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2026 World Cup Squad

DandyCasey said:
Updated starting eleven

GK
Ryan (Obvious choice, most experienced and big 5 league goalkeeper)

RCB
Souttar (Experienced national team campaigner with serious credit, this starting eleven hinges on his fitness, such a threat from set pieces)

CB
Circati (picks himself)

LCB
Herrington (Close call with Burgess but I believe this kid is top 5 league quality)

RWB
Italiano (only starting option, backups unproven)

LWB
Bos (class, career trajectory on par with Emerton)

DM
Robertson (we need some creativity Popa, surely)

DM
Trewin (big body and on par with other Def mids for mine, adds to set piece threat)

RW/AM
T. Yengi (have watched him heaps, better in deeper attacking midfielder areas, can hold the ball up and bring others into the game, big body, blocks passing lanes in low block and another to draw attention at set pieces)

LW/AM
McGree (Probably our only natural player for this hybrid position)

CF
Toure (please, please, please announce yourself to the world at this tournament)
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Irankunda has to be in there. He's our most lethal weapon. He'll be well marked but has the skill and acceleration to get past, and even when he doesn't, he draws defenders away and leaves space for others
 
patjennings said:
My problem with what Popovic is likely to pick and what most on here pick is that the players and the tactics are too samey. i.e. If Italiano needs replacing we'll replace him with Bennie. That's' not how you progress in a tournament.

Everyone remembers Australia vs Japan in 2006.

Guus basically figured a result of some sort was needed against Japan.

His changes made the difference.

Hiddink executed three pivotal tactical shifts:
52nd Minute: Tim Cahill replaced midfielder Mark Bresciano, slotting into an aggressive attacking midfield role.
61st Minute: Striker Joshua Kennedy replaced central defender Craig Moore. Culina at times (at other times just leaving Neill and Chipperfield at the back) dropped back to fill the void in defense, freeing up a position up front.
75th Minute: Striker John Aloisi replaced midfielder Luke Wilkshire, fully locking in the final four-man frontline.

Schwarzer

Culina Neill Chipperfield

Emerton Grella Kewell

Cahill

Kennedy Viduka Aloisi

When you pick a squad you need to pick players that can play multiple roles - like Culina and Kewell - and players that can change the way you play. I'm not seeing a lot of that at all. With 26 players now those last 3 (at least) need to be the game changers. - people that offer something different.
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I don't disagree with any of this but, comparing Popa with Guus is like comparing apples and...sticks lol

To this point besides for a few minutes against USA or Canada where I think we went 442 for a hot sec we haven't seen ANY creativity or innovation tactically from Popa. He would argue the opposite until he was blue in the face I'm sure but in reality he hopes to win every game he plays 1-0.
 
HonestSpursFan said:
Seen some suggesting Harrison Devenish-Meares as a smokey for the World Cup! 👀
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Harrison Devenish-Meares may be a shout to make the World Cup as a third keeper option behind Ryan and Izzo especially since he has a higher save percentage than Joe Gauci but his lack of experience at international level might be a problem unless he can get game time in the friendlies against Mexico and Switzerland before our campaign gets underway.
 
onedaywinners... said:
I don't disagree with any of this but, comparing Popa with Guus is like comparing apples and...sticks lol
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Guus was by far the best coach we ever had but that was 20 years ago with a much stronger squad. We won't get a similar coach again.

Popovic was the coach we needed two years ago. He is a good coach when you have a side of reasonably experienced journeyman type players as he has a solid defensive structure and a very conservative approach. I know its nominally a 3-4-3 but he usually only plays that way against weaker opposition. It tends to be a 5-4-1 or sometimes 5-2-2-1 when we play stronger or similar strength teams with us sitting back for at least the first 20 minutes.

With what I'm seeing of some of the younger players that should take us through the next couple of cycles I'm not sure that Popovic's tactical approach is the right one for the future. Unless he can change radically (unlikely I know) I think we need someone else to take us through the next cycle to take full advantage of the skills of the youngsters.
 
Alex M said:
Guus was by far the best coach we ever had but that was 20 years ago with a much stronger squad. We won't get a similar coach again.

Popovic was the coach we needed two years ago. He is a good coach when you have a side of reasonably experienced journeyman type players as he has a solid defensive structure and a very conservative approach. I know its nominally a 3-4-3 but he usually only plays that way against weaker opposition. It tends to be a 5-4-1 or sometimes 5-2-2-1 when we play stronger or similar strength teams with us sitting back for at least the first 20 minutes.

With what I'm seeing of some of the younger players that should take us through the next couple of cycles I'm not sure that Popovic's tactical approach is the right one for the future. Unless he can change radically (unlikely I know) I think we need someone else to take us through the next cycle to take full advantage of the skills of the youngsters.
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Nail-head!
 
socceroosmad said:
Tommy Oar guests on SBS's "The Greatest Show on Earth" and is asked if he can see any roughies from the A-League making the squad. Tommy says he'd like to see thhe Jets' Clayton Taylor in the WC squad....Good pick Tommy, probably not in the 26 this time around, but definitely one for the future
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I find it really interesting when professional players rate someone that we, as fans, might overlook.
 
onedaywinners... said:
I don't disagree with any of this but, comparing Popa with Guus is like comparing apples and...sticks lol

To this point besides for a few minutes against USA or Canada where I think we went 442 for a hot sec we haven't seen ANY creativity or innovation tactically from Popa. He would argue the opposite until he was blue in the face I'm sure but in reality he hopes to win every game he plays 1-0.
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And that was my problem with his selection. Plan A - win 1-0. Guess what you need to win and you're a goal down with 30 mins to go. More Plan A - or a different Plan B. He could ask kis assistant Okon. His answer to what is Plan B - do Plan A better. That's what managers are there to do.

Switch it up - make a difference - not rigidly stick to a failing plan. If he can't do that then he is in the wrong job.
 
Going to start putting together squads on Football Life / PES for the final simulation/playthrough.

So far - according to wiki, and the announcements made by Football Aus (since the training camp players aren't included for us on the Wiki Squads page), 551 players have been selected across 14 countries so far - only 5 of those 14 countries have announced a final squad

The games updated Australia squad (since I've downloaded the update)
GK
Izzo
Beach
Ryan

DF
Herrington
Circati
Trewin
Souttar
Degenek
Rowles
Burgess
Bos
Behich
Geria

MF
Devlin
O'Neill
Metcalfe
Irvine
Yazbek
Hrustic
McGree

FW
Velupillay
Mabil
Irankunda
Suto
Juric
Boyle
 
I guess for tactical subs, we have ideal subs to protect a lead in devlin and duke but not sure how you would chase the lead aside from a better more aggressive version of plan a without some out of the box thinking


Guus looked at which positions we had an oversupply of elite players and how we could use that to compensate for our weakness. Our weaknesses were creativity in midfield and cbs playing at a high level and our oversupply was in wide players with a strong defensive game and huge engines as well as strikers.

Today our weaknesses are creativity in midfield and forawards playing at a high enough level as well as right wing back whereas our oversupply is quality cbs and fast players

You could put souttar forward, give circati a roaming role, but to be honest i think we have too many weaknesses to cover to have a radical change like guus did. I think that could change as soon as a couple of years from now though
 
socceroosmad said:
Irankunda has to be in there. He's our most lethal weapon. He'll be well marked but has the skill and acceleration to get past, and even when he doesn't, he draws defenders away and leaves space for others
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Will Popa start him or bring him on against tired legs when space opens up? Not a sure thing Popa will start him to be fair.
 
I only just realised that the players currently in camp have already been given squad numbers on their training gear. Does anyone think this could be an indication of what Popa is leaning towards? I've put astericks next to those I can't confirm because I'm honestly not good at face recognition anymore lol

  • 19 - Souttar
  • 24 - Robertson
  • 10 - Hrustic
  • 15 - Duke
  • 16 - Behich
  • 9 - Toure
  • 30 - Bennie
  • 32 - D'Agostino
  • 29 - Caceres
  • 7- Leckie
  • 34 - Velupillay
  • 28 - Beach
  • ?? - Matthews
  • ?? - Borrello
  • ?? - Izzo
  • ?? - Gauci
  • ?? - Irankunda
  • ?? - Burgess
  • ?? - Rodrigues
 
NicCarBel said:
I only just realised that the players currently in camp have already been given squad numbers on their training gear. Does anyone think this could be an indication of what Popa is leaning towards? I've put astericks next to those I can't confirm because I'm honestly not good at face recognition anymore lol

  • 19 - Souttar
  • 24 - Robertson
  • 10 - Hrustic
  • 15 - Duke
  • 16 - Behich
  • 9 - Toure
  • 30 - Bennie
  • 32 - D'Agostino
  • 29 - Caceres
  • 7- Leckie
  • 34 - Velupillay
  • 28 - Beach
  • ?? - Matthews
  • ?? - Borrello
  • ?? - Izzo
  • ?? - Gauci
  • ?? - Irankunda
  • ?? - Burgess
  • ?? - Rodrigues
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I don't think it's an indication of which players Tony Popovic is going to name in the final 26-player list for the Socceroos but ultimately for those that do end up making the playing list for the World Cup they'll have to transition to the 1 through 26 numbering model when our campaign gets underway.
 
NicCarBel said:
I only just realised that the players currently in camp have already been given squad numbers on their training gear. Does anyone think this could be an indication of what Popa is leaning towards? I've put astericks next to those I can't confirm because I'm honestly not good at face recognition anymore lol

  • 19 - Souttar
  • 24 - Robertson
  • 10 - Hrustic
  • 15 - Duke
  • 16 - Behich
  • 9 - Toure
  • 30 - Bennie
  • 32 - D'Agostino
  • 29 - Caceres
  • 7- Leckie
  • 34 - Velupillay
  • 28 - Beach
  • ?? - Matthews
  • ?? - Borrello
  • ?? - Izzo
  • ?? - Gauci
  • ?? - Irankunda
  • ?? - Burgess
  • ?? - Rodrigues
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Given the numbers you have given that sounds quite likely. Maybe we have to see what Izzo, Gauci, Burgess and Irankunda have but Beach at 28 might be a clue. .
 
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