🔗 Share this article

When Tony Popovic at last assembled his first Socceroos squad, the recently appointed coach detailed a series of requirements. A lot were clear and to the point – suitable considering the disruption around his unexpected appointment, after Graham Arnold’s exit, and with less than three weeks to make arrangements for critical 2026 World Cup fixtures against China and Japan.

Popovic insisted that any player who aimed to pull on a Socceroos shirt would need to take on an “premier” attitude to earn, or continue to earn that privilege. But there was an additional theme. Not so much an order and more an evocation – and one that has been cast more distinctly into view with every step taken on the road towards the World Cup in North America.

“My expectations were to do something remarkable, in my introductory talk to the players,” Popovic says. “That stays constant.”

Approximately a year on from that meeting in an Adelaide hotel, plenty of other things have shifted, even if Popovic’s expectations stay the same. The coach, for one, seems truly settled 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 interviews with football media. So too have the performances of his team improved, with thoughts of a loss to Bahrain and draw with Indonesia appearing fairly distant after successes over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June booked the Socceroos’ place in next year’s global tournament.

Those victories came as part of an 11-game winning streak under Popovic, one that was only broken away by the United States earlier this month. It’s momentum that has taken the Socceroos to the unlikely brink of entering pot two in the World Cup draw. The results of November friendlies against Venezuela, at the moment ranked 50th in the world, and 13th-ranked Colombia – as well as Ecuador’s games against Canada and New Zealand, and the last games of European qualifying – carry weight in this respect.

Although Popovic admits that he arrived in the job assuming to only be able to depend on a core group of players, he now thinks the group he can rely on has expanded. This doesn't only come through the rise of youngsters such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as authentic international players. There are also the likes of Miloš Degenek’s comeback from the wilderness and Paul Izzo’s development into a bona fide Socceroos keeper with the potential to compete with Maty Ryan.

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

This unexpected emergence of talent, and the shift in thinking it has sparked in Popovic, has paved the way for players on the fringes of the squad. Even those not yet viewed within those circle can keep faith that, by June next year, they could be on the plane. 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 – keeps to perform steadily, then the coach is making clear they’re highly likely of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a limit or a end on that – to announce 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 an additional player that steps up in June?”

But this broadening, in a way, returns us to Popovic’s first speech as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to surprise him, to do something special and rise above 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 box 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 deep in the World Cup. And why not this group? Why do we have to wait two or three World Cups, when I’m observing and cheering something special from the Socceroos? Why should we have limits? Why not do it now?”