Sydney FC have made it through to the quarter-finals of the Australia Cup 2026 after a 4-2 win over Brisbane Roar at Spencer Park.
Sydney FC 4 (Sekine 2’, Garuccio 24’, Quintal 35’, G. Popovic 90’+4′) def. Brisbane Roar 2 (Lauton 45’+2, A.Popovic OG 69’)
First half goals from Sekine, Garuccio and Quintal, plus a late Gab Popovic strike did the job with the Roar pulling two back.
Moments That Mattered:
2’ | SEKINE GOAL – Sekine starts and finishes the move, giving the ball to Quintal who feeds Garuccio wide left and the full back lifts the ball to the back post where the Japanese winger had continued his run to head home.
20’ | SEKINE HITS POST – Grant plays a nice one-two with Quintal before squaring the ball to Sekine who strikes it off the upright from inside the box.
24’ | GARUCCIO GOAL – Courtney-Perkins plays a great ball over the top and behind the Brisbane right back to Garuccio who is sprinting forward and volleys the ball over the top of Bouzanis into the far corner.
35’ | QUINTAL GOAL – Great pressure from Youlley on Valkanis wins the ball and gives it to Quintal who is free on goal and finds the back of the net.
45’+2’ | LAUTON GOAL – After a pinball in the box the ball falls to Lauton who puts a boot through it and it flies into the back of the net.
49’ | HOEFSLOOT SAVE – Gus brilliantly tips a downward header around the post from a corner.
69’ | POPOVIC OWN GOAL – Alex Popovic puts a right wing cross past Hoefsloot with his chest.
90’+4′ | G. POPOVIC GOAL – Gabby Popovic finishes off a great move with Kamijo feeding Toure out right with the Socceroo hitting a first time ball into the box for Popovic to slide home.
Match Report:
Sydney FC have moved into the quarter finals of the Australia Cup following a 3-1 win over Brisbane Roar in Queensland with first half goals from Sekine, Garuccio and Quintal.
Head Coach Patrick Kisnorbo made a change in midfield with Joe Lacey was brought into the starting line-up for the first time in a Sydney FC shirt with Jake Hollman making the bench.
The Sky Blues were on top early when Sekine intercepted the Brisbane keeper’s clearance and gave the ball to Quintal who fed it out wide to Ben Garuccio. The full back lifted the ball to the back post here the Japanese winger was waiting, having continued his run into the back post to head home.
The new signing was in the thick of it and hit the post a few minutes later after good work from Rhyan Grant and in the 24th minute Sydney FC were two up.
Courtney-Perkins found Garuccio’s left wing run and the full back hit the bouncing ball over the top of Bouzanis and into the far corner.
It was three 11 minutes later when Youlley closed down the ball and fed Quintal who was free on goal to find the corner, before Lauton pulled one back on the stroke of half time following a scramble.
Brisbane put a lot of pressure on the Sky Blues early in the second half but it was friendly fire which eventually gave them a second with Alex Popovic putting through his own net from a cross.
Roar continued to press but didn’t create anything clear cut in the remainder of the half and the Sky Blues made it 4-2 in injury time with Gabriel Popovic scoring his first goal for the club from an Al Hassan Toure cross to seal the passage through.
What They Said:-
Rhyan Grant: “We had a great start and the first half was very good. We made it a little bit hard for ourselves. They were always going to make it tough, but we hung in there at the end and got that last one, which sort of killed the game off.
“I think at Sydney FC we always want to win trophies. It doesn’t matter what competition we’re in. The Australia Cup is great because you’re able to come out, especially to grounds like this, which we don’t usually get to do. It’s a great competition and we want to win as much as we can.”
Tiago Quintal:- “I’m very happy to be able to score another goal and to get the win as well. Progressing through is very important for me and the team.
“I think we let the game get away from us a little bit in the second half. We took complete control of the first half, but towards the end we conceded a late goal.
“That’s definitely something we need to improve on – being able to control the game all the way through. But in the end we fought hard, got another goal and got the win, so I’m very happy.”
What They Said:
Sydney FC | 1. Gus HOEFSLOOT, 23. Rhyan GRANT (c), 41. Alexandar POPOVIC, 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 36. Rhys YOULLEY (38. Sam LANCASTER 39’), 29. Joe LACEY (15. Jake HOLLMAN 61’), 21. Zac DE JESUS (35. Al Hassan TOURE 61’), 20. Tiago QUINTAL, 14. Takahiro SEKINE (8. Wataru KAMIJO 45’), 22. Mathias MACALLISTER (16. Gabriel POPOVIC 73’).
Subs | 30. Alexander ZAVERDINOS, 28. Ethan DYER,.
Head Coach | Patrick KISNORBO
Yellow Cards | Courtney-Perkins 8’, Grant 12’, Lacey 26’, Youlley 75’, G. Popovic 85’.
Red Cards | None
Brisbane Roar | 1. Dean BOUZANIS, 2. Jacob NASSO, 3. Dimitri VALKANIS (32. Charlie PARKIN 73’), 15. Hosine BILITY, 11. Marko ILIC, 6. Noah MAIERONI (39. Niall THOM 86’), 77. Milorad STAJIC (22. Nathan AMANATIDIS 63’), 19. Sabit James NGOR, 10. Tae-Hee NAM, 44. Jordan LAUTON (14. Emin DURAKOVIC 73’), 17. Justin VIDIC.
Subs | 23. Oscar PAGE, 53. Archie MITCHELL, 36. Ianni VALKANIS.
Head Coach | Michael VALKANIS.
Yellow Cards | Stajic 13’, Maieroni 32’, N’gor 87’.
Red Cards | None
Venue | Spencer Park
