🔗 Share this article

The moment Tony Popovic at last assembled his maiden Socceroos squad, the new coach outlined a set of expectations. A lot were straightforward and to the point – suitable considering the turmoil around his sudden appointment, in the wake of Graham Arnold’s resignation, 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 pull on a Socceroos shirt would need to adopt an “premier” mentality to secure, or keep that honour. But there was a further message. Not so much an order and a call to greatness – and one that has been cast sharper into focus with each step taken on the road towards the World Cup in North America.

“My visions 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, many of other things have shifted, even if Popovic’s goals remain the same. The coach, for one, seems truly at home as Socceroos head. The 52-year-old’s image for austerity stands in stark contrast with the open and at times light-hearted figure engaging openly for over an hour in what have become frequent interviews with football media. Similarly have the fortunes of his team improved, with thoughts of a defeat to Bahrain and stalemate with Indonesia feeling fairly far off after victories over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June guaranteed the Socceroos’ place in next year’s worldwide tournament.

Those triumphs came as part of an 11-game undefeated 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 crashing pot two in the World Cup draw. The results 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 began in the job thinking to only be able to rely on a key players of players, he now thinks the selection he can rely on has swelled. This doesn't only come through the rise of youngsters such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as real international players. There are also the examples of Miloš Degenek’s return from the obscurity 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 come in,” Popovic says. “I first thought, ‘OK, this is my group; I don’t truly have much apart from this. Just manage 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 trust can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This unforeseen appearance of talent, and the change in thinking it has brought about in Popovic, has created opportunities for players on the periphery of the squad. Even those not yet viewed among those ranks can keep faith that, in 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 – continues to deliver steadily, then the coach is emphasizing they’re highly likely 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 one more player that comes in in June?”

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

“Saying I want to do something unique 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 celebrate 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?”