Their best result is reaching the Round of 16, achieved on two occasions: in 2006, it was Italy—who went on to win the tournament—that defeated the Socceroos 1-0 while down a man, thanks to a Totti penalty in stoppage time, while in 2022, it was Argentina—who also went on to win the tournament—that won 2-1.
Turkey, despite enjoying great credibility in the European context, is making only its third-ever World Cup appearance, the first since as far back as 2002: on that occasion, the surprising Turkish national team climbed all the way to third place, defeated in the semifinals by Brazil (1-0, goal by Ronaldo) and winning the third-place match 3-2 against South Korea, a result that ‘avenged’ in its own way the Koreans’ elimination of Italy and Spain, both of whom were furious over the refereeing decisions in the round of 16 and quarterfinals.
Probable lineups
AUSTRALIA (3-4-2-1): Ryan; Circati, Souttar, Burgess; Italiano, Irvine, Metcalfe, Bos; Volpato, Hrustic; Yengi. Coach: Popovic.
TURKEY (4-2-3-1): Cakir; Celik, Demiral, Bardakcı, Kadioglu; Yuksek, Kokcu; Akgun, Guler, Yildiz; Gul. Coach: Montella.
