Two Socceroos are to make their international debut season on the biggest sports stage of all: the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The final 26-player Socceroos squad was named at the start of the week and features 17 potential Cup debutants.
Coach Tony Popovic’s selections include uncapped players Cristian Volpato and Tete Yengi and five Australian-based players – Patrick Beach, Aziz Behich, Mathew Leckie, Paul Okon-Engstler and Nishan Velupillay.
Veterans Mat Ryan and Mathew Leckie are poised to equal the national record held by Tim Cahill and Mark Milligan with a fourth World Cup appearance for the Socceroos.
Popovic says some hard calls were made in selecting the final squad.
“A range of factors has gone into selecting this final squad,” he says.
“Some difficult decisions had to be made – that’s the nature of major tournaments. But it’s also a credit to all the players involved over the past few weeks who worked extremely hard during an extended and challenging pre-camp.
“Our focus now shifts to finalising our preparations for the upcoming friendly against Switzerland and for our World Cup group matches.”
This year’s tournament is the largest ever, with 48 teams, but it continues to be dogged by ticketing, public transport, visa and political controversies involving the US co-hosts.
SOCCEROOS SQUAD
The Socceroos squad (with current club in brackets):
Patrick Beach (Melbourne City, Australia), Aziz Behich (Melbourne City, Australia), Jordan Bos (Feyenoord, Netherlands), Cameron Burgess (Swansea City, Wales), Alessandro Circati (Parma Calcio 1913, Italy), Milos Degenek (Apoel FC, Cyprus), Cameron Devlin (Hearts, Scotland), Jason Geria (Albirex Niigata, Japan), Lucas Herrington (Colorado Rapids, USA), Ajdin Hrustic (Heracles Almelo, Netherlands), Nestory Irankunda (Watford, England), Jackson Irvine (St Pauli, Germany), Jacob Italiano (Grazer AK, Austria), Paul Izzo (Randers FC, Denmark), Mathew Leckie (Melbourne City, Australia), Awer Mabil (CD Castellon, Spain), Connor Metcalfe (St Pauli FC, Germany), Aiden O’Neill (New York City, USA), Paul Okon-Engstler (Sydney FC, Australia), Mathew Ryan (Levante UD, Spain), Harry Souttar (Leicester City, England), Mohamed Toure (Norwich City, England), Kai Trewin (New York City, USA), Nishan Velupillay (Melbourne Victory, Australia), Cristian Volpato (Sassuolo, Italy), Tete Yengi (Machida Zelvia, Japan).
The Socceroos face Switzerland in San Diego on June 7 (all times in AEST) before the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Mexico on June 12.
- June 14, vs Turkiye, Vancouver (Canada);
- June 20: vs USA, Seattle (USA);
- June 26: vs Paraguay, Santa Clara (USA).
The tournament is due to run until July 20 (AEST) with the final due to be held in New Jersey.
WAR WOES HIT ALL WHITES
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s opening game has been disrupted marginally by the US-Iran war.
The All Whites are due to play Iran on June 17 (AEST) in Los Angeles but the US Government forced the Iranians to relocate their base to Mexico.
The Iranians are now expected to fly in and out of the US on the day of their games, including their match against NZ.
The All Whites have just lost 4-0 to Haiti in a warm-up game at Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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