🔗 Share this article

When Tony Popovic finally brought together his initial Socceroos squad, the new coach outlined a series of standards. The majority were unambiguous and concise – suitable considering the upheaval around his sudden appointment, after Graham Arnold’s resignation, and with less than three weeks to prepare for vital 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against China and Japan.

Popovic maintained that any player who hoped to represent in a Socceroos shirt would need to adopt an “premier” mindset to earn, or maintain that privilege. But there was another theme. More an inspiration and more an evocation – and one that has been thrown clearer into focus with any step taken on the journey 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.”

Just over a year on from that gathering in an Adelaide hotel, a lot of other things have shifted, even if Popovic’s ambitions stay the same. The coach, for one, appears genuinely comfortable as Socceroos manager. The 52-year-old’s standing for strictness differs greatly with the expansive and at times jovial figure holding court for over an hour in what have become periodic interviews with football media. So too have the fortunes of his team changed, with thoughts of a loss to Bahrain and stalemate with Indonesia seeming rather distant after successes over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June guaranteed 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 momentum that has taken the Socceroos to the unexpected edge of entering pot two in the World Cup draw. The results of November warm-up matches against Venezuela, presently ranked 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 assuming to only be able to rely on a key players of players, he now thinks the pool he can trust has swelled. This doesn't only come through the breakthrough of young players such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as authentic international players. There are also the cases of Miloš Degenek’s return from the sidelines and Paul Izzo’s growth into a genuine Socceroos keeper with the capability to challenge Maty Ryan.

“The squad has totally changed in my mind – of what’s possible with players that have come in,” 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 think like there are 15, 20 players that have entered that, and I’m convinced there are more to come that I believe can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This unexpected emergence of talent, and the transformation in thinking it has inspired in Popovic, has created opportunities for players on the edges of the squad. Even those not yet considered among those circle can keep faith that, in June next year, they could be on the roster. A player like Adrian Segečić might be about to be absent for a month of playing due to an ankle injury, but if he – or any other player – continues to perform consistently, then the coach is making clear they’re in with a shot of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a restriction or a stop 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 possibility. Why can’t there be an additional 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 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 confine ourselves into ‘let’s be competitors at the World Cup, and let’s go home and celebrate for being there’.

“I emphasize 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 applauding something exceptional from the Socceroos? Why should we have boundaries? Why not do it now?”