Australia
Australia head in after a 1-1 friendly draw with Switzerland on 6 June, in which debutant Tete Yengi rescued a point, and a 1-0 loss to Mexico the week before. From my point of view Popovic will go with his settled back three of Souttar, Burgess and Circati, and the Bos and Irankunda combination on the left flank is the most exciting outlet this team has had in years. Riley McGree is out for the tournament with a hamstring problem suffered in the Championship play-off final, which is a real loss in midfield. I think Australia will be hard to break down but lack the cutting edge to hurt a Turkey side full of attacking quality.
Predicted Lineup: Ryan; Souttar, Burgess, Circati; Italiano, Devlin, O'Neill, Bos; Metcalfe, Toure, Irankunda.
Turkey
Under Vincenzo Montella, Turkey have developed into a side that mixes the experience of Calhanoglu and Merih Demiral with the youth of Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz, and in my opinion they have the most talented squad in this group outside of the USA. I expect them to control possession through midfield and create chances at will, with Akturkoglu offering width and Yildiz the creative spark in the final third. There are no significant injury concerns reported in the build-up to this opener. A strong start to the tournament is essential given the games to come against the USA and Paraguay.
Predicted Lineup: Gunok; Celik, Demiral, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Calhanoglu, Yuksek, Kokcu; Akturkoglu, Yildiz, Guler.
