Note: this article was finalised before the Socceroos' 2–0 victory over Turkey. UP THE ROOS!!!!!!

The Socceroos are about to head to their sixth straight FIFA World Cup, and with such an exciting team and a fairly even group, many fans have high hopes for Tony Popović's side. Here's who got picked and an analysis of what our campaign could look like as we take on the world in the United States.

The final squad


Tony Popović named a 26-player squad of three goalkeepers and 23 outfield players for the World Cup, which will be captained by goalie Maty Ryan. Four players (Hibernian's Martin Boyle, Western Sydney Wanderers' Brandon Borello, Aston Villa's Port Vale loanee Joe Gauci and DC United's Kye Rowles) were omitted from the final 30-man squad, while various others were sent home from the training camp.

Middlesbrough's Riley McGree was left out due to an injury he sustained in Boro's 2–1 loss to Hull City in the EFL Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium, which the club qualified after Southampton were disqualified after spying on multiple opponents throughout the season.

In the list below, players are listed in order of their squad number. Their first names are written in sentence case, while their surnames are written in capital letters.


Manager: Tony POPOVIĆ

Our starting lineup


Using Tony Popović's 3-4-2-1 formation, I would preferably start with captain Maty Ryan in goals, guarded by three centre-backs in Lucas Herrington, Harry Souttar and Ale Circati. At left wing back we've obviously got Jordy Bos, while at right wing back I've picked Jacob Italiano, with Jackson Irvine and Cammy Devlin in defensive midfield. In attacking midfield, I've picked a quality combination of starboy Nestory Irankunda on the left wing accompanied by Cristian Volpato on the right wing, with of course the one and only Mo Touré up front to form a powerful front three. I strongly believe that this is our best starting 11 that adheres to the formation Popa likes to use.

Five key players

With such exciting youth prospects coming through, the future looks much brighter and more promising than it has for quite some time now. Going through the entire 26-man squad, I've picked out the five young guns (listed in alphabetical order by their last name) who I think will be our most important players at the tournament.

The first one on the list is Jordy Bos. A 23-year-old Melburnian left wing back, he came through the ranks of Melbourne City in the NPL and the A-League Men before earning a move to BPL side Westerlo in 2023, where he played until moving next door to Belgian's southern neighbours the Netherlands in 2025, when he signed for Feyenoord. He's widely regarded as a key player for the Eredivisie runners-up, and his club form has translated into national team form over the years. A solid performance at the World Cup after an already solid club season could earn him a move to the Big Five leagues.

The second player I'd like to bring up is Ale Circati, the son of former Italian footballer Gianfranco Circati. Born in Fidenza and raised in Perth from the age of one, he played for Perth Glory's NPL team before heading back over to Italy to play for Parma in 2022. A former under-20 international for Italy, he received two caps for the Azzurrinni in 2022 before deciding to represent Australia, after seeking advice from Italian goalkeeping legend and then-Parma teammate Gianluigi Buffon, who advised him to go with his heart. Since then, he has represented the Socceroos since 2023, though struggled with a devastating ACL injury in 2024. Nevertheless, he bounced back and became the youngest Socceroos captain since 1981, at the age of 21. Now 22, the Serie A defender has recently been reportedly eyed by La Liga giants Atlético Madrid, who finished fourth last season and made it to the Copa del Rey final.

The third player I'll discuss is Nestory Irankunda. Born a Burundian refugee in Kigoma, Tanzania, Nestor migrated to Australia with his family as a kid, settling in Adelaide. Coming through Adelaide United's youth system and later their A-League team as well as representing Australia as a Joey, the wonderkid in the number 66 made mainstream headlines in Australia after a series of incredible goals, ranging from free kicks to hat-tricks, for the Reds, and later for his move to Bayern Munich in 2024. Playing for the academy but lacking first team minutes for the Bundesliga club, he went on loan in 2025 to SSL side Grasshoppers before securing a permanent move to Championship club Watford in an effort to register more minutes ahead of the World Cup, showing a strong commitment to the Socceroos. Now aged 20, he's tipped to be the next big thing in the world of Aussie soccer, and with 15 caps and five goals his career is only just beginning, and has been linked with moves bigger than the Hornets, with Bayer Leverkusen, Crystal Palace, Everton and Fiorentina all reportedly linked to the Watford winger.

The fourth player I've listed is one of Nestor's good mates, Mo Touré. Following a similar story to Nestor, he was born a Liberian Mandingo refugee in Conakry, Guinea before settling in Adelaide with his family of footballers. He also began his career at Adelaide United in both the NPL and A-League, before heading to Ligue 1 club Reims and later Ligue 2 club Paris FC on loan, before a 2024 move to Randers in the Danish Superliga. In 2026, the former Olyroo made a highly successful midseason move to Norwich in the Championship, where he scored nine goals in 11 matches including two hat-tricks, only the second Aussie to score a hat-trick in the Championship and the first to score more than one. At 22 years old, the striker has the potential to be one of our greatest of all time, and will surely be eyed by bigger clubs after the World Cup.


The fifth and final player I'll be talking about is indeed Cristian Volpato. Hailing from the suburb of Camperdown in Sydney's Inner West, he went through NPL side Sydney United's academy before being rejected by both Sydney Derby clubs, Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers, before a lifeline move to Roma's academy as a 17-year-old. During his spell at Roma as well as during his time at Sassuolo, Cris played for Italy's youth teams and seemingly rejected the Socceroos, after mocking the team on Snapchat after a loss to Japan and later reportedly turning down a chance to play for Graham Arnold's side at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, thus becoming a polarising figure in Australia. However, he later began to consider playing for his home country after years of pressure from Aussie fans and players alike, including his good mate Ale Circati who was a driving force in convincing the 22-year-old attacking midfielder and winger to wear the green and gold. After years of speculation (and growth as a person), he finally chose us and will be heading to his first ever major tournament at the age of 22. He's also been reportedly linked with a move over to Fiorentina.

Our group

Compared to every other World Cup we've played in, our group is the most evenly-matched ever. We lack a traditional powerhouse in our team, which is unlike any of our last groups at the tournament. This year, we've been placed into Group D, which consists of Paraguay, Turkey and the US (the main cohost of the tournament). The USMNT kicked off the group with an emphatic 4–1 victory over Paraguay. The scoreline came as a surprise, as Paraguay are quite a defensive team and had the equal second-best defensive record in CONMEBOL during the qualifiers.

Our first match of the tournament, which kicked off at 2:00pm AEST last Sunday, was against Turkey at BC Place in Vancouver, the group's only match in Canada and indeed the only one held outside the US in Group D. Nicknamed the Az-Yıldızılar (the "Crescent Stars", in reference to the Turkish flag) and Bizim Çocuklar ("Our Boys") and now officially known by the country's Turkish name Türkiye, they are regarded as the strongest team in the group (despite the FIFA Men's World Rankings suggesting otherwise). The Turks have played in three World Cups, with their best ever finish coming in 2002 when they went on an iconic run to finish third in Japan and South Korea (the latter co-host also finished fourth in that tournament). That was their last appearance at the tournament, but thanks to the UEFA qualifying playoffs they're back on the world stage after 24 years of heartbreak. As admitted by Socceroos head coach Tony Popović, Turkey (led by Italian manager Vincenzo Montella, whose home nation failed to qualify for the third edition in a row) were the favourites going into this game, but we all know that Australian teams are capable of upsets in tournaments and after a draw with Switzerland we couldn't rule us out for a draw or even a win over Turkey, a mindset that saw the boys secure a comfortable victory, winning 2–0 with goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe with two assists from Paul Okon-Engstler, all of whom are in their maiden World Cup. Turkey have long produced many good players playing in Europe, and have also recruited heavily from the Turkish diaspora. However, their two most influential players at this tournament weren't even born when the country last played at the World Cup, with those two players of course being 21-year-old star forwards Arda Güler from Real Madrid and Kenan Yıldiz from Juventus (who was born in Germany). In a move that should fire up our boys, Turkey captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu openly said that Turkey would "dominate" the Socceroos and that the Turks were "more talented" than the Aussies, claims that the Roos clearly proved wrong with a victory that rocked the footballing world.

Our second match of the tournament, scheduled to kick off at 5:00am on Saturday, will be against the US at the Lumen Field in Seattle. The highest-ranked team in the group, the USMNT will have a home ground advantage as all of their matches will be played on home soil. Nicknamed the "Stars and Stripes" (in reference to the American flag) and the "Yanks" (with "Yank" being a slang term for an American), the US will be heading to their 12th World Cup (though missed out as recently as 2018 after a shock loss to Trinidad and Tobago), with their best finish coming in 1930 when they came third (being the only non-CONMEBOL or non-UEFA team to have ever done so). They're also hosting the tournament for the second time, having previously hosted it in 1994. "Team USA" are coached by Argentine boss Mauricio Pochettino, who has a wealth of European coaching experience and is best known for formerly coaching Premier League clubs Tottenham and Chelsea, as well as Ligue 1 club PSG. While the start of Poch's tenure was hit and miss, the "Seppos" (as we know them here) are now back in form and kicked off their World Cup campaign in style. Their squad includes a mix of both players playing in the top European leagues and homegrown talents playing in the MLS (such as team captain Tim Ream). Some key players to watch will include Monaco striker Folarian Balogun, who scored a brace in the US' 4–1 win over Paraguay in the opener, and of course Milan left winger Christian Pulišić (nicknamed "Captain America" and regarded as the face of North American soccer for many years now). Given the current political climate and comments made by the stereotypically arrogant American fans and pundits (including several ex-players), which downplayed the Socceroos' chances, the boys in green and gold will be very motivated to rain on America's parade by defeating the boys in red and white on their own turf, and the Roos will be all fired up after our stunning victory over Turkey (which was our equal-largest to date at the tournament).


Our third match of the tournament, scheduled to kick off at 12:00pm on Friday, will be against Paraguay at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara (advertised as the broader San Francisco Bay Area). While they are regarded as the weakest team in the group both on paper and in terms of their FIFA Ranking, Paraguay are defensively solid and in the qualifiers had the equal second-best defence in CONMEBOL, which played a big part in how they finished on level points with Brazul in the qualifiers (though this formerly solid defence was shattered by America's attack in their opening match). Nicknamed the Albirroja (the "Reds and Whites", in reference to their kit) and the Guaraníes (the "Guaranis", named after the indigenous Guarani people), the two-time Copa América champions are playing their ninth World Cup, with their best ever finish coming in 2010 when they reached the quarter-finals. Their manager is also an Argentine: Gustavo Alfaro, a defensive coach like Tony Popović who most famously coached San Lorenzo, Al-Ahli and Boca Juniors amongst many other clubs (mostly in South America) at club level before earning international experience with Ecuador and Costa Rica before taking the Paraguay job. Most of their players play for clubs in the South American leagues, but three key players currently play in the Big Five leagues: Sunderland centre back Omar Alderete, Strasbourg left winger Julio Enciso, and of course their main man Diego Gómez, a versatile midfielder who plays for Brighton and was recently named their Men's Young Player of the Season. It's predicted that the Albirroja and the Socceroos will be in fierce competition for the third place spot, as the eight best third-placed teams advance to the round of 32.

Should the Socceroos manage to get out of the group stage and advance to the knockout stage, the opportunities are endless. With the new format, the round of 32 has been added as an extra knockout round. Our best finishes were in 2006 and 2022 in which we qualified for the round of 16, narrowly losing to the eventual champions on both occasions (controversially to Italy's Azzurri in 2006 and to Argentina's Albiceleste in 2022). Should we hypothetically win our round of 32 match, we will have made history with our first ever knockout win and our best ever finish at a Men's World Cup. There are plenty of possible scenarios in the knockout stage, and the Roos will be fighting hard to go further than ever before with an exciting young squad (refreshing from previous years).

Conclusion

That concludes my analysis of the Socceroos squad and our group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup! Let me know what you think in the comments!

UP THE ROOS!!!!!