World Cup 2026: the six wins achieved with under 40% possession
Six completed World Cup 2026 matches were won by a team with strictly less than 40% possession. Across the 104-match scope, that is 5.8% of (…)
Australia’s men’s national team, known as the Socceroos, represents the country in international football under Football Australia. Founded in 1961, the side carries a distinctive gold and green identity and a tradition built on resilience, regional competition and global ambition. Its national selection draws attention across a country where football connects diverse communities and cities. The page presents the team’s identity, selection context and historical place in Australian sport.
Xtra rating
1702
Conservative: 1037
Rank national
18
Updated: 3 July 2026
Australia Upcoming matches by league
Friendlies
-
- Friendly International
Australia
Cameroon
-
- Friendly International
Australia
Curaçao
-
- Friendly International
Australia
Brazil
-
- Friendly International
Australia
Brazil
Australia Last matches by league
Friendlies
World Cup
World Cup - Qualification Asia
Asian Cup
World Cup - Qualification Intercontinental Play-offs
Confederations Cup
Australia Team Roster
Australia’s recorded squad contains 26 players: three goalkeepers, eight defenders, nine midfielders and six attackers. The goalkeeping group includes M. Ryan, P. Beach and P. Izzo. Defensive options include H. Souttar, C. Burgess, A. Circati, M. Degenek and J. Geria. Midfield depth features A. Hrustic, C. Metcalfe, J. Irvine, M. Leckie and N. Irankunda, while the attacking group includes C. Volpato, M. Touré and T. Yengi. Shirt numbers run from 1 to 26 in the listed selection, with Paul Okon-Engstler also included among the midfielders.
position Goalkeeper
position Defender
2
Miloš Degenek
DEF
Croatia
3
Alessandro Circati
DEF
Italy
4
Jacob Michael Italiano
DEF
Australia
6
Jason Kato Geria
DEF
Australia
15
Kai Clifton Trewin
DEF
Australia
19
Harry James Souttar
DEF
Scotland
21
Cameron Robert Burgess
DEF
Scotland
25
Lucas Herrington
DEF
Australia
position Midfielder
5
Jordan Jacob Bos
MID
Australia
7
Mathew Allan Leckie
MID
Australia
8
Connor Isaac Metcalfe
MID
Australia
10
Ajdin Hrustić
MID
Australia
11
Awer Bul Mabil
MID
Kenya
13
Aiden Connor O'Neill
MID
Australia
14
Cameron Peter Devlin
MID
Australia
16
Aziz Eraltay Behich
MID
Australia
17
Nestory Irankunda
MID
Australia
22
Jackson Alexander Irvine
MID
Australia
23
Nishan Velupillay
MID
Australia
24
Paul Michael Junior Okon-Engstler
MID
Italy
position Attacker
Last Australia Coachs
Anthony Popović is Australia’s current coach, having begun the role on 1 September 2024. The timeline also records Graham James Arnold’s tenure from October 2018 to September 2024. Lambertus van Marwijk led the side during 2018, while Angelos Postecoglou’s recorded spell ran from October 2013 to November 2017. This sequence places the present national-team cycle after Arnold’s tenure and keeps the earlier appointments as historical context within the coaching chronology.
Anthony Popović
Australia
Coach since
1 September 2024
Coach until
History
| Coach | Coach country | Coach since | Coach until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Popović | Australia | 1 September 2024 | |
| Anthony Popović | Australia | 1 November 2023 | 1 May 2026 |
| Graham James Arnold | Australia | 1 October 2018 | 1 September 2024 |
| Lambertus van Marwijk | Netherlands | 1 January 2018 | 1 October 2018 |
| Aurelio Vidmar | Australia | 1 October 2013 | 1 October 2013 |
| Angelos Postecoglou | Greece | 1 October 2013 | 1 November 2017 |
| Pim Verbeek | Netherlands | 1 December 2007 | 1 July 2010 |
| Graham James Arnold | Australia | 1 July 2006 | 1 September 2007 |
| Guus Hiddink | Netherlands | 1 July 2005 | 1 July 2006 |
| Frank Farina | Australia | 1 November 1999 | 1 June 2005 |
Australia Transfers
Australia has no club-style arrivals because it is a national selection rather than a permanent club squad. Additions to the Socceroos group occur through international call-ups, player eligibility and returns to selection after earlier absence. The recorded 26-player roster therefore represents a selection snapshot, not a list of signings, loans or free-agent agreements. No individual incoming call-up change is identified here, so the arrivals picture is best understood through selection availability and federation decisions around each international window.
No transfers in
Australia has no club-style departures, sales or loans because national-team movement is governed by selection rather than contracts between clubs. Players can be omitted from a squad, withdraw before or during an international window or return to their clubs after it, but no specific omission or withdrawal is identified in the current record. The recorded squad should therefore be treated as a dated selection group, with changes understood as call-up decisions and player availability rather than permanent exits.
No transfers out
Transfers Synthesis
Australia’s movement model is defined by international selection cycles, not by recruitment activity. A player enters the group when eligible, available and chosen for a camp, while another may be absent because the coach selects a different squad, the player withdraws or the window ends and he returns to club duties. The 26 names recorded are therefore a snapshot of one stage in that cycle rather than a permanent squad register. Because no individual additions or losses are identified in this selection picture, the meaningful movement is the changing pool of eligible players across camps and competitions. Australia’s call-up process remains tied to international windows, eligibility rules, player availability and the coach’s sporting decisions.
Leagues Australia has participated in
Australia is active in the recorded World Cup cycle and Asian qualifying programme, with World Cup participation listed from 2010 and Asian qualification from 2018. Friendlies remain a recent part of the schedule, with entries through 2025. The Asian Cup is represented historically from 2011 to 2023, while intercontinental World Cup play-off participation is recorded through 2022. The Confederations Cup appears as a 2017 historical entry. Together, these competitions trace Australia’s movement from regional qualification into recurring global and continental football.
More about Australia
Australia’s men’s national football team is the senior national selection of Australia, founded in 1961 and widely known as the Socceroos. It is governed by Football Australia and has competed within the Asian Football Confederation since the country moved from the Oceania confederation in 2006. As a national selection rather than a club, Australia has no club ownership structure; Football Australia administers its representative programme. The team’s traditional visual identity is built around gold shirts and green, colours that connect the side with broader Australian sporting culture. Australia’s international history reaches back beyond its modern federation era. The national side played its first official international against New Zealand in 1922, while the 1974 World Cup in West Germany marked its first appearance at football’s main global tournament. A later landmark came in 2005, when a penalty shootout victory over Uruguay in an inter-confederation play-off ended a 32-year wait for World Cup qualification. In the Asian era, Australia became a regular presence at the World Cup and Asian Cup, winning the continental title on home soil in 2015. The Socceroos do not operate from one permanent national stadium. Home fixtures rotate among major venues, including Stadium Australia in Sydney, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane and Perth Rectangular Stadium. This national reach helps connect the team with supporters across different states and cities. The Green and Gold Army adds a distinctive match-day presence, combining coordinated travel, chanting and a multicultural supporter culture. Australia’s pathway is connected to Football Australia’s wider national programme. The Olyroos, Young Socceroos and Joeys provide age-group structures that can feed into the senior team, while AFC qualification places the Socceroos in a demanding route toward the World Cup. That identity combines a long migration-shaped football history, regional ambition and an established place on the international stage.
Last matches statistics for Australia
| match | shots | Poss. | Pass % | Fouls | Cards | Saves |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Canada
0 - 1
Australia
|
1 / 5 |
|
80 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
|
USA
2 - 1
Australia
|
3 / 9 |
|
78 | 9 | 1 | 2 |
|
Australia
1 - 0
Cameroon
|
0 / 0 |
|
0% | 0 | - | 0 |
|
Australia
5 - 1
Curaçao
|
0 / 0 |
|
0% | 0 | - | 0 |
|
Mexico
1 - 0
Australia
|
1 / 7 |
|
82 | 10 | 1 | 2 |
|
Switzerland
1 - 1
Australia
|
2 / 5 |
|
84 | 14 | 2 | 2 |
|
Australia
2 - 0
Türkiye
|
4 / 9 |
|
75 | 12 | - | 8 |
|
USA
2 - 0
Australia
|
2 / 5 |
|
72 | 16 | 4 | 1 |
|
Paraguay
0 - 0
Australia
|
5 / 12 |
|
82 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
|
Australia
1 - 1
Egypt
|
1 / 16 |
|
80 | 12 | - | 3 |
Detailed statistics Australia
Xtra rating history
Last rating points (most recent matches).
shots Australia
Warnings Australia
Passes Australia
Goalkeeper saves Australia
Latest start lineups Australia (XI)
Australia vs Egypt
World Cup 2026 - 1565178
Paraguay vs Australia
World Cup 2026 - 1489411
USA vs Australia
World Cup 2026 - 1489391
Australia vs Türkiye
World Cup 2026 - 1539001
Mexico vs Australia
Friendlies 2026 - 1527865
USA vs Australia
Friendlies 2025 - 1405465
2026
1st shirt
2026
2nd shirt
2022
1st shirt
2022
2nd shirt
2020-2021
1st shirt
2020-2021
2nd shirt
2018-2019
1st shirt