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Australia supporters savour Vancouver’s World Cup atmosphere on Saturday.Jesse Winter/The Globe and Mail
The estimate of Aussie supporters in Vancouver – much like the sky over the city’s downtown core, tinged yellow and green by smoke grenades – was unclear.
The Green and Gold Army, the supporters group for Australia’s men’s national soccer team, estimated there to be 6,000 Aussies at BC Place for Saturday’s World Cup match against Turkey, including 550 members of the supporters group that flew in from Australia. A Football Australia spokesman, meanwhile, said there would be at least 10,000 Aussies, based on ticket purchasing data.
Jarrod Bradbury, who was outside a downtown Vancouver pub that became a meeting place for Socceroos supporters, said he’d heard it was even more.
“I could be wrong, but apparently it was about 30,000-odd Australians that flew over the last 48 hours,” he said. He wore a yellow and green Australia jersey and tight-fitting yellow Speedo-style swimwear – called “budgie smugglers” back at home – printed with images of the Australian food spread Vegemite spread on toast.
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Australia fans celebrate in the streets of Vancouver on Saturday.Jesse Winter/The Globe and Mail
Saturday night’s match, the first of seven World Cup games to be hosted in Vancouver, drew ebullient crowds with many donning the jerseys of their home countries. The Granville Street corridor, transformed into a pedestrian-only zone, saw a significant expansion of bar and restaurant patios, and hosted street performers, games and photo-op installations. Elsewhere in the city, public viewing parties and the official FIFA Fan Festival were similarly packed.
B.C. is home to Canada’s largest population of Australians. Of the 25,200 people in Canada who claimed Australia as their birthplace in the 2021 census, 10,580 were living in the province.
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Mr. Bradbury is a Canberra native who moved to Vancouver in November and now works as a physical education teacher. Interviewed downtown as thousands of Aussie soccer fans cheered and chanted around him, he said he knew numerous people who had travelled from Australia for the World Cup game, including a few friends and old softball coaches.
Asked of his swimwear, Mr. Bradbury said they are a staple beach item in Australia.
“I thought, if there’s a day to rip out the budgies in Vancouver, I think it’s when half the country’s here, because I’ll have a few fans anyway,” he said.
Behind him, a fellow Aussie poured a pint into a shoe and chugged – an Australian ritual called a “shoey” – to uproarious cheer.
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An Australia fan in the BC Place stands drinks beer out of a shoe.Albert Gea/Reuters
Also among the crowd stood Michael Kersten, a medical equipment sales consultant who travelled solo from Perth to support the Socceroos at three west coast matches. It is his first time in Canada and he said Stanley Park was amazing. He will soon follow the team to Seattle and San Francisco.
Mr. Kersten wore a yellow blazer with lime green trousers that matched his tie and oversized foam hair – his “tribute to Elvis in America.” Clipped to his lapels were four tiny koalas. The suit has been to three World Cups.
Asked whether he was hot among the crowd in 28 C weather, Mr. Kersten said extremely so.
“But I don’t want to take anything off because the sweat will just dribble everywhere,” he said. “Just contain it where it is.”
As Mr. Kersten spoke, word spread among the crowd that the pub-turned-Aussie-headquarters had run out of beer, with the exception of Guinness. A “truck full of kegs” is en route, the group was told.
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Michael Kersten (in the suit) flew solo from Perth, and said things got a little sweaty on the hot match day.Jesse Winter/The Globe and Mail
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Australian soccer fan Henry Ricketts celebrates with his fellow Aussies and an inflatable kangaroo.Jesse Winter/The Globe and Mail
Henry Ricketts, an Australian who lives in Montreal, stood with his friends Tristan Hurley and Thomas Wynn, who flew in from Canberra.
The trio plans to follow the Socceroos to every North American game they play in the tournament, having purchased conditional tickets up to and including the quarter-finals.
The three were able to score most of their tickets in the opening lottery round, which made them somewhat affordable, Mr. Hurley said. Their Vancouver tickets were $374 each.
“There was a few all-nighters to get tickets because of the time zones, but… worth it,” he said.
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Turkey fans celebrate ahead of the country’s World Cup showdown with Australia in Vancouver on Saturday.Jesse Winter/The Globe and Mail
As evening arrived at the False Creek seawall in the shadow of Science World, converted into the official red, green and blue match ball, Hasan Basar gathered with friends and family, all fellow Turkey supporters.
Mr. Basar flew in from Turkey on Friday night and plans to catch up with his team when it plays again in San Francisco.
He said he was a little surprised at the sunny Vancouver weather, having expected it to be more rainy.
“I didn’t think that [Vancouver] would be a really good World Cup experience, but as far as I see, it’s like burning [hot] out here. So it’s really good. We appreciate it,” he said.
As for the tournament atmosphere itself, “it’s so much fun.”
Saturday’s match in Vancouver came one day after Canada opened the World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto. The two cities are hosting 13 matches for the 2026 tournament, with seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto.
With a report from The Canadian Press
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Fans of both teams were exuberant before the match, the first of seven being played in Vancouver.Emma Peterson/The Associated Press
