Australian and Turkish soccer fans have engaged in a heated online clash over Gallipoli after the Socceroos’ stunning underdog World Cup win on Sunday.
The ANZACs’ defeat was raised after an Aussie posted a clip of hundreds of Turkish fans watching the match on the nation’s coastline at 6am with the caption ‘Not the first time the Turkish have been watching an Australian charge at dawn’.
The attempt at humour drew some lighthearted responses, but many Turkish fans reacted by taunting Aussies with pictures of diggers’ graves.
‘Yes, the first assault ended this way,’ one wrote over a photo from a war cemetery.
‘The graves of the British slaves are here, if you want to come and see, I can show you around, of course, if your masters allow,’ a third commented.
‘Tomorrow I’ll visit the Çanakkale Anzac Memorial and tell the Anzac bones this: your descendants are dumb enough to equate the Gallipoli Campaign with a football match,’ another fan said.
Pictured: The post on X that saw many Turkish fans react by reminding Aussies who won the battle at Gallipoli
Pictured: One of several posts showing diggers’ war graves on the famous peninsula
A Turkey supporter wore this T-shirt ahead of the nation’s clash against Australia in Vancouver, showing an Aussie digger surrendering, and a Socceroos player
‘Then come here and collect your dead. Pathetic loser,’ another comment read.
‘We were defending our country. You, on the other hand, were acting as someone else’s pawns,’ one Turkish supporter commented.
Many of the comments were not fit for publication.
One Australian football fan also slammed the author of the post, writing, ‘Not sure the merciless slaughter of Australians is joke worthy, you f**king moron.’
Another comment read: ‘You are an idiot. A very long time has passed since the war, but many Australians visit Gallipoli every year, and we are honored to welcome them in friendship. But you and other heartless monsters like you cannot understand this. And you try to equate it with a simple match. Your ancestors are ashamed of you, you can be sure of that.’
In a separate post made before kickoff, one Turkey fan showed off a T-shirt with a pointed message about the Aussies’ defeat in WWI.
The unidentified supporter’s top featured an image of an Aussie soldier surrendering while being threatened with a bayonet, and a football player in Australian colours, with the slogan ‘We beat ’em before, we’ll beat ’em again’.
Australia and Turkey clashed at the storied battle for Gallipoli Beach, which saw thousands killed in clashes that are remembered annually on Anzac Day.
Pictured: Aussies celebrate their team’s underdog World Cup win over Turkey on Sunday
Pictured: Anthony Albanese lays a wreath at the Canberra War Memorial during the Anzac Day dawn service this year
Turkish fans (pictured) were left shattered as their team lost 2-0 to a side they were supremely confident of beating
The Gallipoli campaign remains one of the most tragic failed military operations in Australian and New Zealand history.
Launched in 1915 during World War I, the campaign aimed to seize control of the Dardanelles but ended in a costly defeat after months of fierce fighting.
More than 8700 Australian soldiers and approximately 2721 New Zealand soldiers lost their lives on the rugged Turkish peninsula.
Many Aussies now make a pilgrimage to Gallipoli for Anzac Day, and one of the beaches in the area has been renamed Anzac Cove.
Turkey were full of confidence leading into the clash with the Socceroos in Vancouver, with captain Hakan Calhanoglu promising his team would ‘dominate’.
It didn’t pan out that way, as Australia made the perfect start to their 2026 World Cup campaign with a stunning 2-0 victory.
Nestory Irankunda opened the scoring with a sizzling goal in the first half before Connor Metcalfe sealed the result with a superb strike after the break.
Goalkeeper Patrick Beach produced a series of outstanding saves as the Socceroos absorbed relentless Turkish pressure and kept a clean sheet.
The upset win put Australia in a strong position in Group D and silenced critics who had tipped Turkey to dominate the contest.
