Multiple Authors<\/p>\n
Apr 2, 2026, 06:15 PM<\/p>\n
MELBOURNE, Australia — There isn’t much ambiguity in the slogan that accompanied the launch of Australia<\/a>‘s kits for the FIFA World Cup<\/a>: come June, the Socceroos on a “mission to wreck” expectations in a Group D featuring United States<\/a>, T\u00fcrkiye<\/a>, and Paraguay<\/a>.<\/p>\n In their final two matches on home soil before they’ll head to the United States, the Socceroos defeated Cameroon<\/a> 1-0 in Sydney<\/a> last week, before riding a 17-minute, four-goal explosion to defeat Cura\u00e7ao<\/a> 5-1 in Melbourne<\/a>.<\/p>\n The results snapped a three-game losing from the tail-end of 2025, with bolters Jacob Italiano<\/a> and Lucas Herrington<\/a> amongst those putting their best foot forward<\/a> against the Cameroonians, while the side’s core of young attacking talent made its mark against Cura\u00e7ao<\/a>.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n “I feel like we have one goal, which is to achieve something great,” Nestory Irankunda<\/a>, who reiterated his status as one of the World Cup’s brightest young talents with a brace against Cura\u00e7ao, said after the win over the Caribbean nation.<\/p>\n “[We want to] achieve something that’s never been achieved before. We want to be that group that goes all the way and, you know, potentially wins the World Cup.<\/p>\n “No one has the belief in us, obviously, but we have the belief in ourselves to go do something great.”<\/p>\n While Australia has always been a nation — in soccer and otherwise — that thrives in the underdog role, much of the inspiration behind the Socceroos’ tagline for the World Cup is likely drawn from the initial reaction<\/a> to their placement in Group D.<\/p>\n Videos of American pundits dismissing Australia as easy opponents were widespread after the draw, with one clip that’s proven to have significant staying power describing Tony Popovic’s side as a “lay-up”<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Socceroos and USMNT already engaged in an at-times fiery contest last October, one in which the Americans secured a 2-1 win after Haji Wright<\/a>‘s brace cancelled out Jordan Bos<\/a>‘ opener.<\/p>\n Christian Pulisic<\/a> was forced off in that contest after a crunching challenge, while defender Chris Richards<\/a> bombastically said, “[Australia were] lucky it was a friendly. I was ready to go. And if [the referee] didn’t give me a s— yellow in the corner, I probably would’ve killed somebody.”<\/p>\n Socceroos players, for their part, aren’t in a hurry to give bulletin board material to a USMNT team that lost 5-2<\/a> to Belgium<\/a> and 2-0<\/a> to Portugal<\/a> in their March friendlies. But in the build-up to the World Cup, there remains a commitment to fostering an aggressive approach.<\/p>\nHaving played out a feisty friendly encounter last October, Australia and United States will face off once again in June with much higher stakes on the line — at the FIFA World Cup.\u00a0Andrew Wevers\/USSF\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
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