Author: alaskaadmin

Australia stunned Türkiye in Saturday’s World Cup nightcap at BC Place in Vancouver, riding a first-half goal by Nestory Irankunda and another by Connor Metcalfe after the intermission to win 2-0 and upend the expected pecking order in Group D. Here are my four takeaways from the Socceroos’ surprising yet fully deserved victory. 1. Australia Shows No Fear Coming into Saturday’s match, Türkiye was the obvious favorite. It wasn’t just the bookies who said so, either. “I think we will dominate the game, because we have more qualities and a more talented team,” Türkiye’s captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu said in an on-camera interview on the eve of the match at the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps. “We’ll see what happens.” Clearly, most experts agreed with Çalhanoğlu’s assessment. The comment was still an obvious own goal. The Aussies — who narrowly lost to eventual champ Argentina in the last World Cup’s round of 16 — probably didn’t need any extra motivation in their 2026 tournament opener. Çalhanoğlu gave it to them anyway, and Tony Popovic’s team was intent on making him eat those words. Who cares if the favorites did in fact dominate, badly out-chancing and out-possessing Australia. The latter stunned the Turks with a ruthless counterattack that was expertly finished by Irankunda, forcing the former to take risks going forward in search of the equalizer. It never came. While Türkiye sent its best two chances of the contest straight at keeper Patrick Beach, Australia made no mistake with its opportunities, taking advantage of the space it was afforded to double their lead and seal just its fifth ever World Cup victory on Connor Metcalfe’s strike with about a quarter of an hour left to play. 2. Türkiye’s Captain Eats His Words The last time the Turks played at a World Cup almost a quarter-century ago, they made a stunning run to the semifinals. Despite missing out on the next five editions, their quality was never in question, with the next generation of the country’s stars led by legitimate all-world talents like Real Madrid’s Arda Güler and Juventus’s Kenan Yıldız. Yet their Italian coach, Vincenzo Montella, raised eyebrows by leaving Yıldız on the bench to begin the match (he entered to start the second half), while Güler was ineffective as far as any end-product was concerned. Was it simply inexperience? Maybe. Whatever the reason, now Montella’s side has experience of the wrong type, dropping a match considered the most manageable of the three in the group stage. That doesn’t mean the Turks can’t turn this thing around. The forgiving format of this 49-team World Cup means they could advance as a third place finisher. One would expect them to learn from the unexpected defeat and respond next week against Paraguay. They need to, or their first appearance on the global stage in 24 years will end up being a short stay. 3. Keep An Eye On Irankunda Although he’s not the youngest member of the Aussies’ 26-player World Cup squad — that would be 18-year-old  Colorado Rapids defender Lucas Herrington — Irankunda, 20, is undoubtedly their most exciting. Born in Tanzania and a former prospect for German titans Bayern Munich, Irankunda scored 16 goals as a teenager for A-League mainstay Adelaide United before being signed by the perennial Bundesliga champions. Despite never making a senior appearance for Bayern, English second tier club Watford thought highly enough of Irankunda to ink him to a five-year contract last year. He played in almost 40 Championship matches for the Hornets in his debut campaign in 2025-26, scoring four times. Now he’s a World Cup goalscorer, too. It will be fascinating to see what he can do in the Socceroos final two group games. 4. What’s Next In Group D? With each of the four teams now has played one time, the table is beginning to take shape. The USA sits first on goal difference following Friday’s 4-1 drubbing of the Paraguayans, with the Aussies now right behind. The two leaders will face off next Friday in Seattle, but the other match is significantly more intriguing following the first round of results. Türkiye pretty much must beat the Paraguayans on Thursday at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Northern California to maintain their chances of advancing to the knockout stage. The same can be said for the South Americans. That’s the beauty of the World Cup, which just saw its first major upset of 2026.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

With two goals in the U.S. men’s national team’s 4-1 win over Paraguay in the teams’ 2026 FIFA World Cup opener on Friday night in Los Angeles, Folarin Balogun is well on his way to becoming a household name from coast to coast. Nearly 19 million Americans watched the 24-year-old New York native steal the show in his World Cup debut, making it the highest-rated USA men’s match of all time. The moment exceeded Balogun’s wildest dreams; he’d been thinking about what Friday night might be like since he chose to represent the USA over England and Nigeria — the 5-foot-10 striker was raised in London by West African parents — in 2023. Last fall, just a few miles away from the Brooklyn hospital in which he was born, Balogun’s eyes widened when I told him what members of the last American squad to play in a World Cup at home, in 1994, told me: That his life would never be the same again. Yet while Balogun literally became an overnight celebrity this weekend, casual fans don’t know much about him. So who is Folarin Balogun? Let’s let him tell you himself. This story has been edited for length and clarity. You grew up in London, but your American roots run deep. My mom’s sister lives in New York, yeah. I also have family in Atlanta. Did you visit the U.S. often as a kid? We went to see my aunt in Atlanta when I was maybe eight years old, but I have very vague memories. It was a long time ago. But I was in New York a year before I joined the U.S. men’s national team. I wasn’t thinking in terms of making a decision then, but I always feel comfortable in New York — probably because of the similarities between New York and London. And you’ve been back to New York a few times since committing to the U.S., right? I’m always coming back now. If I’ve got vacation, I’ll balance that between New York and London. I’m very fortunate; I just feel so blessed to have a connection with both of those amazing cities. I tell my teammates all the time: After my career, I want to live in New York. So, yeah, I do feel a lot more connected to America now. And I’m very, very proud and happy to represent such a great country. What do you like to do when you’re in town? It’s one of those places where you can just wake up, go walk around, and something will just come to you, you know? There’s been times I’ve even just played pickup games with random strangers. Seriously? I was in Manhattan, looking out from my hotel, and I could see a small football pitch where locals were just playing. I had a shower, took my boots, and just asked if I could play. They didn’t know who I was. Did you take it easy on them? They probably took it easy on me. After a while, they could obviously see that I was maybe not your average player. They started asking me questions, and then I told them what I do and obviously who I represent. The tackles weren’t so hard after that. That’s incredible. It just sums up the city, though. It’s just so free. That’s the sort of thing I love, to just feel like a normal person and go do whatever. So many footballers in Europe love going to New York, because even when you get stopped or recognized, it’s not really too invasive. They just want to see how you are. It’s refreshing. You’ve said often that the messages you got from U.S. fans were part of the reason you chose to rep the USA. How were you welcomed by your teammates? In terms of the energy, I’d never experienced anything like it. Everyone’s super positive. It’s just such a nice environment to be around. You can speak to any of the staff about football, about life, about anything, and everybody will be open to the conversation. Whenever I come into camp, it’s one of the most refreshing feelings I can get as a player. You’ve already played for three different U.S. coaches. Anthony Hudson was the interim boss before Gregg Berhalter returned, and now it’s Mauricio Pochettino. How has the environment changed? It hasn’t. As I’ve been around the group longer, now I know it’s just a norm. Whoever the coach is, they want this to be a safe space for the players. They want everybody to come into camp feeling energized, not having to worry about what’s being said outside. When I first came into camp, that was something very new to me. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming, just how good an environment they’ve created. I don’t think that’s ever gonna change. Strikers are sometimes known to be selfish, but you don’t seem to play that way. I try to do the right thing all the time, and off the pitch just be a good person before anything. If I’m playing with another striker and I feel he’s in a better position to score than me, I believe doing the right thing is just passing the ball. Where does that come from? That’s just how I’ve always gone about my life and my work. With any teammate, it’s just showing respect and treating people as you’d want to be treated. I just feel like doing the right thing will always pay off. And if you do good things, good things will come to you. What do you want U.S. fans to know about you? As a person, I’m quite introverted. But I appreciate and am grateful for the platform I have and the job and the role I’ve been given. Representing my country is obviously what brings me the most pleasure. I also want to give back. Because I feel like the team, the staff, and even just America as a country has shown so much faith in me.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports