Former Blues Burgess and Yengi's Australia Win World Cup Opener
Sunday, 14th Jun 2026 11:06
Former Blues defender Cameron Burgess played the full 90 minutes as Australia got their World Cup campaign off to a stunning start via a 2-0 shock victory over Turkey in Vancouver, ex-Town youngster Tete Yengi coming off the bench in the second half.
Burgess, 30, who left the Blues to join Swansea City last summer having been part of the back-to-back promotion team, was winning his 28th cap for the Socceroos, who sealed the three points via a goal in either half from Watford’s Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe of St Pauli.
Yengi, a surprise call-up who made a goalscoring international debut in a pre-finals friendly against Switzerland last week, came off the bench in the 74th minute.
The 25-year-old, who is on loan with Japanese club Machida Zelvia from Livingston in Scotland, was with the Blues between September 2021 and December 2023 without making a senior appearance.
Australia are second in their group behind co-hosts the USA, who beat Paraguay 4-1 in their opening fixture in the early hours of Saturday.
Elsewhere, current Blues striker George Hirst was left on the bench as Scotland beat Haiti 1-0 in Boston to take top spot in their group, Aston Villa’s John McGinn scoring in the first half.
Scotland are next in action on Friday when they take on Morocco, who impressed as they drew 1-1 with Brazil last night.
Photo: Reuters
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