NYCFC's Aiden O'Neill helps Australia stun Türkiye at World Cup | OneFootball

By Jonathan Sigal

Australia stunned Türkiye in Group D play at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Saturday, and an MLS midfielder was at the heart of it all.

New York City FC standout Aiden O’Neill started and played the full 90 minutes for the Socceroos, who got goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe en route to a 2-0 victory.

Türkiye were largely perceived as the favorite at Vancouver Stadium, with Real Madrid's Arda Güler and Inter Milan's Hakan Çalhanoğlu among their top players.

Instead, Australia scored on either side of halftime to begin their World Cup journey on the front foot.

With his complete performance, O’Neill became the third active MLS player to play for Australia in the World Cup. The other two are former Red Bull New York midfielder Tim Cahill (2014) and former Columbus Crew defender Miloš Degenek (2022).

O'Neill is one of three MLS players on Australia's World Cup squad, alongside NYCFC teammate Kai Trewin and Colorado Rapids defender Lucas Herrington. Trewin and Herrington were both unused substitutes against Türkiye.

A box-to-box midfielder, O'Neill joined NYCFC in April 2025 from Belgian side Standard Liège. He's tallied 0g/7a in 31 regular-season matches for the perennial Audi MLS Cup Playoffs club.

Internationally, O'Neill has 32 caps. He was a key part of Australia qualifying for their seventh World Cup.

O'Neill, Trewin and Herrington return to action on Friday against the United States in Seattle (3 pm ET | FOX, Telemundo, Peacock).