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2026 World Cup Squad

Alex M said:
It was a resonse to you saying Irankunda would start in any serious football side. I'm struggling to see how it wasn't addressed at the point. Maybe you meant something else and I misunderstood.
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I meant relative to our other players. Obviously he won't start for a lot of teams, I'm saying Irankunda's ability relative to the others in his position, any serious footballing nation would start their best player.

They presumably aren't trying to self-sabotage themselves with special-occasion syndrome.
 
I don't think it unsettles a squad when a play like Adams or Burgess should be introduced the national team and actually start.

The complacent players need to be put on notice and find the spark again. Players like Boyle and Leckie have had an immense amount of time delivering nothing.
 
DandyCasey said:
Eli Adams?
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Absolutely for me. I look at the 23 as the main squad and the 3 others that can change a game. My three. Archie Goodwin, Garang Kuol and Eli Adams. They don't have to slog it out for 90 or 120 minutes - they job is to come on and cause chaos. Imagine lining up a direct free kick at 25m out with Irankunda and Adams ready to send in their rockets.
 
patjennings said:
Absolutely for me. I look at the 23 as the main squad and the 3 others that can change a game. My three. Archie Goodwin, Garang Kuol and Eli Adams. They don't have to slog it out for 90 or 120 minutes - they job is to come on and cause chaos. Imagine lining up a direct free kick at 25m out with Irankunda and Adams ready to send in their rockets.
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That's how I feel too. We've stuffed up by losing some other game changers. The last thing we need are the lazy, tried and tested regulars to say post interview 'they made it tough for us.' We need capable players who can create chances.
 
How many players are we actually going to bring to this pre-training camp? 2 weeks to go until the squad is announced.

I've counted 24 additional players that are likely in and around the squad. Originally, I expected 30-35 players, but I have counted around 45 give or take.
I'm definitely unsure if Popa will give some of them a chance but with unexpected surprises like Borello, Caceres, Borges-Rodrigues etc it would feel peculiar for some of these guys mentioned to not get a chance.

19 players currently in-camp.

+
  1. Matthew Ryan
  2. Devenish Meares
  3. Degenek
  4. Rowles
  5. Italiano
  6. Karacic
  7. Silvera
  8. Trewin
  9. Herrington
  10. Geria
  11. Bos
  12. Circati
  13. Metcalfe
  14. O’Neill (maybe)
  15. McGree
  16. Balard
  17. Devlin
  18. Yazbek (maybe)
  19. Okon-Engstler
  20. Irvine
  21. Goodwin
  22. Boyle
  23. Mabil
  24. Juric
  25. Yengi
  26. Younis
I wonder if some of these boys will get sent home before more players arrive considering Popa said "we don't want 40-50 players in camp at the same time" and especially factoring in a lot of players who are "sure things" for the WC squad haven't even arrived yet.
 
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I know this will be seen as cherry-picking moments but at the World Cup every game and every moment is high pressure and defending transitions as a DM is especially so. Playing out the game to the very end and never switching off is key especially defending. Look at Okon Jr with seconds left to play in the semi - he comes up quickly and loses the dual with Burgess.

We know he has speed - he just used it to challenge Burgess - but he just casually lopes back arriving basically where Adams scored from as the ball nestles in the net. Would he have stopped the goal - maybe not - but it was a difficult shot by Adams and any pressure may have been enough to have caused him to miss and finish the game in normal time.
 
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patjennings said:
I know this will be seen as cherry-picking moments but at the World Cup every game and every moment is high pressure and defending transitions as a DM is especially so. Playing out the game to the very end and never switching off is key especially defending. Look at Okon Jr with seconds left to play in the semi - he comes up quickly and loses the dual with Burgess.

We know he has speed - he just used it to challenge Burgess - but he just casually lopes back arriving basically where Adams scored from as the ball nestles in the net. Would he have stopped the goal - maybe not - but it was a difficult shot by Adams and any pressure may have been enough to have caused him to miss and finish the game in normal time.
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Okon apparently had good distribution in the game but the late tackle loss and Adams scoring exactly where he's supposed to be just isn't good enough.
 
Bbouy said:
How many players are we actually going to bring to this pre-training camp? 2 weeks to go until the squad is announced.

I've counted 24 additional players that are likely in and around the squad. Originally, I expected 30-35 players, but I have counted around 45 give or take.
I'm definitely unsure if Popa will give some of them a chance but with unexpected surprises like Borello, Caceres, Borges-Rodrigues etc it would feel peculiar for some of these guys mentioned to not get a chance.

19 players currently in-camp.

+
  1. Matthew Ryan
  2. Devenish Meares
  3. Degenek
  4. Rowles
  5. Italiano
  6. Karacic
  7. Silvera
  8. Trewin
  9. Herrington
  10. Geria
  11. Bos
  12. Circati
  13. Metcalfe
  14. O’Neill (maybe)
  15. McGree
  16. Balard
  17. Devlin
  18. Yazbek (maybe)
  19. Okon-Engstler
  20. Irvine
  21. Goodwin
  22. Boyle
  23. Mabil
  24. Juric
  25. Yengi
  26. Younis
I wonder if some of these boys will get sent home before more players arrive considering Popa said "we don't want 40-50 players in camp at the same time" and especially factoring in a lot of players who are "sure things" for the WC squad haven't even arrived yet.
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Well the camp is already underway - and they've been given squad numbers as well for the time being. 34 is the highest number at the moment, but yes I expect some to get cut as more arrive - as some players like Duke and Souttar are being given their traditional numbers for this camp, we can probably read between the lines at who else may be included in the coming days (players in bold are currently in camp):

  1. Mat Ryan
  2. Milos Degenek
  3. Jacob Italiano
  4. Kye Rowles
  5. Jordan Bos
  6. Martin Boyle
  7. Mathew Leckie
  8. Connor Metcalfe
  9. Mo Toure
  10. Ajdin Hrustic
  11. Nestory Irankunda
  12. Paul Izzo
  13. Aiden O'Neill
  14. Riley McGree
  15. Mitch Duke
  16. Aziz Behich
  17. Cam Devlin
  18. Joe Gauci
  19. Harry Souttar
  20. Paul Okon-Engstler
  21. Cameron Burgess
  22. Jackson Irvine
  23. Alessandro Circati
  24. Alex Robertson
  25. ???
  26. ???
  27. Raphael Borges Rodrigues
  28. Patrick Beach
  29. Anthony Caceres
  30. Daniel Bennie
  31. ???
  32. Nick D'Agostino
  33. Brandon Borrello
  34. Nishan Velupillay
Currently in camp but I'm not sure of their squad numbers:
  • Paul Izzo (I have put him at #12 because most common)
  • Hayden Matthews
Then there is still players like Mabil, Herrington, Balard, Yengi, Geria to include as well, so I think yes will get to around 40
 
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NicCarBel said:
Well the camp is already underway - and they've been given squad numbers as well for the time being. 34 is the highest number at the moment, but yes I expect some to get cut as more arrive - as some players like Duke and Souttar are being given their traditional numbers for this camp, we can probably read between the lines at who else may be included in the coming days (players in bold are currently in camp):

  1. Mat Ryan
  2. Milos Degenek
  3. Jacob Italiano
  4. Kye Rowles
  5. Jordan Bos
  6. Martin Boyle
  7. Mathew Leckie
  8. Connor Metcalfe
  9. Mo Toure
  10. Ajdin Hrustic
  11. Nestory Irankunda
  12. Paul Izzo
  13. Aiden O'Neill
  14. Riley McGree
  15. Mitch Duke
  16. Aziz Behich
  17. Cam Devlin
  18. Joe Gauci
  19. Harry Souttar
  20. Paul Okon-Engstler
  21. Cameron Burgess
  22. Jackson Irvine
  23. Alessandro Circati
  24. Alex Robertson
  25. ???
  26. ???
  27. Raphael Borges Rodrigues
  28. Patrick Beach
  29. Anthony Caceres
  30. Daniel Bennie
  31. ???
  32. Nick D'Agostino
  33. Brandon Borrello
  34. Nishan Velupillay
Currently in camp but I'm not sure of their squad numbers:
  • Paul Izzo (I have put him at #12 because most common)
  • Hayden Matthews
Then there is still players like Mabil, Herrington, Balard, Yengi, Geria to include as well, so I think yes will get to around 40
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25 and 26 in the last few squads have been:

Both September and October
25 - Hayden Matthews
26 - unused

November
25 - Iredale
26 - unused from what I can see

March
25 - Suto
26 - Herrington
 
Spectator said:
A mate of mine who gets to watch more A-League than I do reckons he would not be surprised if Eli Adams was at an EPL Club next season. Could he still be a smokey for the Socceroos?
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I doubt the first part. But I usually pick a traditional 23 man squad and then 3 'chaos' players. Players that are there for a reason when you need a result and your traditional Plan A player and cover are not working. He would be one of my chaos players.
 
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