The Socceroos World Cup squad

The Socceroos World Cup squad

The FIFA men’s World Cup is under way and Australia’s Socceroos are off to a great start with a win under their belt. Soccer fans will know that the squad has quite a few new faces in the mix with some remarkable stories behind them - but a lot of Aussies are hearing their names for the first time… So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll get you across:

• Some of the players making news

• And their path to the World Cup…

🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Larissa Huntington and Sophie Felice

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Squiz the Shortcut

Where are we up to in the FIFA World Cup?
It’s early days but the Socceroos won their first match against Turkey 2-0 on Sunday. And there’s been lots of interest in some of the fresh faces in our squad - so in this edition of Shortcuts we’re going to zero in on our Aussie side and get to know them a bit better. 

How many newbies are there?
This is the first World Cup for 17 players out of the 26-man squad - and 4 of them are from Adelaide. Two names you might have already heard are Nestory Irankunda and Mohamed Touré - they came through the junior ranks at the same time and played together for Adelaide United before moving to clubs in Europe and then England… 

Why do our talented players tend to move overseas?
In a nutshell, it’s because we can’t compete with the money being offered overseas. We have salary caps for our clubs here, and players can easily earn 5 times what local clubs can offer. But when the FIFA World Cup rolls around, it’s still the highest honour to be tapped for our national squad. 

Got it… Let’s get into who’s in the Socceroos this time…
Let’s start with Irankunda - he’s the 20yo who scored our first goal against Turkey. Anyone who’s watched his matches knows he can moonwalk and also backflip, but his backstory has been making headlines since the match too…

Why is that?
He was born in a refugee camp in Tanzania in 2006 after his family fled the civil war in Burundi - that’s a landlocked country below Rwanda in Africa. The family migrated to Australia when he was just 3 months old and lived in Perth for a while before settling in Adelaide in 2013. He’s one of 8 children and says his siblings had a big influence on him and are part of the reason he’s a professional soccer player today. 

How so?
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, he said money was tight when he was growing up and the family couldn’t afford registration fees for 3 of their boys to play soccer, so 2 of his big brothers dropped out to allow Nestory (or Ness to his family) to continue playing. It was obvious early on that he was a rare talent - his siblings say he used to dribble the ball past them and their friends when he was just 8yo. It wasn’t long before he was on the junior pathway to the A-League, which is the highest level professional men’s league in Australia, where he joined Adelaide United…

When did he begin to get noticed internationally?
Soon after he made his debut as a 15yo, his long-range goals and famous backflip celebrations started getting noticed. He spent 3 seasons there, and during that time he was scouted by German club Bayern Munich and moved to Germany when he turned 18.

Where does he play now?
He moved to English Championship side Watford in July last year, where he’s had more consistent match time than in Germany, racking up 4 goals and 5 assists which earned him a green and gold jumper in the Socceroos playing in the World Cup, which he says has always been his dream. 

What’s next for him?
Next up could be the English Premier League - if you know English soccer or you’ve watched any Ted Lasso, you’ll know that’s a step up from the Championship. Reports say EPL clubs Everton and Crystal Palace are looking to buy him. If it happens, the transfer fee could be up to €20 million (about A$32.5 million) which would make him the most expensive Australian player in history. 

Exciting stuff for Aussie fans…
It sure is… Also repping South Oz is Awer Mabil. He too was born in a refugee camp in Kenya and came to Australia after his family fled the civil war in Sudan. He's 30yo, so he’s a decade older than Irankunda, but he also started by kicking a ball around in the parks of North Adelaide. And he first appeared for the Socceroos in an international friendly against Kuwait back in 2018 and had a dream start, scoring a goal on his debut. 

Where else might I know him from?
Mabil was named the 2023 Young Australian of the Year for his charity work co-founding Barefoot to Boots, a program sending soccer boots to kids in refugee camps… Because Irankunda and Touré (who’s also had a big season with Norwich City in the English Football League scoring 9 goals in 11 games) were born in Africa, they’re eligible to represent other nations - but they’ve chosen Australia… And their backgrounds and the cultural diversity of the team have been getting a lot of coverage in the news.

Just explain that a bit…
Immigration has been a big topic in political debates in light of parties like One Nation and the Coalition calling for cuts to the numbers of visas issued to migrants each year. They say it’s putting too much pressure on housing and infrastructure. And off the back of the squad’s first win, both Labor and the Greens have taken the chance to highlight the benefits of multiculturalism - one quote shared widely was from Queensland State Labor MP Charis Mullen who said: "People want to call multiculturalism a burden this country has to carry. I call it our greatest strength".

Back to the pitch… Who else is making headlines?
Another name getting a lot of attention is Cristian Volpato. He was born in Sydney but moved over to Italy as a teenager and he’s been playing in Italy’s highest league. He’s previously turned down the chance to play for the Socceroos, but not this time.

What’s that about?
A big part of it has to do with Italy not qualifying for the World Cup - Volpato said that he was hoping to play for them. The backstory here is that he left Oz after he was let go from the youth academies of Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers only to achieve success overseas under the wing of AS Roma’s legendary manager Jose Mourinho. It made headlines when he lodged his FIFA paperwork at the 11th hour to play for us, so there’ll be plenty of people watching how he performs… 

Speaking of new faces, who’s the youngest?
The baby of the squad is 18yo defender Lucas Herrington. A year ago he was playing for the Brisbane Roar - since then, he made his Socceroos debut earlier this year, and he’s already started in several games for the Colorado Rapids in US Major League Soccer. If he starts, he’ll be the youngest player to ever start a World Cup match for Australia… 

And on the other end of the scale?
That would be players like Harry Souttar. Soccer fans will remember he was one of our star players in Qatar 4 years ago, but since then, he’s been struggling with some injuries and he’s had a lot of time on the sidelines - so just getting another guernsey is a comeback story in itself.  

Who else should I keep an eye out for?
Another player promising great things is our second goal scorer against Turkey, Connor Metcalfe. He’s a 26yo from Newcastle in NSW, and his goal made him just the 11th player to score for Australia in a World Cup, so that tells you how significant the team’s performance against Turkey was… And then there are the 2 men who hold a lot of experience for the side - Captain Mat Ryan and winger Mathew Leckie

Tell me about them…
Both the Mats are appearing in their fourth World Cup, which puts them alongside Socceroos greats Tim Cahill and Mark Milligan. Ryan made his World Cup debut in Brazil in 2014 and Leckie was there too, so they’ve been part of every tournament Australia has qualified for over the past 12 years. And with so many debutants around them, they’re helping to usher in the next generation.

I’m pumped… When do the Socceroos play next?
Our next game is against team USA on Saturday. It starts at 5am east coast time, so an early start, but worth it to get behind the green and gold… You can catch the matches on SBS and SBS on demand

Onto our Recommendations

Watching: Sarah Ferguson’s interview on ABC’s 7.30 with Nestory Irankunda’s sisters…

Watching: This TikTok video posted by The Guardian featuring the many different faces and backgrounds of our Socceroos squad

Reading: This story from SBS all about the Socceroos and our standing in the World Cup… 

Something's stirring under Wynyard

HBO Max has turned Sydney's old Wynyard station tunnels into a free, immersive House of the Dragon experience this Friday and Saturday. Imagine being guided through hidden passages to the Dragon Pit, where you find out if you'd survive a dragon... Not a bad way to get ready for season 3 - it kicks off Monday, 22 June.

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