🔗 Share this article

When Tony Popovic at last brought together his maiden Socceroos squad, the recently appointed coach detailed a series of standards. The majority were unambiguous and direct – suitable given the disruption following his unexpected appointment, after Graham Arnold’s exit, and with fewer than three weeks to prepare for crucial 2026 World Cup fixtures against China and Japan.

Popovic asserted that any player who aimed to represent in a Socceroos shirt would need to adopt an “top-tier” attitude to earn, or continue to earn that privilege. But there was a further theme. Not so much an order and a call to greatness – and one that has been brought more distinctly into perspective with every step taken on the journey towards the World Cup in North America.

“My expectations were to do something special, in my introductory talk to the players,” Popovic says. “That hasn’t changed.”

Approximately a year on from that gathering in an Adelaide hotel, plenty of other things have changed, even if Popovic’s expectations stay the same. The coach, for one, appears really comfortable as Socceroos head. The 52-year-old’s reputation for austerity differs greatly with the expansive and at times jovial figure engaging openly for over an hour in what have become semi-regular interviews with football media. Likewise have the results of his team changed, with thoughts of a loss to Bahrain and draw with Indonesia seeming rather distant after successes over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June booked the Socceroos’ place in next year’s international tournament.

Those wins came as part of an 11-game undefeated streak under Popovic, one that was only snapped away by the United States earlier this month. It’s performance that has taken the Socceroos to the unlikely edge of crashing pot two in the World Cup draw. The results of November exhibition games against Venezuela, presently positioned 50th in the world, and 13th-ranked Colombia – as well as Ecuador’s games against Canada and New Zealand, and the final games of European qualifying – are significant in this regard.

While Popovic concedes that he arrived in the job assuming to only be able to rely on a core group of players, he now feels the pool he can trust has swelled. This isn’t just through the breakthrough of youngsters such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as real international players. There are also the examples of Miloš Degenek’s return from the obscurity and Paul Izzo’s development into a true Socceroos keeper with the ability to challenge Maty Ryan.

“The squad has entirely changed in my mind – of what’s attainable with players that have come in,” Popovic says. “I first thought, ‘OK, this is my group; I don’t truly have much apart from this. Just manage and make them better.’ Now, I believe like there are 15, 20 players that have entered that, and I’m certain there are more to come that I feel can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This surprising appearance of talent, and the shift in thinking it has inspired in Popovic, has opened the door for players on the periphery of the squad. Even those not yet considered within those ranks can hold out hope that, by June next year, they could be on the flight. A player like Adrian Segečić might be about to miss a month of playing due to an ankle injury, but if he – or any other player – persists to deliver consistently, then the coach is stating plainly they’re highly likely of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a restriction or a stop on that – to reveal in March that this is our squad, and there may be one or two more new faces,” Popovic says. “No, I want every player to know that they have an possibility. Why can’t there be one more player that joins in June?”

But this expansion, in a way, leads back to Popovic’s first speech as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to impress him, to do something remarkable and exceed the hopes others have for them, he wants his team to have the same philosophy.

“Saying I want to do something special is just ‘we don’t want to have restrictions’,” Popovic says. “We don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves into ‘let’s be contenders at the World Cup, and let’s go home and congratulate ourselves for being there’.

“I keep saying it to the group: one day, Australia will go a long way in the World Cup. And why not this group? Why do we have to wait two or three World Cups, when I’m sitting back and applauding something remarkable from the Socceroos? Why should we have limits? Why not do it now?”