🔗 Share this article

When Tony Popovic at last gathered his first Socceroos squad, the fresh coach presented a series of standards. The majority were unambiguous and direct – ideal in light of the disruption surrounding his abrupt arrival, after Graham Arnold’s exit, and with fewer than three weeks to get ready for crucial 2026 World Cup fixtures against China and Japan.

Popovic maintained that any player who hoped to represent in a Socceroos shirt would need to embrace an “premier” mentality to earn, or keep that honour. But there was an additional message. 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 path towards the World Cup in North America.

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

Approximately a year on from that team talk in an Adelaide hotel, plenty of other things have evolved, even if Popovic’s ambitions remain the same. The coach, for one, appears really settled as Socceroos manager. The 52-year-old’s reputation for austerity stands in stark contrast with the approachable and at times light-hearted figure holding court for over an hour in what have become frequent discussions with football media. Similarly have the performances of his team changed, with memories of a defeat to Bahrain and tie with Indonesia seeming rather remote after wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June guaranteed the Socceroos’ berth in next year’s global tournament.

Those victories came as part of an 11-game winning streak under Popovic, one that was only snapped away by the United States earlier this month. It’s momentum that has taken the Socceroos to the unlikely edge of entering pot two in the World Cup draw. The performances of November exhibition games against Venezuela, currently ranked 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 – carry weight in this respect.

Although Popovic admits that he started in the job expecting to only be able to depend on a core group of players, he now believes the group he can call upon has grown. This is not only through the breakthrough of talented youth such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as real international players. There are also the cases of Miloš Degenek’s return from the wilderness and Paul Izzo’s growth into a true Socceroos keeper with the potential to compete with Maty Ryan.

“The squad has totally 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 fully have much outside of this. Just get by and make them better.’ Now, I believe like there are 15, 20 players that have joined that, and I’m convinced there are more to come that I trust can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This unforeseen appearance of talent, and the shift in thinking it has inspired in Popovic, has created opportunities for players on the fringes of the squad. Even those not yet considered within those ranks can remain optimistic 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 play 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 opportunity. Why can’t there be one more player that comes in in June?”

But this expansion, in a way, returns us to Popovic’s first talk as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to impress him, to do something special and rise above the hopes others have for them, he wants his team to have the same mindset.

“Saying I want to do something exceptional is just ‘we don’t want to have boundaries’,” 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 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 sitting back and praising something special from the Socceroos? Why should we have boundaries? Why not do it now?”