It’s been a heck of a ride for the CommBank Socceroos in 2025. It began with a 5-1 win over Indonesia back in March, a triumph at the Sydney Football Stadium that augured the commencement of a seven-game run.
This was a streak that was highlighted, of course, by triumphs over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June; the now-famous goals from Aziz Behich, Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke, as well as centurion Maty Ryan’s penalty save in Jeddah, enough to propel Australia’s men to qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup – the first time the side had navigated the perilous path of Asian qualifiers without the need for a playoff for the first time in over a decade.
In the months that followed, coach Tony Popovic and his staff were confronted with two valid, but divergent paths: zero in on what he perceived to be his strongest 26 and build on that a year out from the World Cup, or cast the net wide and allow new talent to emerge. The coach ultimately opted for the latter, probably aided in his decision-making process by injuries to key players such as Jackson Irvine and Harry Souttar, and has been duly rewarded with the emergence of players such as Paul Izzo, Nestory Irankunda, Mohamed Touré, Patrick Beach, Kai Trewin, Max Balard, Jacob Italiano, and more as genuine contributors at the international level.
But really, this is in keeping with one of the overarching themes of the coach’s tenure, one that started to take hold even before 2025. In an October sitdown with media, the former Golden Generation product admitted that he’d initially entered the role in late 2024 with a perception that he would have a limited pool of players from which to call upon, only to be taken by surprise by the depth of talent that was capable of meeting his now very well-known demands for elite performance and elite mindset. And while it’s the youngsters that tend to get most of the column inches in this regard, there’s perhaps no better example of this phenomenon than the re-emergence of Miloš Degenek in 2025, or Izzo’s rise in the goalkeeping ranks.
Holding exacting standards of himself, possessing a veteran demeanour, able to slot in at several positions across the backline, and willing to bleed for the Socceroo shirt, the veteran, from an external perspective – and it’s always important to note that because as we’ve seen with his squad selection, Popovic has often zigged when others expect him to zag – appears an excellent fit for what the coach wants from his side. But after battling a series of injuries and a dearth of minutes at then-club Red Star, the defender, Popovic acknowledged, hadn’t been one he thought he would be able to call upon during the road to 2026.
However, after securing a move to FK TSC in Serbia and serving as an unused member of the squad for games against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain – continuing a trend of players, regardless of pedigree, sitting in their first camp with Popovic – Degenek played his first game for the Socceroos in nearly two years against Indonesia in March and has been a near-ever-present figure in the backline since: logging a full 90 minutes in the wins over Japan and Saudi and captaining the team in what was his 50th appearance in Green and Gold against New Zealand in September.
Izzo, meanwhile, had to bide his time to play, making his debut in that game against the Kiwis in Canberra, but has quickly established that, in the words of Popovic, he “belonged” at the international level. Named man-of-the-match in his Soccer Ashes international debut, the South Australian would go on to make eight saves in a 1-0 win over Canada in Montreal the following month, setting, per Opta, a record for the most stops made by any Australian goalkeeper in a men’s international.
Tapped to start in the side’s final game of 2025 against Colombia, the Randers goalkeeper was left disappointed by the 3-0 defeat, his first for the national team, as well as the South American’s second goal, in which he was caught out coming out of his box. But as incumbent number one, Ryan has consistently observed, iron sharpens iron. And in both Izzo and Beach, the November window showed there was plenty of material for goalkeeper coach Frank Juric to forge.
“I think the boss has shown from the start of his run that he’s not afraid at all to change a squad and give people opportunities, whether young or older,” Izzo reflected in New York. “For me, every opportunity that I take, I want to try to take with both hands. I think tonight [left] a bad taste in the mouth for me personally. But if I get another opportunity, it’s something that I’m eternally grateful for.”
Indeed, for all the lessons that were undoubtedly raught by Popovic and his staff, there isn’t any escaping that the Socceroos would rather not have ended the year on a three-game losing run, featuring defeats to the United States, Venezuela, and Colombia, and just one goal scored. The defeat against La Vinotinto in Houston, in particular, was not the kind of performance that the side will be seeking to repeat any time soon, seemingly a backwards step from the raised intensity they had brought the previous month against Canada and the United States.
But when one accounts for the virus that left many of the squad (and staff) bedridden just 48 hours before the game, as well as the soft penalty that broke the game open, the subsequent Colombia fixture, even with the increased margin, did serve as something of a bounce back. The Socceroos again demonstrated that defensively, it’s going to take a good attack to break them down – such as one fielding Luis Suárez, James Rodriguez, and Luis Diaz – and the return of Riley McGree and Irvine added a boost.
“We knew we had to have a reaction from the Venezuelan game,” reflected Cameron Burgess. “We weren’t happy with how the performance was in that game.
“Coming into Colombia, it was a tough opponent against some really big players. And as a collective, they’re a really good team, and that’s why they’re so high in the rankings. It was always going to be a tough test. But on reflection, it feels like, especially off the ball, we were able to match them quite well for them, for large parts of the game.
“And that’s where we can take confidence from. We’ve played some good stuff on the ball; it’s just about how we get to the next step and produce those results against those big teams. Because there’s definitely a big belief in the group that we can do that. And we’ve shown that we can sort of compete with the best teams in the world, really.”
With Popovic taking the path of experimentation and exposing youth to international football, the hope will be that defeats that Venezuela and Colombia ultimately serve as painful, but necessary, lessons in the education of players that can ply their trade in green and gold for a decade, if not more. Especially for those entrusted with putting the ball in the back of the net. Touré, for instance, got the start against both South American nations, continuing on a post-qualification trend of the youngster rapidly emerging as perhaps the Socceroos’ first-choice nine, and added to his football education in both.
“It was a very physical game,” he said after the Colombia fixture. “Some of the players that we played against, I’ve been watching them for a long time on TV. So playing against them was very sick and kind of humbled me a bit because I’m a very, very physical player, and then seeing how strong some of these boys were just kind of motivated me.
“I told my brother straight after the game, ‘Oh, when I go back to [Randers], I’m gonna work so much harder on my physique. I’m going to work so much harder on the ball.’ Because that’s the level I want to get to one day. Seeing Luis Diaz, James Rodriguez playing at the level they do. It motivated me a lot, especially getting a compliment from James.
“Playing different players from different parts of the world, it kind of humbles me a bit. I’m someone who always likes to be challenged, and when I’m challenged, I like to set myself more goals. I want to be stronger. I want to be faster. I can always get better. Getting exposed to matches like this is very, very important for me to grow as a player.”
Not in action again until the March window, the final curtain on the Roos’ 2025 will come down in the wee hours of Saturday morning, local time, when Popovic will be amongst those in attendance at the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. Australia will be placed in pot 2 for the draw, the first taking place in the newly expanded 48-team format.
The only guarantee is that they won’t be drawn with a fellow Asian side, but who they draw remains unknown. Perhaps another date with France or a rematch with Lionel Messi’s Argentina. Mayhaps the old enemy England awaits, maybe in a potential group with fellow Commonwealth nations South Africa and New Zealand. Whoever comes out of the pot, though, the Socceroos feel they’ll be capable of meeting the challenge.
“Our belief is massive,” said Aiden O’Neill. “We’re not going there just to compete. We’re going there to get out of the group to progress as far as we can. We have that belief in the squad.”
