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2026 World Cup Squad

Positives:
Italiano rightly in over Miller regardless of injury
Souttar back
Herrington discovery
Bos is there
Devlin invited
Irankunda is primed
Toure finally getting recognition
Duke shackles broken (thanks for everything) Tete hopefully goes and offers something

Negatives:
McGree out
Ryan will probably concede at first shot
Midfield preferences are going to lose the battle
Okon is just too raw for this standard
Popovic still contradicting himself
Some of the older guard are on big notice
Yazbek unfortunate as he was a bit of a wildcard player
 
Why do I feel further down the line that Herrington could become our Yaya Toure? Examples escape me but rangy centre backs who've easily become 6's.

Circati and Herrington pass better than Irvine. Hey, Popa, bac 3 of Souttar Degenek and Burgess and put Circai and Herrington as a midfield block and Irvine as a 10. Irankunda, Bos and Toure as the snappy hounds and we're set!
 


Yeah everyone should be professional and accept the coaches decision but you do wonder about murmurs.

I remember when Julian Brandt got picked for Germany and another club revealed the squad and a few players said 'why that guy?'
 
JS96 said:
Why do I feel further down the line that Herrington could become our Yaya Toure? Examples escape me but rangy centre backs who've easily become 6's.

Circati and Herrington pass better than Irvine. Hey, Popa, bac 3 of Souttar Degenek and Burgess and put Circai and Herrington as a midfield block and Irvine as a 10. Irankunda, Bos and Toure as the snappy hounds and we're set!
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So your suggesting we park the bus and play long ball with your line up?
 
JS96 said:
Why do I feel further down the line that Herrington could become our Yaya Toure? Examples escape me but rangy centre backs who've easily become 6's.

Circati and Herrington pass better than Irvine. Hey, Popa, bac 3 of Souttar Degenek and Burgess and put Circai and Herrington as a midfield block and Irvine as a 10. Irankunda, Bos and Toure as the snappy hounds and we're set!
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Would never happen but honestly, I quite like it!
 
I asked AI - (I know probably not the best judge) to critique the current camp squad and make 3 cuts - AI made the cuts but this is their precis

Squad 1 (Post-Cuts) becomes a very physical, wing-heavy side that will struggle to create chances through the center of the pitch if opponents clog the flanks.

I then asked the same of my 26

Squad 2 is a modern, flexible roster featuring an excellent blend of veteran leadership (Duke, Behich, Ryan) and elite creative youth (Robertson, Irankunda), making it far better equipped for a World Cup campaign.
 
jas88 said:
Wow been out of the loop a bit.

Robbie released after McGree injury? Bit of a weird one. We don't have alot to offer off the bench. Puts alot more pressure on Toure and Irankunda who are too young to carry this team.
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That's a point no one has mentioned yet. It adds expection on our better players. Most world cups have someone stand up.

06 Cahill
10 Holman
14 Leckie
18 Mooy
22 Goodwin
 
Pasquali said:
While everyone is arguing about the squad and obvious exclusions, I really do believe the world cup has come around 2 years too early.
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In 2 years our squad will look completely different
patjennings said:
At the end of the day this squad probably means to large extent that we will not be playing through the middle at all. Sit back against a high line, win the ball, hoof it to Irankunda and Toure. Rinse and repeat.
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It just goes to show, if we didn't have Toure, Irankunda and Bos, we would genuinely have no chance, nor have any goals in the team. We got lucky
 
patjennings said:
At the end of the day this squad probably means to large extent that we will not be playing through the middle at all. Sit back against a high line, win the ball, hoof it to Irankunda and Toure. Rinse and repeat.
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If this is the tactic the Socceroos will be running throughout our World Cup campaign then much of our success will depend on whether Mathew Ryan can punt the ball long and whether Nestory Irankunda and Mo Toure can find the back of the net which essentially means we have no chance of scoring altogether if our forward line is being stifled.
 
rebelliousfeminist974 said:
If this is the tactic the Socceroos will be running throughout our World Cup campaign then much of our success will depend on whether Mathew Ryan can punt the ball long and whether Nestory Irankunda and Mo Toure can find the back of the net which essentially means we have no chance of scoring altogether if our forward line is being stifled.
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we have 4 cbs with very good long balls and 2 wing backs good at driving forward. It will have some ugly moments but we do have players to get forward. Okon can also hit a good forward pass
 
grazorblade said:
we have 4 cbs with very good long balls and 2 wing backs good at driving forward. It will have some ugly moments but we do have players to get forward. Okon can also hit a good forward pass
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I think Okon needs to start, with Irvine being a lock and McGree gone, we need someone who can get the ball forward, or else we will be going down the left with Bos the whole game and no-link up with McGree anymore.

My Starting XI

Ryan
Italiano
Circati
Souttar
Herrington
Bos
Irvine
Okon-Engstler
Metcalfe
Irankunda
Toure

If I could swap Metcalfe with a healthy McGree, that lineup suddenly looks strong but it's still probably the best we have.
 
Bbouy said:
I think Okon needs to start, with Irvine being a lock and McGree gone, we need someone who can get the ball forward, or else we will be going down the left with Bos the whole game and no-link up with McGree anymore.

My Starting XI

Ryan
Italiano
Circati
Souttar
Herrington
Bos
Irvine
Okon-Engstler
Metcalfe
Irankunda
Toure

If I could swap Metcalfe with a healthy McGree, that lineup suddenly looks strong but it's still probably the best we have.
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I actually think Metcalf provides more balance than mcgree. If you have irankunda, bos and toure around you, you need a player to provide those killer balls and keep defensive shape.

If mcgree is there I suspect we play him and metcalf in the forwards haha
 
Another thing I don’t understand is Popovic said we will take three train-on players, we are cutting three players, a goalkeeper, defender and attacker presumably? There’s still three weeks till the World Cup, including two friendlies. What happens if a midfielder goes down? We re-call Robertson or are we moving one of the attackers into the midfield as depth or using Trewin as a midfielder? Feels like it would’ve been best to keeep Robbo in camp at least as train-on player up until the first game.
 
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