There’s something magical about the week a World Cup squad is named. Every four years it rolls around like Christmas for football romantics: rumours swirl, debates rage, and then finally, the list drops. For a few glorious hours, every nation is undefeated. Every player is a potential hero.
Up until the first whistle of the first match, all 48 teams still believe they can win — or at least that they can conjure a moment worthy of memory. That’s the beauty of it. Hope is still elastic, faith still untested. And that’s why, despite the cost, the chaos and everything currently unfolding in America, we’re going again — packing our kits, our Strip Tees merch, our sunblock and our sense of irrational optimism.
As the countdown to 2026 ticks closer, we’ve had our say. This is our predicted 26 — the squad we believe Tony Popovic will take to North America.
This is a team built for heat. For the breathless humidity of Houston, the smog of Los Angeles, and the altitude of Mexico City. A squad designed not for nostalgia but necessity: younger legs, fresher lungs, and players shaped by the unforgiving rhythm of modern football.
Popovic’s fingerprints are all over it. The defensive precision, the economy of movement, the quiet ruthlessness. His teams have never been known for chaos or flair; they’re known for being compact, intelligent and, above all, stingy. This is the man, after all, who once led Western Sydney Wanderers to an improbable Asian Champions League triumph by out-thinking, not out-spending, the continent. Expect structure. Expect patience. Expect the suffering of opponents to be slow and methodical.
And somewhere in the stands, clutching plastic cups of lukewarm Budweiser, we’ll drink to that. Because that’s what Australian football fans do — we travel, we sweat, we hope, and we believe that maybe, just maybe, this is the one.
The goalkeepers
For the first time in years, Maty Ryan has genuine competition. The 100-cap stalwart remains the first name on the team sheet — calm, assured, as much a part of the Socceroos’ furniture as the shirt itself — but the conversation is no longer one-sided.
Paul Izzo, playing in Denmark, has been excellent — confident with his feet, brave under pressure, and in career-best form. For once, the number one shirt feels like something earned, not assumed, and that’s a healthy problem to have.
The third spot goes to Patrick Beach, Melbourne City’s 22-year-old prodigy. He won’t play, but he doesn’t need to. His inclusion is about the next cycle — about putting young players in the room where the temperature rises.
Joe Gauci misses out. A fine goalkeeper, but his move to Port Vale feels a step sideways at the wrong moment.
The defenders
Australia’s greatest sides have been built from the back, and this one feels like a throwback in all the right ways.
At the heart of defence, Harry Souttar and Alessandro Circati look every bit the pairing to carry us through the next decade — the hammer and the scalpel. Souttar remains immense in both boxes, while Circati, just 22 and already wearing the armband, reads the game like someone far older. Together, they might just be the best combination since Vidmar and Neill.
Behind them, there’s depth and muscle. Cameron Burgess gives the left foot and calmness every defence needs; Miloš Degenek, now on his third continent of club football, brings that specific brand of chaos-control that comes only from experience.
On the left, Jordan Bos is the jewel — a generational talent who looks destined for the Premier League. His timing, balance and aggression mark him out as a player on a faster trajectory than most. Aziz Behich, the indefatigable veteran, provides the ballast. His goal sealed qualification for this World Cup — a fact we’d all do well to remember.
On the right, Lewis Miller continues to make the position his own — forceful, uncomplicated, and very Australian about his defending.
Then there’s James Avery, the bolter. Just 18, freshly polished by Manchester United’s youth system, and suddenly part of the grown-ups’ table. Right-back has been a revolving door for years, but Avery’s pace and composure could change that. While Miller remains first choice, don’t be surprised if the kid gets minutes.
Samuel Silvera is the unlucky man here — a dynamic, versatile, attack-minded option who narrowly misses out. If there’s an injury in the back line, he’s the first man on the plane.
The midfielders
The midfield feels, finally, like it belongs to the next generation. Jackson Irvine, the captain-elect, remains the heartbeat: industrious, articulate, and now one of the game’s great leaders. There’s a certain inevitability to him — all shoulders and conviction and relentless motion.
Alongside him, Connor Metcalfe and Riley McGree give the Socceroos a blend of rhythm and spark. Both are reaching maturity in Europe, both are capable of moments that change the mood of a match.
Beneath them, Aiden O’Neill and Max Balard will do the silent work — screening, spoiling, restarting. They’re the sort of players Popovic loves: unshowy, disciplined, allergic to chaos.
Then comes the flair. Ajdin Hrustic, reborn at Heracles, brings the rare commodity of craft. There’s no one else in Australian football who hits a ball quite like him — that signature whip, that sense that something could happen.
And then there’s Alexander Robertson — the third-generation Socceroo prodigy whose touch seems borrowed from another time. Elegant, elusive, endlessly watchable, Robertson could be the missing piece between midfield and imagination. If he finds form, Australia find hope.
Patrick Yazbek and Paul Okon-Engstler round out the rotation, both versatile and calm under pressure — the kind of players who make systems work.
The forwards
If the midfield is brains, the forward line is adrenaline.
Mohamed Toure, 21, feels like the natural heir to Mark Viduka — strong, direct, and utterly unafraid of a scrap. His game has raw edges, but there’s a menace to his movement that can’t be coached.
Then there’s Nestory Irankunda, the phenomenon. Barely out of his teens, already the most electrifying talent Australian football has produced in years. Now at Watford, bullying Championship full-backs and bending free kicks with frightening precision. His technique defies his age; his confidence borders on myth. He’s already world class, and somehow, his ceiling still feels distant.
Craig Goodwin provides the grown-up energy — a man of clean crosses and quiet authority.
And then Nishan Velupillay: the energy drink in human form, but also something more refined. There’s a stylishness to the way he moves, the way he glides and improvises. If confidence and fitness align, he could be devastating.
Adrian Segecic offers the wildcard. Still learning, still growing, but already a technician of genuine quality — and capable of striking a ball like it’s been set on fire. His shot has no backlift, just violence. Give him 20 minutes, and he’ll change the tone of a game.
Noah Botic completes the group — the quiet assassin, a classic centre-forward in a generation obsessed with false nines. He might be untested, but he looks like a footballer who knows where the net lives.
The absentees are the familiar heartbreaks. Mathew Leckie and Mitch Duke, the heroes of 2022, miss out. Their legacy, however, remains untarnished. Martin Boyle is perhaps the unluckiest — form decent, body unwilling. Daniel Arzani, the precocious kid from Coogee, misses out too. His career remains a cautionary tale that talent alone isn’t enough. Kusini Yengi’s minutes have dried up at Aberdeen; Apostolos Stamatelopoulos pushed hard but fell just short. Nicolas Milanovic can count himself unlucky too — edged out by Segecic’s energy.
And then there’s Massimo Luongo — one of the old guard and a consummate professional. His ACL injury cruelly ended any hope of one last dance on the world stage. He deserved better.
Built for heat, built for hope
Popovic’s Australia won’t dazzle — it will deny. The likely shape is a pragmatic 3-4-3 that often flattens into a back five — narrow, compact and relentlessly disciplined. The back three will hold the line like scaffolding, the wing-backs — Bos and Miller — providing width, oxygen and the occasional flash of creativity. In front of them, Irvine and O’Neill form a midfield that runs on grit and geometry: more blue-collar than ballroom, but all the more effective for it.
It’s football built for the furnace — not the kind that seduces, but the kind that survives. In Dallas or Monterrey or Houston, that might be what matters most. The heat will break plenty of sides; Australia’s won’t be one of them.
If these predictions hold, this could be the most complete Socceroos squad since 2006 — younger legs, sharper edges, and an identity rooted in effort over ego. A team less concerned with nostalgia than with making the next ninety minutes count.
Australia rarely arrives at a World Cup to write fairy tales. We turn up to disrupt someone else’s. But if this talented and fearless new generation can deliver even one more shock to the global order, we’ll be there — hoarse, sunburnt, and certain it was worth every mile.
Our 26-man squad
Goalkeepers
Mathew Ryan – Levante (Spain)
Paul Izzo – Randers (Denmark)
Patrick Beach – Melbourne City (Australia)
Defenders
Alessandro Circati – Parma (Italy)
Harry Souttar – Leicester City (England)
Cameron Burgess – Swansea City (Wales)
Miloš Degenek – TSC (Serbia)
Jordan Bos – Feyenoord (Netherlands)
Aziz Behich – Melbourne City (Australia)
Lewis Miller – Blackburn Rovers (England)
James Avery – Manchester United (England)
Midfielders
Jackson Irvine – FC St Pauli (Germany)
Connor Metcalfe – FC St Pauli (Germany)
Riley McGree – Middlesbrough (England)
Ajdin Hrustic – Heracles Almelo (Netherlands)
Aiden O’Neill – New York City (USA)
Max Balard – NAC Breda (Netherlands)
Alexander Robertson – Portsmouth (England)
Patrick Yazbek – Nashville SC (USA)
Paul Okon-Engstler – Sydney FC (Australia)
Forwards
Mohamed Toure – Randers (Denmark)
Nestory Irankunda – Watford (England)
Craig Goodwin – Adelaide United (Australia)
Nishan Velupillay – Melbourne Victory (Australia)
Adrian Segecic – Portsmouth (England)
Noah Botic – Austria Wien (Austria)
Those who miss out
Goalkeepers
Joe Gauci – Port Vale (England)
Tom Glover – Unattached
Defenders
Kye Rowles – D.C. United (USA)
Jack Iredale – Hibernian (Scotland)
Hayden Matthews – Portsmouth (England)
Fran Karačić – Hajduk Split (Croatia)
Kasey Bos – Mainz 05 (Germany)
Kai Trewin – Melbourne City (Australia)
Jason Davidson – Melbourne Victory (Australia)
Alex Gersbach – Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia)
Alex Bonetig – Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia)
Sebastian Esposito – Melbourne Victory (Australia)
Ryan Strain – Dundee United (Scotland)
Alex Grant – Sydney FC (Australia)
Gianni Stensness – Viking (Norway)
Midfielders
Ryan Teague – Mechelen (Belgium)
Anthony Kalik – Hajduk Split (Croatia)
Keanu Baccus – St Mirren (Scotland)
Luke Brattan – Macarthur FC (Australia)
Massimo Luongo – Millwall (England)
Forwards
Mathew Leckie – Melbourne City (Australia)
Kusini Yengi – Aberdeen (Scotland)
Nicholas D’Agostino – Unattached
Nicolas Milanovic – Aberdeen (Scotland)
Marco Tilio – Rapid Wien (Austria)
Mitch Duke – Machida Zelvia (Japan)
Adam Taggart – Perth Glory (Australia)
Martin Boyle – Hibernian (Scotland)
Brandon Borrello – Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia)
Daniel Arzani – Ferencváros (Hungary)
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos – Motherwell (Scotland)
Thomas Waddingham – Portsmouth (England)
Zac Sapsford – Dundee United (Scotland)
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