Maty Ryan has been dropped for Australia’s 2026 World Cup opener against Turkiye, with coach Tony Popovic starting the inexperienced Patrick Beach in goal. The decision leaves Ryan, the captain with 104 caps, on the bench as Australia make a number of bold sel
Maty Ryan knows what it looks like when a World Cup starts without you.
On Saturday night at Vancouver’s BC Place, the Australia captain will be watching from the bench as Tony Popovic makes a call that shifts the spotlight to an unfamiliar name: 23-year-old Patrick Beach.
Ryan. 34. has 104 appearances for the national team and was entering the 2026 tournament as captain for what is his third major World Cup at the helm. Instead. Popovic has chosen to start Beach. an option with just his second international appearance — after he featured against Switzerland last week.
Popovic’s shake-up doesn’t stop at the goalkeeping spot. Vice-captain Jackson Irvine has been left out, with 21-year-old Paul Okon-Engstler brought into midfield. In attack. the dynamo Nestory Irankunda. 20. is set to start alongside striker Mohamed Toure. with Toure proving his fitness for the match after missing training on Wednesday.
The line-up also brings youth in numbers: there are 10 World Cup debutants in the starting XI, and the average age is 24.6. Harry Souttar is the only player in the group who has previously experienced the tournament.
There’s further change in defence as well. Cameron Burgess, 30, replaces 18-year-old Lucas Herrington, while Kenan Yildiz — a Turkey sensation — is named on the bench after a calf injury.
The match kicks off at 9pm Saturday local time (2pm Sunday AEST). and Australia will be aiming to improve on what happened in 2022. Then. they finished second in their group after winning twice. reached the knockout stages and tested eventual champions Argentina — scoring in the 77th minute to pull back from a 2-0 deficit. But they couldn’t find the equaliser and were knocked out in the round of 16.
The expectations now are higher, too. The tournament’s expanded format will see more teams than ever advance, but the group still looks unforgiving. Australia face Turkiye, with the match set against a host nation in the US, and then they’ll contend with Paraguay, described as a dangerous opponent.
A win over Turkiye would give Australia an immediate boost in their push for the next round, particularly in any tight tie-break scenarios for second place — or even third. It has been widely touted that three points, and a goal difference around -1, could be enough to progress.
That leaves Australia needing urgency from the first whistle. and it places additional pressure on Beach to deliver under a spotlight he hasn’t carried for long. Popovic has backed him in Ryan’s place. and with a World Cup opener already under way in the timing of this tournament. there isn’t much room for experimentation after the opening match starts.
Australia Socceroos Maty Ryan Patrick Beach Tony Popovic World Cup 2026 Turkiye Jackson Irvine Paul Okon-Engstler Nestory Irankunda Mohamed Toure Harry Souttar Cameron Burgess Kenan Yildiz Vancouver BC Place
Benching a captain like that feels disrespectful, like Popovic just wants his own guy. If Beach flops we’re all gonna hear about it.
Wait so Ryan has 104 caps and they just toss him? I don’t get it. Beach has like 2 games right? That’s such a gamble.
I saw “World Cup debutants” and instantly thought it’s gonna be chaos, like they don’t even care about experience. Also Jackson Irvine being left out sounds wild too, is he injured or just… punished? Beach vs Turkiye feels like setting Australia up for a highlight reel for the wrong reasons.
Tony Popovic always makes weird lineup calls, remember when he did that other team thing and everybody was mad? I’m not even sure who Patrick Beach is but he sounds like a bench warmer already. And the article says Toure missed training Wednesday but still starts, so like what, everyone else’s decisions are based on vibes? Lol.