If you’re new to this page you might not know that The Guardian has an Australian edition. Consequently there is plenty of Socceroos related content to enjoy, and my coverage will naturally skew in that direction.

If you would like to contribute anything, please send it via email to jonathan.howcroft.casual@guardian.co.uk.

Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of match six of the 2026 World Cup between Asutralia and Turkey. Kick-off in this Group D clash at Vancouver Stadium is 9pm local time (2pm AEST/12am EST/5am BST).

This is a fixture with refined context following the USA exploding out of the blocks against Paraguay. The tournament co-hosts laid down a significant marker for Group D supremacy to the highly fancied Turkey, while Australia must have watched Los Guaraníes toiling with increasing confidence at least third place is theirs for the taking.

The Socceroos only qualified for one World Cup up to 2006 but since that coming out party in Germany they have been ever-present. They overachieved in Qatar, reaching the knockout stage for only the second time, and winning twice for the first time in finals history.

Remarkably, this is only Turkey’s third World Cup, and their first since 2002 when they finished third. They have been on a steady rankings rise since 2024, a run that coincides with the emergence of two of the brightest stars in the game, Real Madrid’s Arda Guler, and Juventus’s Kenan Yildiz. Much is expected of that pair of 21 year olds.

There is plenty of time before kick-off so settle in, enjoy the second half of Haiti v Scotland, and send me some emails to get the conversation flowing.