Australia vs Turkey LIVE: Socceroos Stun Turkey 2-0 in World Cup Upset

Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu insisted his team controlled the match, standing firmly by the view he expressed before kickoff.

Reflecting on the performance, the Inter Milan midfielder pushed back when asked whether Turkey had truly been on top. “We didn’t dominate?” he replied.

A journalist challenged that assessment, saying: “No, I don’t think you did. Possession, sure.”

Calhanoglu, however, was unmoved. He argued that Turkey dictated the game, while Australia spent much of the contest sitting deep and defending. In his view, the result was shaped less by Australia’s overall play and more by Turkey’s own errors.

“We dominated today,” Calhanoglu said. “Australia was just behind, defending well.”

He also pointed to the nature of the goals conceded, describing them as the product of mistakes. “Two long goals, they scored. It was our mistakes,” he said.

‘Somehow we could not score a goal – they have been very good in their game.

‘We had 78% of the time where we had the ball but we had not been precise and we think it is also important to score a goal. We have been very close to scoring a goal but it was very difficult, we know the defence was very good, they are very tall, so it is very difficult sometimes to have a competition with other players who are much taller than us.

‘I would like to congratulate them, they have been playing very well, we will continue with our balance and judgement, we are still in the round.’