🔗 Share this article

When Tony Popovic eventually assembled his maiden Socceroos squad, the new coach detailed a range of standards. The majority were unambiguous and to the point – perfect considering the disruption surrounding his sudden arrival, in the wake of Graham Arnold’s exit, and with less than three weeks to prepare for crucial 2026 World Cup fixtures against China and Japan.

Popovic asserted that any player who hoped to wear a Socceroos shirt would need to embrace an “elite” mentality to secure, or keep that distinction. But there was another message. Less a demand and more an evocation – and one that has been thrown more distinctly into view with any step taken on the road towards the World Cup in North America.

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

Approximately a year on from that team talk in an Adelaide hotel, many of other things have changed, even if Popovic’s goals remain the same. The coach, for one, appears genuinely at home as Socceroos head. The 52-year-old’s image for austerity stands in stark contrast with the expansive and at times light-hearted figure engaging openly for over an hour in what have become semi-regular discussions with football media. Similarly have the performances of his team changed, with recollections of a setback to Bahrain and draw with Indonesia appearing fairly remote after successes over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June booked the Socceroos’ berth in next year’s global tournament.

Those wins came as part of an 11-game undefeated streak under Popovic, one that was only ended away by the United States earlier this month. It’s performance that has taken the Socceroos to the unlikely brink of crashing pot two in the World Cup draw. The outcomes of November exhibition games against Venezuela, currently placed 50th in the world, and 13th-ranked Colombia – as well as Ecuador’s games against Canada and New Zealand, and the remaining games of European qualifying – carry weight in this respect.

While Popovic admits that he arrived in the job expecting to only be able to rely on a main squad of players, he now thinks the pool he can rely on has expanded. This isn’t just through the emergence of youngsters such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as real international players. There are also the cases of Miloš Degenek’s comeback from the wilderness and Paul Izzo’s growth into a genuine Socceroos keeper with the potential to challenge Maty Ryan.

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

This unexpected emergence of talent, and the shift in outlook it has brought about in Popovic, has opened the door for players on the edges of the squad. Even those not yet considered within those ranks can keep faith that, by June next year, they could be on the plane. 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 making clear they’re every chance of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a cap or a end on that – to reveal in March that this is our squad, and there may be one or two more inclusions,” Popovic says. “No, I want every player to know that they have an chance. Why can’t there be another player that steps up in June?”

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

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

“I emphasize it to the group: one day, Australia will go very far 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 praising something remarkable from the Socceroos? Why should we have boundaries? Why not do it now?”