The Socceroos Beat Türkiye and Now I Have to Set My Alarm for 5am

Right then. That actually happened.

The Socceroos beat Türkiye 2-0 in Vancouver, and if you told me that six hours ago I would have nodded politely and assumed you were winding me up. Türkiye’s squad is reportedly valued somewhere around six times what Australia’s is worth. Their captain had gone on record before the match saying his more talented team would dominate us. That quote aged, as someone online put it, like milk.

Nestory Irankunda opened the scoring and Connor Metcalfe put it beyond doubt. Both goals were exactly the kind of clinical finishing you don’t always associate with Australian football, converting the chances when they came rather than squandering them and then watching the opposition score three on the break. The whole defensive structure was something to watch. Patrick Beach in goals made some important saves. John Souttar was apparently everywhere, winning headers, clearing danger. The midfield held its shape. It was genuinely organised, purposeful football.

I didn’t grow up as a serious football fan. I came to it sideways, the way a lot of Australians did, through World Cup cycles and the occasional big tournament. But there’s something about watching a team that is clearly the underdog on paper execute a plan with that kind of discipline that gets you. It’s the same appeal as a well-coordinated heist in a film, or finishing a Souls boss on your third attempt after finally understanding the pattern. The competence is the pleasure.

Now the fun part. Next match is against the USA, in Seattle, on Saturday. Kick-off is 5am AEST. Set your alarm now, or accept that you are not the person you thought you were.

The USA beat Paraguay 4-0 in their opening match, which sounds dominant until you read closer and notice that Paraguay were apparently open at the back all night, and that the Americans went fairly quiet in the second half after Christian Pulisic came off. There’s some concern he might be carrying an injury into Saturday. The US press is reportedly well-organised under Pochettino, a system built around intensity and swarming the opposition early. They have the home crowd advantage, more or less, playing in Seattle rather than their own living room but close enough to it.

The honest read is that it will be a hard game. The USA are a good side with a lot of individual quality and a proper system. Anyone writing them off because of one so-so second half is getting ahead of themselves.

That said, the Socceroos just parked a clean sheet against a squad worth many multiples more, and they did it without looking like they were simply surviving. They looked like a team that knew exactly what it was doing.

There’s a secondary subplot to Saturday’s game that several people online seem very invested in, which is the political theatre of beating America while America is currently run by someone who slapped tariffs on half the planet. I understand the appeal. I’ll be honest: the thought of the post-match social media reaction has a certain entertainment value that is entirely separate from the football itself. But I think that’s probably the wrong reason to want a result. The right reason is that these players have worked for this, and beating the co-host of the World Cup in the group stage would be an extraordinary achievement on its own terms.

We haven’t won an opening World Cup match since 2006. Most people who remember that tournament remember what came after it, specifically a penalty decision in the round of sixteen that still makes people livid nearly twenty years on. Italy going through on that call remains one of those sporting moments that sits in the stomach like a bad meal. But that’s done, and this is different.

For now, the Socceroos have three points. That changes the maths considerably for progressing. The expanded format means third place can still advance, and three points in the bank early shifts those odds substantially.

I genuinely don’t know what happens Saturday. Nobody does. But I know I’ll be awake at 4:50am with a flat white and the quiet hope that they can do it again.