Turkey’s Kerem Aktürkoğlu Goes Viral After World Cup Loss to Australia

Australia pulled off one of the early surprises of the 2026 World Cup on Sunday morning with a 2-0 win over Turkey in Vancouver. Turkey controlled possession, 72% to 28%, and took more shots, 8 to 4, but were beaten by two counterattacks from Tony Popovic’s side.

Most of the criticism afterward focused on Turkish forward Kerem Aktürkoğlu of Fenerbahçe, who struggled against Australia’s defense and goalkeeper. One image of the 173-centimeter striker trying to deal with Australia’s towering back line, including Cameron Burgess at 194 cm, Harry Souttar at 198 cm and Alessandro Circati at 190 cm, spread widely online and highlighted the mismatch. Social media posts also mocked the physical gap between Aktürkoğlu and the Australian defenders.

Aktürkoğlu said after the match that Turkey had expected Australia to sit deep and look for breaks. “We knew they would stay close to their goal and try to score on counterattacks,” he said. “We could not stop that. We missed chances, then conceded the first goal. When you play well and keep the ball, and then concede, it is hard. Players like us need better footwork.” He insisted Turkey still had hope, adding, “Everything is still in our hands. We will learn from our mistakes. We should not look for scapegoats.”

Former Turkey striker Nihat Kahveci, serving as a TV commentator, was far harsher. “I am very disappointed,” he said. “The players who were supposed to score did not play at their level, and those who were supposed to defend failed to do their job. Nobody did their job.”