Vancouver: Socceroos fans tell you they have spent more than $15,000 to be in North America for the 2026 World Cup, so when they enter BC Place Vancouver to watch Australia play Turkey on Sunday (AEST) and see that a beer costs more than $20, they might not be too shocked.
Downtown Vancouver is overrun with green and gold, building on a smattering of Socceroos jerseys that appeared at the start of last week. Now, Australian football fans have become inescapable, and their optimism for how the team may go is contagious.
โWe have a better team than we did four years ago, and the fact we came second in that group gives me great hope this time around,โ says Max Tricarico, 24, sitting in downtown Vancouverโs Granville Street, a main road that has been cleaned up and transformed into a pedestrian mall for the tournament.
According to FIFA, Australia ranks among the top 10 nations this World Cup in terms of supporter ticket purchased, sitting alongside footballing countries including England, Germany and Brazil โ and the three host nations.
It is predicted 10,000 Australians will be inside the 54,400-seat roofed stadium on Sunday, with most travelling with the team for at least two more games against the US in Seattle and Paraguay in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Read the full story on Socceroos fans in Vancouver from Nick Ralston here.ย
