A foot injury has ruled Fran Karacic out of Australia's last home games before the World Cup in a blow to the defender's hopes of snaring a spot on the plane.
The 11th-hour omission could clear the way for two-time Socceroo Jacob Italiano to continue impressing coach Tony Popovic in the race for the right-back vacancy.
Croatian-based Karacic reported to Socceroos camp for the friendlies against Cameroon this Friday and Curacao on Tuesday, only to be sent home once he was unable to shake a persistent foot injury.