Socceroos eye 20-year first in World Cup opener

Anna Harrington | June 13, 2026

The Socceroos believe they are capable of winning a World Cup knockout game and going further then they ever have before.

But first, they need to try to achieve something they haven’t done since Kaiserslautern in 2006: win their opening game.

Friday marked 12 years since Tim Cahill’s heroics steered Australia to a 3-1 comeback victory over Japan in their opening match.

Veteran Aziz Behich experienced losses in opening matches against France in both 2018 and 2022.

The defender is desperate for Australia to get off the mark quicker this time around Turkey at Vancouver’s BC Place on Saturday (Sunday AEST).

“We’ve got no limits. We’ve set no bars – the bar’s got to be high,” Behich told AAP.

“Obviously, what we did in the last campaign, set the standard, but I think we have a squad now to surpass that. And why not?

“But you need to get off to a good start, that’s for sure. And we have an opportunity to do that in Vancouver.

“”So look, it’s a game at a time, but definitely we’re here to go deep in the competition.

“That’s the mentality the coaches have, and they’ve put into the players – and us as a playing group, we’ve spoken about we want to be the first Aussie team, obviously, to win a knockout game as well.”

Australia only need to look to co-hosts Mexico and Asian rivals South Korea, who won on the opening day, for motivation.

Both teams now have one foot in the knockouts with two games to go.

Rivals the United States and Paraguay play on Friday (Saturday AEST) and get first shot at claiming the upper hand in Group D.

“It’s important to start well because you’ve only got three games, and you want to put your best foot forward early and put other nations on the back foot,” Behich said.

Fellow defender Harry Souttar doesn’t want to put any limits on the Socceroos but stressed the game by game approach.

“The group’s really tight,” Souttar said.

“I’m sure each team is going to be thinking that ‘we can top this group. So that’s the challenge this year, compared to the last.”

Popovic, who just extended his contract until after next year’s Asian Cup, certainly won’t be thinking any further than world No.22 Turkey, who are ending a 24-year absence from the World Cup.

The Socceroos boss will speak to the media in Vancouver on Friday before Australia’s final training session ahead of the Group D opener.

All eyes will be on striker Mohamed Toure, who missed training on Wednesday but per Behich and teammate Jacob Italiano, was back in action on Thursday.