🔗 Share this article

When Tony Popovic eventually brought together his maiden Socceroos squad, the fresh coach detailed a series of standards. A lot were unambiguous and direct – suitable in light of the turmoil around his sudden appointment, after Graham Arnold’s exit, and with fewer than three weeks to prepare for crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan.

Popovic insisted that any player who aimed to pull on a Socceroos shirt would need to take on an “top-tier” attitude to earn, or maintain that distinction. But there was an additional theme. Less a demand and an invitation to excel – and one that has been thrown more distinctly into focus with each step taken on the journey towards the World Cup in North America.

“My hopes were to do something remarkable, in my initial talk to the players,” Popovic says. “That hasn’t changed.”

A little more than a year on from that team talk in an Adelaide hotel, many of other things have changed, even if Popovic’s ambitions stay the same. The coach, for one, appears really at home as Socceroos manager. The 52-year-old’s reputation for discipline sharply contrasts with the approachable and at times cheerful figure speaking freely for over an hour in what have become semi-regular discussions with football media. So too have the results of his team improved, with memories of a loss to Bahrain and draw with Indonesia feeling fairly remote after successes over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June booked the Socceroos’ berth in next year’s global tournament.

Those triumphs came as part of an 11-game undefeated streak under Popovic, one that was only broken away by the United States earlier this month. It’s form that has taken the Socceroos to the surprising precipice of entering pot two in the World Cup draw. The performances of November friendlies against Venezuela, currently 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 – loom large in this regard.

Even though Popovic acknowledges that he began in the job expecting to only be able to rely on a core group of players, he now feels the selection he can rely on has grown. This doesn't only come through the emergence of youngsters such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as authentic international players. There are also the likes of Miloš Degenek’s return from the obscurity and Paul Izzo’s development into a genuine Socceroos keeper with the ability to push Maty Ryan.

“The squad has totally changed in my mind – of what’s attainable with players that have entered,” Popovic says. “I first thought, ‘OK, this is my group; I don’t really have much apart from this. Just get by and make them better.’ Now, I think like there are 15, 20 players that have come into that, and I’m convinced there are additional ones to come that I trust can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This unforeseen appearance of talent, and the change in mindset it has brought about in Popovic, has created opportunities for players on the periphery of the squad. Even those not yet considered among those ranks can keep faith that, in June next year, they could be on the flight. A player like Adrian Segečić might be about to sit out a month of playing due to an ankle injury, but if he – or any other player – keeps to perform steadily, then the coach is emphasizing they’re every chance of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a limit or a end 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 comes in in June?”

But this broadening, in a way, leads back to Popovic’s first address as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to surprise him, to do something outstanding and go beyond the expectations others have for them, he wants his team to have the same mindset.

“Saying I want to do something unique is just ‘we don’t want to have limits’,” Popovic says. “We don’t want to confine ourselves into ‘let’s be participants at the World Cup, and let’s go home and pat each other on the back 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 watching and cheering something exceptional from the Socceroos? Why should we have restrictions? Why not do it now?”