analysis
Socceroos daring to dream of 2026 FIFA World Cup spot as Tony Popovic moulds team in his style
By Simon Smale
Topic:Socceroos
11m ago11 minutes agoTue 25 Mar 2025 at 7:10pm
Tony Popovic has his thumb up
Tony Popovic will be well satisfied with his team's effort's this international window. (AP Photo)
It's been a fine start to life as Socceroos coach for Tony Popovic.
With six points out of six this window, his tally stands a six games without defeat to open his account as coach.
And now, the Socceroos are potentially two games (and six points) away from the dreamland of automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
Is it time to dream?
Sure, dreams are nice. But the hard work is still to come.
A convincing 2-0 win against China in the red-hot cauldron of noise that was the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre was everything that Popovic would have wanted to see from his side — albeit against a Chinese side that was passive and impotent in the extreme in a woeful opening 45 minutes.
As the record crowd of over 70,000 — touted as a record for a Chinese home international match — roared in unison to spur their misfiring team to glory, the 11 on the pitch provided an insipid display undeserving of the esteem they were being afforded.
Chinese flags wave behind players
The atmosphere in China was sensational. (AP Photo)
The Socceroos were the opposite. Incisive, brave and desperate to shed the perception they are slow starters.
"We knew they were going to throw everything at us in the second half," Brandon Borrello, who linked up superbly with Martin Boyle up front and did a lot of the grunt work against a physical defence, said.
"We just needed to match it [the intensity].
"The message was not for us to match them, but for them to match us.
"We weathered the storm."
Whether the Socceroos and Popovic knew the forecast storm would not arrive until the second half is immaterial. Arguably, the Socceroos own pressure played up China's desperation enough to force them back into their shells.
Aziz Behich and Liam Miller were ravenous down the wings, while debutant Ryan Teague mopped up all the minimal scraps that fell through the gaps alongside Jackson Irvine in the centre, whose forward passing was sharp.
Jackson Irvine takes a shot
Jackson Irvine's opening goal was a sublime finish. (Getty Images: VCG/Deng Zijian)
Irvine's opener summed up the Socceroos mentality perfectly.
Scrappy willingness to win the ball back on the edge of the penalty area with all the subtlety of a blast miner obliterating rock with the push of a button, followed a deft touch to create space and a beautiful curled effort into the top corner with the precision of a master stone mason.
From brawler to beauty in the space of a handful of seconds. 1-0 Australia.
The second goal was more reflective of China's frailty and ability to self-sabotage.
A decently-struck effort from the edge of the box from Nishan Velupillay flew straight to Wang Dalei, who somehow conspired to fluff the catch straight behind him into the net. 2-0 Australia.
Game as good as over.
Sure, China came back in the second half, testing the Socceroos defence in a 15-minute spell that saw Brazil-born Serginho almost capped his naturalisation as a Chinese citizen some 12 days ago with a maiden goal for his new national team, only for Ryan to deny him with a fine stop.
But despite the hosts huffing and puffing, the Socceroos were more than comfortable dealing with their forays forward — Ryan's save was from China's sole shot on target in the contest.
Popovic has had the most successful start to a Socceroos managerial tenure since Terry Venables went 16 games unbeaten in 1997.
And it's put the Socceroos on the cusp of reaching the World Cup without undergoing the extended torture of the play-offs for the first time since 2014.
Tony Popovic and Jackson Irvine hug
Tony Popovic knows his team are in a good spot. For now. (AP Photo)
"We're in a good position," Popovic told Paramount+ at the conclusion of the match in Hangzhou.
"It's in our hands.
"But we have to get the job done."
The first part of that job has been done.
Stamped. Ticked off. Filed under the Popovic filing system of constant improvement of a system the players at his disposal are still trying to wrap their heads around.
"He came at a time where there was a big shift in the way we were playing. It's not easy to do that," Velupillay said.
Nishan Velupillay celebrates with Aziz Behich
Nishan Velupillay was fortuitous with his goal. (Getty Images: VCG/Deng Zijian)
"The boys are starting to understand his philosophy and his game style.
"Each game you can see more and more of it coming out. Each game we're trying to get better."
And get better they are, even remembering that Australia's best defender Harry Souttar is out with a long term knee injury — a clear impairment to the adoption of a defensive-based approach.
It's not just the six points out of six in this international window — a necessity if Australia was to keep its noses ahead of the pack in a hugely congested Pool C.
It was more the performance.
The acceptance of Popovic's style, defensively solid first, building a stable base from which to launch.
The 5-1 home victory over Indonesia not only dragged the Socceroos out of the congestion at the bottom of the Pool C ladder, it also boosted the goal difference to a degree where it is worth an extra point over Saudi Arabia.
Despite that scoreline though, the performance in Sydney was patchy.
Had Mat Ryan not made a brilliant save and Kevin Diks not slammed an early penalty against the post in Sydney, the conversations following this window could well be very, very different.
Even with the scoreline, Indonesia had 61 per cent of the ball at the Sydney Football Stadium and had 11 shots to the Socceroos' nine.
China also out-shot the Socceroos 12 to seven — although if ever there was a case to say stats can be misleading, this is that time, with Ryan challenged once, while the Socceroos scored from both their on-target efforts.
"I would say it was a very good display," Popovic said.
"To come here in this atmosphere, the pressure, we really improved with the ball from the other night [against Indonesia].
"In the second half, especially in the first 15 minutes we had to dig deep.
"It's an area to improve on but it's also to understand the pressure they're putting on us.
"Once we got through that, we started keeping the ball a bit better again."
In truth, these wins have come against teams that should be swatted aside if the Socceroos have any ambitions beyond just qualifying for this bloated World Cup, regardless of the position the side found itself in when Popovic took over.
But you won't catch anyone in the Socceroos camp resting on their laurels.
"We need to win every game. It's simple as that," a bloodied Borrello said.
"We knew what was at stake," Irvine agreed.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves," Velupillay added.
"We've still got a couple of games to go.
"But it's always good to dream."
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Posted11m ago11 minutes agoTue 25 Mar 2025 at 7:10pm
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