The Australia World Cup 2026 squad has arrived with manager Tony Popovic naming his final 26-man squad selection.
World Cup 2026 will be the Socceroos' sixth consecutive World Cup and they'll be hoping to build on their Round of 16 run in Qatar in 2022, despite a team lacking in depth when compared to other squads at the tournament.
Popovich's men lost 1-0 in a recent friendly against co-hosts Mexico, and will face Switzerland in a final pre-tournament match prior to their opening fixture of the World Cup against Turkey on June 14.
Australia qualified with relative ease, losing just once across both rounds in the AFC but finishing behind Japan — the first team to qualify for World Cup 2026.
The last World Cup saw the Socceroos achieve their joint-best finish before they lost 2-1 to eventual winners Argentina, with goals coming from Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez.
Australia will hope to take advantage of a relatively competitive group in the summer, with their experienced squad likely being a tricky foe for the United States, Paraguay and Turkey.
Popovic is able to draw upon a wealth of experience from the A-League and leagues in Europe; and also the talents of Cristian Volpato, who made the 26-man squad just days after a switch of allegiance from Italy, joining the Socceroos camp on the weekend.
Squad
Australia World Cup 2026 squad: The final selection
- GK: Mathew Ryan (Levante)
- GK: Paul Izzo (Randers)
- GK: Patrick Beach (Melbourne City)
- DF: Jordan Bos (Feyenoord)
- DF: Aziz Behich (Melbourne City)
- DF: Harry Souttar (Leicester)
- DF: Alessandro Circati (Parma)
- DF: Lucas Herrington (Colorado Rapids)
- DF: Cameron Burgess (Swansea)
- DF: Kai Trewin (New York City FC)
- DF: Milos Degenek (Apoel Nicosia)
- DF: Jason Geria (Albirex Niigata)
- DF: Jacob Italiano (Grazer AK)
- MF: Jackson Irvine (St. Pauli)
- MF: Aiden O'Neill (New York City FC)
- MF: Paul Okon Jr (Sydney FC)
- MF: Cameron Devlin (Heart of Midlothian)
- FW: Connor Metcalfe (St. Pauli)
- FW: Mathew Leckie (Melbourne City)
- FW: Nishan Velupillay (Melbourne Victory)
- FW: Cristian Volpato (Sassuolo)
- FW: Nestory Irankunda (Watford)
- FW: Awer Mabil (Castellón)
- FW: Ajdin Hrustic (Heracles Almelo)
- FW: Mohamed Toure (Norwich)
- FW: Tete Yengi (Machida Zelvia)
Fixtures
- May 30, 2026: Mexico vs Australia , Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States
- June 03, 2026: Netherlands vs Australia , De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- June 14, 2026: Australia vs Turkiye , BC Place , Vancouver, Canada
- June 19, 2026: United States vs Australia , Lumen Field , Seattle, United States
- June 26, 2026: Paraguay vs Australia , Levi's Stadium , Santa Clara, United States
Recent Results
- May 31, 2026: Mexico 1-0 Australia , Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, United States
- March 31, 2026: Australia 5-1 Curacao , AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia
- March 27, 2026: Australia 1-0 Cameroon , Accor Stadium, Sydney, Australia
- November 18, 2025: Colombia 3-0 Australia , Citi Field, New York City, United States
- November 14, 2025: Venezuela 1-0 Australia , Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, United States
- October 14, 2025: United States 2-1 Australia , Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, United States
- October 10, 2025: Canada 0-1 Australia , Saputo Stadium, Montreal, Canada
- September 09, 2025: New Zealand 1-3 Australia , Go Media Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
- September 05, 2025: Australia 1-0 New Zealand , GIO Stadium, Canberra, Australia
- June 10, 2025: Saudi Arabia 1-2 Australia , King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- June 05, 2025: Australia 1-0 Japan , HBF Park, Perth, Australia
- March 25, 2025: China 0-2 Australia , Youth Football Stadium, Qingdao, China
- March 20, 2025: Australia 5-1 Indonesia , Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia
Group D standings
Australia at in Group D at World Cup 2026.
Manager
Who is Australia's manager?
Crystal Palace fans will be very familiar with Tony Popovic, who has been Australia's manager since September 2024.
He played over 120 times for the Eagles in, including 21 times in the Premier League in the 2005-06 season.
He was assistant manager under Dougie Freedman and has been in the profession since 2012, when he was named the inaugural manager of Western Sydney Wanderers.
Star player
Who is Australia's star player?
Whilst he has only played nine times for Australia, should they be successful next summer in North America, Nestory Irankunda will be large part of that.
The 19-year-old is considered to be one of the brightest young players the nation has ever produced, possessing an exceptional talent for set-pieces, as evidenced by him scoring two of the Championship’s finest free-kick goals for Watford in back-to-back games this season.
He was previously in the books at Bayern Munich, but failed to feature for the first team despite being named on the bench several times by Vincent Kompany.
