As soon as Tony Popovic at last brought together his first Socceroos squad, the recently appointed coach outlined a range of expectations. A lot were clear and concise – suitable considering the turmoil around his sudden appointment, following Graham Arnold’s departure, and with under three weeks to get ready for critical 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan.
Popovic insisted that any player who aimed to represent in a Socceroos shirt would need to embrace an “elite” mindset to deserve, or continue to earn that distinction. But there was another message. Not so much an order and an invitation to excel – and one that has been cast sharper into view with each step taken on the journey towards the World Cup in North America.
“My hopes were to do something special, in my initial talk to the players,” Popovic says. “That remains the same.”
A little more than a year on from that meeting in an Adelaide hotel, a lot of other things have shifted, even if Popovic’s expectations remain the same. The coach, for one, appears really settled as Socceroos head. The 52-year-old’s reputation for austerity stands in stark contrast with the approachable and at times jovial figure speaking freely for over an hour in what have become frequent interviews with football media. So too have the fortunes of his team improved, with thoughts of a setback to Bahrain and tie with Indonesia seeming fairly distant after victories over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June secured the Socceroos’ berth in next year’s global tournament.
Those triumphs came as part of an 11-game unbeaten run under Popovic, one that was only ended away by the United States earlier this month. It’s form that has taken the Socceroos to the unlikely edge of entering pot two in the World Cup draw. The outcomes of November warm-up matches against Venezuela, at the moment positioned 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 – loom large in this regard.
While Popovic concedes that he started in the job thinking to only be able to rely on a main squad of players, he now thinks the group he can trust has expanded. This isn’t just through the emergence of young players 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 sidelines and Paul Izzo’s development into a bona fide Socceroos keeper with the capability to compete with Maty Ryan.
“The squad has completely changed in my mind – of what’s possible with players that have entered,” 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 entered that, and I’m certain there are additional ones to come that I believe can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”
This surprising rise of talent, and the shift in thinking it has brought about in Popovic, has paved the way for players on the fringes of the squad. Even those not yet viewed amongst those ranks can hold out hope 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 – persists to deliver consistently, then the coach is emphasizing they’re highly likely of being part of his plans.
“I don’t want to put a limit or a stop 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 feel that they have an opportunity. Why can’t there be another player that joins in June?”
But this expansion, in a way, brings us back to Popovic’s initial address as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to exceed expectations him, to do something outstanding and go beyond the predictions others have for them, he wants his team to have the same attitude.
“Saying I want to do something exceptional is just ‘we don’t want to have limits’,” Popovic says. “We don’t want to box ourselves into ‘let’s be participants at the World Cup, and let’s go home and celebrate for being there’.
“I repeat 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 praising something exceptional from the Socceroos? Why should we have limits? Why not do it now?”
