Socceroos ‘silence a lot of people’ with epic upset win

Thanks for tuning in for our live coverage of day three at the World Cup!

An incredible day for Australia with a 2-0 win over Turkiye.

Earlier, heavyweights Brazil drew 1-1 with Morocco and after decades of pain, Scotland completed a drought-breaking 1-0 win over Haiti.

Switzerland dropped points as well, drawing 1-1 with Qatar.

We’ll catch you back here tomorrow morning.

The reaction to the Socceroos critic-silencing victory has been brilliant.

Veteran football journalist Ray Gatt summed it up best.

Nestory Irankunda turned himself into a national hero with an epic goal against Turkiye - but he’s just as vibrant off the field too.

The 20-year-old became the youngest Australian to score at a World Cup and was overcome with emotion when he spoke to SBS post-game.

“It’s effing unreal, it’s a dream come true,” Irankunda said.

“We’ve got the win now, we worked extra hard and fought until the end … it’s just an exciting moment. It feels amazing, you’ve got to thank the staff and the nation, they’ve all had the belief in me to do so well.

“Today, getting that goal was amazing, it’s a great feeling.”

Irankunda also explained his decision to channel Tim Cahill’s trademark celebration, throwing some punches at the corner flag after he scored.

“Timmy Cahill is my biggest inspiration when it comes to football,” he said.

“Tim Cahill is Australia’s greatest in my opinion and I just thought if I scored, I would do the same as him and I got to do it.”

He also admitted the talk from Turkiye and USA leading into the tournament added fuel to the fire for the Socceroos.

“It was extra motivation,” Irankunda said.

“We don’t like to hear people talk bad about us, we’re a great team and people underestimate us a lot. We showed them today that we can play - they kept the ball a lot more, but who scored the goals? We scored the goals and showed them.

“You’ve gotta let these people talk, they can talk all they want but at the end of the day, we’re gonna put the performance on the field and we did that today.”

Mark Milligan is someone who worked closely with Irankunda from a young age and was in awe of the young striker’s performance on the biggest stage.

“From the very beginning, I got to see him on a daily basis and knew the ability and talent that he had,” Milligan said on SBS.

“That was something you don’t see very often and it’s so nice to see him now, developing those other parts of his game as well. We knew he had that flair and explosiveness, but that discipline we’re seeing now ... he’s really maturing.”

Tony Popovic raised a few eyebrows with his team selections for the Socceroos, but the coach was clearly justified by full time.

Many were left stunned when captain Mat Ryan was named on the bench and Patrick Beach starting, but the young goalkeeper stood up when it counted.

“It was something that we’ve always seen and I’ve always had a lot of belief in the young man and he stood up today,” Popovic said post-game.

Jackson Irvine was also on the bench, allowing Paul Okon-Engstler a chance to start and he repaid the faith shown by Popovic.

Socceroos legend Harry Kewell believes the side silenced the critics and there’s reason to believe they can replicate it against the Americans next weekend.

Australia produced a remarkable 2-0 win over Turkiye and have now placed themselves in a good spot to earn qualification for the knockout stage.

“It’s put us in a great position and with all the negative talk about the Socceroos and how they play, people are gonna take a step back now,” he said on SBS.

“When people talk, the best way to silence them is on the pitch. I think tonight, Australia silenced a lot of people, which is fantastic.

“This team is resilient, strong and disciplined. It’s gonna be interesting, the USA have a certain style of play which Turkiye had as well, but we cancelled that out.

“If we play this style, the opportunities that we’re gonna get are gonna be very limited and when we do have that, we’ve gotta finish them.

“Today, when we did have the chances, we finished them.”

Kewell also offered some timely advice for the Socceroos players.

“Soak it up, enjoy this moment - this is the World Cup,” he said.

“There’s always been pressure on the Australian teams and whether they can emulate the past, but they’ve just showed it today.

“Enjoy it for at least 24 hours and then recharge.”

It’s all over!

Australia have completed a remarkable upset win over Turkiye, with goals to Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe sealing a 2-0 result.

All attention turns to next weekend’s clash with the USA - but for now, an entire nation celebrates an amazing victory for the green and gold.

Frustration is mounting for Turkiye with the match slipping away.

Yunus Akgün is given a yellow card for a challenge on Aiden O’Neill.

Just a few minutes separate the Socceroos from a stunning upset.

OH MY GOODNESS!

Connor Metcalfe finds a little bit of open space and nails a brilliant left-foot strike from outside the box into the bottom corner.

Socceroos players leave the bench and swarm Metcalfe, piling on top of him.

2-0 to the Aussies with less than 15 minutes of regulation time remaining.

Tony Popovic is spotted rallying the troops and giving an impassioned speech to his Socceroos players at the second hydration break.

20 minutes to go and the Aussies are still in the lead.

Nestory Irankunda is heading off the field now after his extraordinary World Cup moment, scoring Australia’s first goal at the tournament.

The young striker is replaced by Nishan Velupillay.