World Cup 2026: Australia

Australia

The Socceroos — the most overlooked team in every group they're ever drawn into, and they kind of like it that way

Lost to Egypt 1-1 (AET), 2-4 on penalties in the Round of 32 (July 3, Dallas). Souttar and Herrington missed from the spot; Salah's panenka sealed it. The Socceroos beat Turkey in the opener, advanced through the group stage, and exit having given more than anyone expected.

The Story

Australia is the country in this tournament that has the least to lose and seems to know it best. The Socceroos have qualified for six straight World Cups now — a streak nobody outside Asia talks about, including a lot of Australians. They have advanced out of the group stage twice. The most recent time, in 2022, they beat Denmark 1-0 in Al Wakrah and then lost 2-1 to Argentina in the Round of 16 in a match that was tighter than the score, with Mathew Leckie nearly equalizing in extra time. That whole tournament was the high-water mark of modern Australian soccer.

The new era is being built by Tony Popovic, who took over from Graham Arnold in September 2024 after a sluggish qualifying start and proceeded to lose exactly zero matches in the AFC third round. Australia booked their spot in June 2025 with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia. They drew Group C with France, Germany, and Morocco — which is, objectively, the second-hardest group in the tournament.

Realistically, this Socceroos team is fighting for third and a chance at the expanded knockout round. They will be underdogs in all three group games. They will be louder than they should be, scrappier than the talent on the page suggests, and more annoying to play against than anyone in Group C is preparing for. That has always been the formula. There is no reason it stops working now.

Week 1 Update: The formula worked. Australia 2, Turkiye 0 — the Socceroos were supposed to be the group's afterthought, and instead they've just posted the cleanest sheet and the most convincing result in Group D's opening round. Popovic's side pressed relentlessly, Turkiye never found an answer, and the Green and Gold Army are sitting pretty with three points. Overlooked, as always. Winning, as they keep insisting they might.

Matchday 2 Update: A loss to the USA — the hosts were too much, and Australia's opening-day magic ran into the buzzsaw of an American side playing with house-money confidence. The Socceroos are still on three points, still in a strong position for the knockouts, but the +5 goal-difference USA have built means the group is theirs. One match left for Australia to confirm what the first matchday suggested: that they're not the afterthought anyone assumed.

Matchday 3 Update: Drew Paraguay 0-0. Australia finish 3rd in Group D with 4 points — the surprise of the opening matchday held their own throughout the group stage. Whether they advance depends on the third-place table, but the Socceroos were nobody's afterthought and everyone's headache. Three matches, four points, zero quit. Popovic's side did exactly what Australian teams do: showed up, scrapped, and left it to the math.

Round of 32 (July 3): Egypt 1-1 Australia (AET) — Australia exit on penalties, 2-4, and the sport can be cruel. Emam Ashour put Egypt ahead early; Mohamed Hany's own goal leveled it and had the Green and Gold Army daring to believe. Extra time came and went. Then Harry Souttar missed. Lucas Herrington missed. Salah chipped a panenka. It was over. The Socceroos beat Turkey in the opener, pushed the USA, drew Paraguay, came within a moment of beating Egypt — and go home having earned every minute of praise they'll receive. Mathew Ryan's fourth World Cup. Tony Popovic's first. The Green and Gold Army will be back.

3 Players to Know

Mathew Ryan

The captain, the goalkeeper, and probably the player with the longest CV on the squad. Now at AS Roma as backup keeper after a career that took him from Brisbane Roar to Brugge to Valencia to Brighton — fifteen years of European top-flight minutes that almost no other Australian has matched. This will be his fourth World Cup and almost certainly his last. He's 33, still the first name on the team sheet, and still the player who made the saves in the 2022 win over Denmark that nobody outside Australia remembers.

Tete Yengi

The younger Yengi brother — Kusini's 25-year-old sibling, born in Adelaide to a South Sudanese family that has now produced two Socceroos strikers. On loan from Scottish club Livingston at Japan's Machida Zelvia, where he's been the unlikely hero of the AFC Champions League Elite — scoring in the quarterfinal, semifinal, and dragging a tiny J1 League club into the continental final. Sometimes the replacement is the story.

Connor Metcalfe

The St. Pauli midfielder who quietly became one of the most influential Australians in Europe over the past two seasons. Twenty-six, central midfielder by trade but Popovic uses him out wide, scored against Indonesia in qualifying with a finish that'd flatter any Bundesliga forward. The kind of player who wouldn't get talked about if he played for England, which is precisely why Australia is going to lean on him.

The Food

Signature Dish

The Aussie meat pie is the answer — palm-sized, flaky pastry, ground beef and gravy filling, eaten one-handed with the other hand holding a beer. The pre-match version is a sausage roll. The post-match version is the same sausage roll. For a sit-down option, lamingtons (sponge cake dipped in chocolate, rolled in coconut) for dessert and a flat white that will make every other coffee you've had in DFW seem confused about its purpose.

Where to Eat in DFW

The Aussie Grind has two locations — the original cafe on Preston Road in Frisco (3930 Preston Rd, Mon–Thu 6:30am–3pm, Fri 6:30am–9pm, Sat–Sun 7am–3pm; full Australian brunch with Eggs Benedict, lamingtons, ANZAC biscuits, and meat pies) and Aussie Grind Provisions in Farmers Branch (4887 Alpha Rd, the bakery side, daily fresh pies and sausage rolls until 3pm). The Frisco location stays open Friday nights — best bet for evening match watch parties. Coffee is the actual reason to go; everything else is the bonus.

Fan Culture

Australian support is loud and self-aware in equal measure. The "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" chant is real and it never stops. The Green and Gold Army travel in numbers no AFC team has any business producing — they showed up to Qatar in their tens of thousands and turned half the group-stage matches into home games. Expect bucket hats, wraparound sunglasses worn ironically and not, an unreasonable number of people wearing the 1991 Socceroos retro kit, and a willingness to stay at the pub two hours after the match regardless of result. The dominant cultural register is genuine joy that the team is even there. Anyone tells you Aussies don't care about soccer, they're talking about a country that hasn't existed since the 1990s.