The 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially underway, and Vancouver got its first taste of the action as Australia defeated Türkiye 2-0 at BC Place on Saturday. The first match at BC Place was declared a sellout, with 52,497 fans in attendance. Australia took a 1-0 lead in the first half on a quick strike from Nestory Irankunda, and they doubled up in the second half on a goal from midfielder Connor Metcalfe. Türkiye dominated in shots and possession, but ultimately couldn’t solve Australian goalkeeper Patrick Beach. This tilt marked the first of seven World Cup matches in Vancouver, and the anticipation culminated in watch parties all over the city, as well as massive street-filling fan marches from Australia and Türkiye supporters. World Cup action returns to BC Place on Thursday, when Canada hunts for its first win of the tournament against Qatar. This is Australia’s sixth straight FIFA World Cup qualification, while Türkiye is back in the tournament for the first time since 2002, when they placed third after a semifinal elimination. The two countries are playing in Group D, which also features the United States and Paraguay. The latest cost estimate for Vancouver’s hosting duties is between $685 million and $729 million—or between $98 million and $104 million per game. The municipal, provincial and federal governments are sharing the costs. Here are some highlights: 11:30 p.m. PT: Looking ahead Australia takes three points in their 2026 FIFA World Cup opener and looks to continue that success when the squad returns to the pitch against the United States in Seattle on Friday, June 19. Türkiye missed an opportunity to start its first World Cup since 2002 on a strong note, but will have another chance against Paraguay on June 19 in San Francisco. World Cup action returns to BC Place on Thursday at 3 p.m. PT when Canada takes on Qatar. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 11:10 p.m. PT: Impenetrable Beach The Aussies received goals from Connor Metcalfe and Nestory Irankunda, and a standout performance from 22-year-old goalkeeper Patrick Beach. Beach, a surprise starter ahead of veteran keeper and team captain Mat Ryan, made eight saves as Turkey outshot Australia 29-9 and held an 8-4 edge in shots on target. - The Canadian Press 11:05 p.m. PT: Taking the train? Those taking the SkyTrain after the game are being asked by TransLink to enter and exit Stadium-Chinatown Station through the Keefer Place and Beatty Street entrance, as the entrance on Expo Boulevard isn’t available at the moment. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 10:56 p.m. PT: Australia wins In the first-ever men’s FIFA World Cup match in Vancouver, Australia won. The Socceroos jumped to a 1-0 lead on a late first-half goal from Nestory Irankunda and got the insurance marker from Connor Metcalfe in the second half. The win over Türkiye marks a strong World Cup opener for Australia as the squad looks to build on a Round of 16 finish in Qatar in 2022. Australian fans were loud and proud in BC Place for the entire match, bringing their energy all the way to the end, when they sang “Down Under” by Men at Work as the players celebrated their win. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 10:50 p.m. PT: Australia leading 2-0 late At 90 minutes on the clock, Australia is leading 2-0 over Türkiye. The trailing squad will have six minutes of extra time to get on the board. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 10:37 p.m. PT: Full house in Vancouver The game has been declared a sellout at BC Place with 52,497 fans in attendance. - The Canadian Press 10:34 p.m. PT: Socceroos make it 2-0 With less than 20 minutes to go, Australia has scored another goal to make it 2-0. The goal came from midfielder Connor Metcalfe just after a substitution for the Socceroos. Australian goalkeeper Patrick Beach stopped a dangerous scoring chance just a couple of minutes later. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 10:30 p.m. PT: Türkiye trailing The opening goal from Australia’s Nestory Irankunda holds strong as the only goal of the match at 68 minutes in. The first half strike marks the youngest goal from an Australian player in the history of the FIFA World Cup. Irankunda is 20 years old. The two squads stopped briefly for a hydration break, and Türkiye looks to build on recent momentum and score a tying goal late. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 10:05 p.m. PT: Australia and Türkiye return to action World Cup soccer returns to BC Place after the halftime break. Türkiye made one substitution going into the second half. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 9:49 p.m. PT: Türkiye trailing at halftime The first 2026 FIFA World Cup match in Vancouver has reached halftime, and Australia leads 1-0. Türkiye has had a few dangerous scoring chances while dominating possession, but the Socceroos have made the most of their opportunities while remaining strong defensively. Australia’s lone goal scorer, Nestory Irankunda, charged the Türkiye net in a late scoring chance before halftime, but was stopped by the Turkish goalkeeper. The first half went four minutes into extra time. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 9:47 p.m. PT: FIFA president spotted FIFA president Gianni Infantino was spotted in a suite at BC Place during the Australia-Turkey match. Infantino also attended Brazil-Morocco in New Jersey earlier in the day. The Canadian Press 9:27 p.m. PT: Australia takes a 1-0 lead Türkiye had a great scoring chance on the first shot on target of the match, but Australia hopped on the counterattack right away. Nestory Irankunda received the pass from Paul Okon-Engstler and worked his way toward the net, scoring on the Socceroos’ first shot on target. Australian fans erupted in BC Place when the ball hit the twine. The game was almost a tie shortly after, when Türkiye went on the attack two minutes later but hit the post. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 9:23 p.m. PT: Even contest so far Both squads are scoreless heading to their first water break of the match. Türkiye is outshooting the Socceroos four to one. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 9:10 p.m. PT: Türkiye pressures early Türkiye has had control through the first ten minutes of their World Cup opener against Australia, taking three shots and having possession over 80 per cent of the time early on. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 9 p.m. PT: World Cup underway in Vancouver 2026 FIFA World Cup action has begun in Vancouver with Australia and Türkiye kicking off at BC Place. The crowd has been roaring for nearly an hour, and fans will have to keep up the energy as the match continues into the late hours of the night. According to TSN, Türkiye is the favourite, but the masses of Socceroos fans in attendance are hoping their squad can pull off the upset and start off the tournament on a high note. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 8:41 p.m. PT: Sing along in Vancouver BC Place has turned into a singalong as fans wait for kickoff between Turkey and Australia. The yellow-clad Australian supporters belted out Men at Work’s ‘Down Under.’" Not to be outdone, Turkish fans let out a roar when Tarkan’s “Dönmüyor Giden” played over the speakers. - The Canadian Press 8:20 p.m. PT: Türkiye and Australia hit the pitch Turkey’s players emerged from the tunnel to loud cheers from throughout the stadium. The noise reverberated again every time the team was shown on the big screen during their warm-ups. Australia’s players came out for warm-ups to a mixture of boos and cheers from the still-arriving crowd. A large section of yellow-clad Socceroo fans occupied the stands behind the net as the athletes passed balls back and forth on the field. The stadium speakers blasted AC-DC as the players ran drills on the newly installed grass pitch. - The Canadian Press 8 p.m. PT: One hour until kickoff Fans are finding their way to their seats with an hour to go until the Group D matchup between Australia and Türkiye kicks off at BC Place. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 7:30 p.m. PT: Players step onto the pitch Players and staff from both Australia and Turkey have arrived at BC Place in Vancouver ahead of tonight’s World Cup opener. Wearing dark suits, white shirts and dark ties. Minutes later, boisterous cheers and whistles greeted Turkey’s players as they emerged from the tunnel wearing red warm-up shirts and black shorts or track pants. Some of the Turkish players greeted their Australian counterparts at midfield. - The Canadian Press 7 p.m. PT: Socceroos en route Fans gathered outside the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver on Burrard Street to see off the Australian World Cup squad as game time draws closer. The crowd gave loud cheers as players got on board and the bus drove away from the hotel, bound for BC Place. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 6:50 p.m. PT: Turkish and Australian fans march in support The Türkiye national football squad’s X account shared videos showing a mass of fans marching through the intersection of Quebec Street and E 6th Avenue with less than three hours to go before kickoff. Australia supporters, meanwhile, took over Granville Street before continuing their march toward the pitch. Between red and gold, fans of both squads have managed to take over the city’s streets, building towards an exciting 2026 FIFA World Cup debut for Vancouver - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 6:15 p.m. PT: Türkiye supporters at the ready in Vancouver Türkiye fans were found at Jonathan Rogers Park on Saturday afternoon ahead of their march toward BC Place. More video of their gathering has shown up on social media, capturing a massive sea of red Türkiye shirts filling the streets. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 5:55 p.m. PT: Green and gold gathering Socceroos fans gathered at an Irish pub called Dublin Calling after a march through the city brought them to Granville Street. Türkiye supporters were also found getting ready for the match. Fans told CTV News Vancouver that the first match of the FIFA World Cup is always a big one. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 5 p.m. PT: Match day road closures Pacific Boulevard is closed to vehicle traffic from the Cambie Bridge to Carrall Street for the duration of the tournament, but match days bring more road closures to downtown Vancouver. Those roads won’t be completely out of use, though, as fan marches are expected to bring some noise to the neighbourhood. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 4:45 p.m. PT: Aussie supporters march on Socceroos fans made their presence known in Vancouver Saturday afternoon, marching through the downtown core hours before the match. The crowd was seen passing through the intersection of Robson and Burrard with a police escort in tow. - James Paracy, CTV News Vancouver 4:35 p.m. PT: In case you were wondering Visiting Vancouver for the World Cup and looking to partake in some legal cannabis? The Vancouver Police Department has shared some advice for visitors. - Ian Holliday, CTV News Vancouver 4:15 p.m. PT: Socceroos stroll downtown Vancouver Australia’s players took a final pre-match stroll around downtown Vancouver Saturday afternoon, posing for photos with passing fans outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. British Columbia is home to nearly half of Canada’s Australian-born population, and thousands more have made the trip from Down Under for the tournament. - Ian Holliday, CTV News Vancouver What’s at stake While this is the first match of the tournament for Australia and Türkiye, the other two teams in Group D—the United States and Paraguay—have already played each other. The Americans dominated Paraguay, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first half and finishing with a 4-1 victory. A win for either team at B.C. Place tonight would see them keep pace with the USA at the top of the group table on three points. A draw, meanwhile, would leave Australia and Türkiye with one point apiece heading into their matchups with the co-hosts and the South Americans. Australia plays the U.S. in Seattle on June 19 before finishing group play against Paraguay in the San Francisco Bay Area on June 25. Türkiye plays Paraguay in the Bay Area on June 19 and the U.S. in Los Angeles on June 25. - Ian Holliday, CTV News Vancouver ‘The energy’s amazing’ The World Cup has arrived on the west coast, and the signs were impossible to miss Saturday afternoon on Granville Street. Fans from around the world gathered along a temporarily vehicle-free stretch of the iconic entertainment corridor, taking in the soccer-themed installations and watch parties that are part of Metro Vancouver’s lengthy slate of FIFA offerings. “We’ve been to the FIFA fan festival and Granville Island watch party,” said Irem Cingoz, a fan who travelled from Melbourne, Australia. “The energy’s amazing. The city’s well prepared and everyone is so happy for the World Cup so far.” - Andrew Johnson, CTV National News Massive welcome for Team Canada When Team Canada arrives in Vancouver for its second World Cup group stage match against Qatar, it can expect to receive a massive west coast welcome. Literally. Workers at Vancouver International Airport have carved a giant, bilingual message for the team into the grass of Sea Island adjacent to the airport’s runways. - Ian Holliday, CTV News Vancouver ‘Once in a lifetime’ Ramazan Kilic says he will get goosebumps when Türkiye’s national anthem rings through B.C. Place Stadium as the World Cup spotlight falls on Vancouver Saturday night. He says he’s one of as many as 35,000 Turkish fans expected to pack the stadium as their nation takes on Australia in its first FIFA World Cup match since 2002. “I said, ‘You know what? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We will just go to the game,’” he told The Canadian Press. - The Canadian Press Looking for last minute tickets? They’re available. On the morning of the first-ever FIFA World Cup game in Vancouver, there were still tickets available for Saturday’s night’s group stage match between Australia and Türkiye. If you’re hoping to snag a last-minute entry into B.C. Place, you can hit the resale market or the official FIFA portal, and perhaps surprisingly, the biggest “bargains” on both are similar. On the official FIFA portal, the vast majority of the stadium appeared to be sold out, but there were upper level tickets available in section 407 for $530. There were also lowers up for grabs, in sections 210, 213, 214, 215, 216, and 217 for $630. On StubHub, there were tickets available all over the place, with some people asking for thousands of dollars a seat, but that was not the norm. The lowest listings were between $550-$600 for seats primarily in the upper 400 level. FIFA has taken a lot of heat for charging record ticket prices for this year’s tournament. In Toronto Friday, at Canada’s opening draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina, there was a smattering of empty seats. A last-minute ticket to Canada’s next match against Qatar in Vancouver on June 18 will cost you $849 on Stub Hub to sit in the upper level, while only lower level tickets remain on the FIFA portal. They are priced at $1,050 and up. - Andrew Johnson, CTV National News Türkiye and Australia teams land in B.C. Ahead of B.C. Place’s first match of the tournament Saturday, the participating national teams landed at YVR earlier in the week. Türkiye arrived Thursday to a throng of fans carrying flags and coloured smoke outside the team’s hotel in downtown Vancouver. Australia’s Socceroos arrived in Vancouver on Friday. Both teams have their base camps in the United States. Türkiye’s is located in Mesa, Ariz., while Australia is operating out of the San Francisco Bay area. - Ian Holliday, CTV News Vancouver International fans pour into Vancouver Ahead of Saturday’s game, an influx of soccer fans from around the world arrived to cheer on their favourite teams. Lachlan Carter landed from Australia on Monday to cheer on his national team—nicknamed the “Socceroos.” “Boys, you’ve done all the work. The whole country’s behind you. Just rip in, give it a red-hot crack,” Carter said. - The Canadian Press
