00:04Australia is obsessed with footy.
00:08The word is ubiquitous in Australian culture,
00:11just don't expect it to mean soccer.
00:17Around Sydney, footy means rugby league,
00:20the biggest sport in the states of New South Wales and Queensland.
00:26Around Melbourne, footy means Australian rules football,
00:31the biggest sport in the states of Victoria,
00:34South Australia and Western Australia.
00:39Footy will also occasionally be used in connection to rugby union.
00:47Footy is rarely attributed to football,
00:50so much so that the national team's nickname contains the prefix soccer.
00:59Because football is so low in the pecking order of Australian sports,
01:03it has struggled historically to attract the country's best athletes.
01:07This is a challenge similar to somewhere like the USA,
01:11but when the population is around 12 times smaller,
01:14that leaves a much reduced talent pool to compensate.
01:22While the outside perception of Australia might be its close relationship with the United Kingdom,
01:28much of the football culture has been imported from other migrant communities.
01:36For many years, the loudest voice in Australian football,
01:40Les Murray, carried a Hungarian twang.
01:46Most of the clubs that helped develop Australia's best players carried Mediterranean routes,
01:52from the Greece-affiliated South Melbourne that birthed Ange Postokoglu,
01:56to the Croatian-backed Melbourne Knights,
01:59where Mark Viduka emerged fully formed.
02:08Australia's cosmopolitan approach to the game extends to its regional affiliation.
02:13A long-time force in the Oceania Football Confederation,
02:17Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.
02:24The victory in the 2015 Asian Cup, under Postokoglu's leadership,
02:29remains the high-water mark of the men's team.
02:35Australia didn't qualify for the World Cup until 1974,
02:39and their return was delayed repeatedly by defeats in Inter-Confederation playoffs.
02:46Now ensconced in the AFC, with its eight guaranteed places at the finals,
02:51the Socceroos have been ever-present since 2006.
02:57But this consistency has also hidden something of a decline.
03:01The production line of talent has slowed to a trickle,
03:04and only a handful of players are thriving in European leagues.
03:11That makes the job of coach Tony Popovich extremely difficult.
03:15But he coped admirably with the task during qualifying,
03:19taking over from long-standing predecessor Graham Arnold
03:22and steering his side to five wins and three draws
03:25to see them finish comfortably ahead of Saudi Arabia
03:28in a group dominated by Japan.
03:34Popovich is a pragmatic coach,
03:36who sets up his sides to be difficult to break down.
03:39It can lead to dour football.
03:42But as one of the World Cup's biggest underdogs,
03:44Australia will be forced to scrap for their lives.
03:53One of only three Australians to earn 100 caps,
03:57Matt Ryan has been his country's first choice gloveman for over a decade.
04:01But as his fortunes at club level have declined
04:04from his career peak with Brighton and Hove Albion,
04:06his place has come under threat from Joe Gauci
04:10and Paul Izzo.
04:19Popovich operates with a defensively-minded back five,
04:23featuring three imposing central defenders
04:25and two industrious full-backs.
04:29The linchpin is the giant Harry Suter.
04:33At six feet seven inches,
04:35he is one of the tallest outfielders in World Cup history
04:38and a serious handful from set pieces,
04:41offering Australia a rare attacking outlet.
04:51Popovich's midfield pivot is all about control and industry.
04:56One of the two will be Jackson Irvine,
04:59a regular with FC Sampaoli in the Bundesliga.
05:02While his partner will vary depending on the opposition.
05:06But options include Middlesbrough's energetic, Riley McGree.
05:18Pace on the left is provided by Craig Goodwin.
05:21Dynamism on the right comes courtesy of Martin Boyle.
05:25And this pair are responsible for almost all Australia's attacking thrust.
05:31There is no recognised goalscorer in the striking role,
05:35with veteran Mitch Duke a hard-working target man
05:38and Kusini Yengi a more mobile runner.
05:43It all means the Socceroos carry little goal threat from open play.
05:50But there is some hope on the horizon,
05:52with the emergence of promising youngsters Mohamed Toure
05:55and Nestori Irankunda.
05:58Both are African-born,
06:00but settled in Australia after their families fled regional wars.
06:04Graham Arnold somehow cajoled Australia into the round of 16 at Qatar 2022.
06:10It would be a miracle if his successor came close to repeating the feat in 2026.
06:17And this is a miracle that his successor came close to repeating the feat in 2026.
06:18this is not by the fact that the
Comments