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Ramazan Kilic says he will get goosebumps when the Turkish national anthem plays at BC Place Stadium as the World Cup spotlight falls on Vancouver today.
After years of preparation, Turkey will face Australia in the first World Cup match to be played in Vancouver and Kilic said tonight’s match will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the Turkish national team.
Kilic said he watched Türkiye play Canada in a friendly in Toronto in June 1995, but tonight’s game will be special because of the World Cup.
He said he will share the occasion with his wife, his two children, his brother, his sister and his sister-in-law, as well as thousands of other Turkey fans, who came to Vancouver from across Canada and around the world.
Kilic said his family had been preparing for tonight’s game since morning, listening to music and dancing, before leaving for the game.
The soccer fan said he and his family will travel from Richmond, B.C., on the SkyTrain to Vancouver, where they will meet about 2,000 fans at a local park before heading to the game.
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Kilic said he had heard that about 35,000 Turkish fans would be present for the match, and they, like him, expected Turkey to beat the Socceroos, as the Australian team is known, with Kilic scoring 4-1.
Tonight’s game comes against a backdrop of falling ticket prices, and Kilic said he got too excited when he bought his four tickets for a total of $5,000.
But he doesn’t seem to have any regrets.
“I said, ‘You know what? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let’s just go straight to the game.’ My kids love soccer. So, I said, ‘why not?’ So, we just bought it. Now, those same tickets, they’re about $500, $600 each.”
Kilic’s anticipation wasn’t the only thing tested today.
The city’s preparations for the world’s biggest sporting event will finally be put to the test in the match which kicks off at 9pm.
Doors opened three hours before then, with fans directed to get to the stadium via a walking route from the Main Street Science World SkyTrain Station and downtown along Keefer Street.
There were massive road closures around the stadium, and organizers asked fans to leave their cars at home and use public transport.
The city has seen an influx of Australian fans in green and gold, while enthusiastic Turkish supporters welcomed their team’s arrival on Thursday by lighting red smoke canisters outside the players’ hotel.
Fans who don’t have tickets can attend the official FIFA Fan Festival at Hastings Park in East Vancouver, or the new Granville Street fan zone in the city centre.
© 2026 Canadian Press
