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Socceroos Depth Chart: Picking Australia's squad as the World Cup looms
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We're in the home stretch, where the margins between realising a lifelong dream and having it slip through despairing fingers become razor thin and all the more cruel. Just two and a half months remain until Tony Popovic will settle on his final, 26-player squad for the FIFA World Cup, and, after a long period experimentation following the securing of qualification, the scope for selection is narrowing.
In a sitdown with media last week, the Socceroos boss indicated that while previous camps had seen some call-ups with one eye on tournaments beyond this year's global showpiece — think the surprise call-up of Manchester United youngster James Overy last November — those tapped for friendlies against Cameroon and Curacao this month would be coming in because they were seen as capable of making an impact at the World Cup.
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The Socceroos have used 36 different players in qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup. (Getty: Robert Cianflone)
Tony Popovic has made the promise that “one day Australia will go very far in the World Cup".
“Why not this group?” he added, speaking back in October after the Socceroos qualified for the 2026 tournament that starts on June 12.
Australia’s head coach has until June 1 to submit his final squad to try and fulfil that goal.
He can pick a squad of a maximum of 26 players, including three goalkeepers.
Popovic, who represented his country at the 2006 World Cup, wants Socceroos players to show “toughness”, a “willingness to run and fight”, both traits he hopes will make his side a nightmare to play against.
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How breakfast with Eddie Jones helps Tony Popovic plan for Socceroos’ World Cup | Joey Lynch
The Socceroos coach is on a cross-code knowledge quest as he prepares for his first major international tournament. Eddie Jones had a lot to offer
Rugby’s Eddie Jones and football’s Tony Popovic sit down for breakfast in Tokyo. No, it’s not the setup for a joke, maybe something involving Akubras. Instead, it’s a real scene from just last week, amid Popovic’s sweeping, cross-code search for knowledge that will prepare him to lead Socceroos into this year’s World Cup.
Because say what you will about Jones – and many have since he quit the Wallabies post in favour of Japan – but he’s quite good at this whole World Cup thing. He’s led two different nations to the final, advised another during its win, and guided Japan to a stunning upset win over the Springboks in 2015. Thus, if you’re someone like Popovic, who possesses a glittering club coaching career but has never coached at a major international tournament before, let alone at a swelled, 48-team global showpiece event stretched across three countries – two of which can’t exactly be described as bastions of stability – every piece of knowledge you can extract from someone like Jones is golden.
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