We spend so much of our time focused on oval-ball footy, it’s easy to forget that Australia’s great love affair, at grassroots level at least, is with the beautiful game. For many of you, tomorrow morning will be spent clutching coffee on the sidelines at a junior match, or pulling on cleats and shin-pads yourselves before grabbing a sausage (or if you play for the right club, a souvlaki) at the fundraising barbecue.
Among children, soccer is the second-most popular participation sport after swimming, according to an Australian Sports Commission survey. Among adults, it’s the third-most popular, after swimming and cycling.
The beauty of soccer is its inclusivity. In a multicultural city like ours, it has room for everyone: new Australians, multi-generational Australians, girls and boys, tiny tots and the more mature. A strong local club, powered by volunteers whose dedication leaves me in awe, binds everyone together, and can be the beating heart of a local community.
One of the enduring puzzles of Australian soccer is how it still struggles to translate this grassroots success into a popular national competition (or stable governance). But when it comes to major international events, Australia’s army of soccer fans rallies. Alarms are set for the wee hours. Green and gold garb is pulled out of drawers. Back-up teams are selected (hup, Holland, hup!).
The build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup began in earnest this week, and so did the Herald’s coverage. Our team of soccer experts – Nick Ralston and Vince Rugari who are on the ground in North America, and Emma Kemp, Frances Howe and Billie Eder who will cover it from Herald HQ – put together this group by group guide and these tips, while our visual stories team produced this interactive World Cup predictor. We also asked our AI model to simulate the World Cup 100,000 times. Check out the results on our Monte Carlo simulator.
Nick is the Herald’s deputy editor and a devout soccer enthusiast. He plays every weekend, after ferrying his kids to their matches too. He is in Vancouver with Vince, and says the United States wasn’t paying much attention to the World Cup during the week; the National Hockey League finals were on in Canada, and the NBA playoffs involving the New York Knicks had been dominating headlines in the US. Finishing touches were being put on the fan zones right up to kick-off today.
“But then, almost like magic overnight, the World Cup has very much come alive,” Nick says. “There are Mexican jerseys all over downtown Vancouver and Granville Street, in the heart of the city, transforming the beleaguered strip into five blocks of activity with bars, big screens and soccer-related art installations. Locals keep remarking on just how clean the city now looks. It will be even bigger tomorrow when Canada play their first match in Toronto.
“The Australian fan contingent has also grown considerably here, with Socceroos jersey-clad fans helping populate the bars along the strip. It is not a cheap exercise for Australian fans – a few I just spoke to earlier expect the bill for their three weeks following the team around the north-west will cost as much as $15,000. Ticket prices, which have been very much an issue ahead of this tournament, have seen them pay more than $1000 for the Australia v US match in Seattle alone. Now they are here, and the football has begun, no one seems to really mind how much they will spend.
“I happened to walk past the Turkish team hotel when they arrived in Vancouver to greet a bunch of passionate fans, all of whom seem to think the Socceroos will be easybeats when the teams play on Sunday. Yakup Bilir, a Turkish national now based in Vancouver who had come down to welcome his side to his adopted country, told me it will be ‘at least 3-0’.”
Nick reckons we can be a bit more optimistic than that. “Turkey will be tough, but there’s a lot of young, raw talent in this Socceroos side. Australia’s group, which also includes Paraguay and the US, is arguably the most evenly matched and tightly contested pool in the tournament.”
Unlike the Matildas, many of the Socceroos are not household names. By the end of the tournament, though, some of them will be. To get ahead of the curve, take some time tomorrow to read Vince’s Good Weekend cover story on Nestory Irankunda, whose raw talent and on-field presence has been getting him noticed in England with Championship club Watford. Vince has also profiled Jordan Bos, who has been dubbed Australia’s version of Wales’ great 111-cap winger Gareth Bale.
This World Cup will be as interesting for its politics as for its football. Nick looked at the issues facing organisers and visiting teams, such as border restrictions – a Somali referee was this week barred entry into the US – and the unprecedented prospect of a host nation at war with one of the participating nations. Columnist Tony Yang has examined the prospect of teams from the US and Iran meeting in a knockout clash, during what could be one of the most politically charged contests in modern sporting history.
Whatever happens, you’ll be able to read about it in the Herald. Enjoy the weekend, and don’t forget to log on for our live blog of the Socceroos’ match against Turkey on Sunday.
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