{‘Why do we have to wait?’: Popovic sets no restrictions on what Australia can attain.

As soon as Tony Popovic eventually brought together his initial Socceroos squad, the recently appointed coach outlined a series of expectations. A lot were straightforward and concise – suitable considering the upheaval following his unexpected entry, following Graham Arnold’s exit, and with under three weeks to get ready for crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan.

Popovic asserted that any player who aimed to wear a Socceroos shirt would need to take on an “top-tier” attitude to earn, or maintain that privilege. But there was another message. Not so much an order and a call to greatness – and one that has been brought more distinctly into focus with any step taken on the path towards the World Cup in North America.

“My hopes were to do something extraordinary, in my first talk to the players,” Popovic says. “That stays constant.”

Approximately a year on from that gathering in an Adelaide hotel, plenty of other things have evolved, even if Popovic’s ambitions remain the same. The coach, for one, seems really at home as Socceroos head. The 52-year-old’s standing for austerity stands in stark contrast with the expansive and at times cheerful figure speaking freely for over an hour in what have become semi-regular discussions with football media. So too have the fortunes of his team changed, with recollections of a defeat to Bahrain and stalemate with Indonesia seeming rather remote after victories over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June guaranteed the Socceroos’ place in next year’s international tournament.

Those wins came as part of an 11-game undefeated streak under Popovic, one that was only ended away by the United States earlier this month. It’s momentum that has taken the Socceroos to the unexpected brink of crashing pot two in the World Cup draw. The outcomes of November exhibition games against Venezuela, presently 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 – loom large in this context.

Even though Popovic acknowledges that he started in the job expecting to only be able to depend on a main squad of players, he now believes the group he can call upon has grown. This doesn't only come through the breakthrough of young players such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as authentic international players. There are also the likes of Miloš Degenek’s return from the wilderness and Paul Izzo’s growth into a genuine Socceroos keeper with the capability to challenge Maty Ryan.

“The squad has totally changed in my mind – of what’s attainable with players that have joined,” Popovic says. “I first thought, ‘OK, this is my group; I don’t fully have much beyond this. Just get by and make them better.’ Now, I believe like there are 15, 20 players that have entered that, and I’m sure there are others to come that I believe can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This unforeseen rise of talent, and the change in thinking it has sparked in Popovic, has created opportunities for players on the fringes of the squad. Even those not yet viewed amongst those circle can keep faith that, come June next year, they could be on the plane. A player like Adrian Segečić might be about to be absent for a month of playing due to an ankle injury, but if he – or any other player – keeps to deliver regularly, then the coach is making clear they’re highly likely of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a limit or a end on that – to announce in March that this is our squad, and there may be one or two more additions,” Popovic says. “No, I want every player to know that they have an possibility. Why can’t there be an additional player that comes in in June?”

But this growth, in a way, leads back to Popovic’s first talk as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to impress him, to do something special and go beyond the expectations others have for them, he wants his team to have the same philosophy.

“Saying I want to do something exceptional is just ‘we don’t want to have limits’,” Popovic says. “We don’t want to confine ourselves into ‘let’s be contenders at the World Cup, and let’s go home and congratulate ourselves for being there’.

“I keep saying it to the group: one day, Australia will go deep in the World Cup. And why not this group? Why do we have to wait two or three World Cups, when I’m sitting back and cheering something special from the Socceroos? Why should we have boundaries? Why not do it now?”