{"id":749268,"date":"2026-06-20T17:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/749268\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T17:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:59:08","slug":"down-but-not-out-socceroos-take-heart-from-positives-in-defeat-to-usa-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/749268\/","title":{"rendered":"Down but not out: Socceroos take heart from positives in defeat to USA | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Socceroos are down, but they are not out. The 2-0 defeat to the USA<\/a> was a sudden comedown after the glories of the previous week, a deflating diversion from a previously promising North American adventure.<\/p>\n

Forty-five minutes, however, does not ruin a promising World Cup<\/a> campaign. The second half revival in Seattle, when the Socceroos matched and pressured the hosts \u2013 even if their opponents might have eased off the accelerator \u2013 provided a blueprint for the Socceroos ahead of their match against Paraguay in San Francisco on Thursday (Friday AEST).<\/p>\n

If there was doubt about Nestory Irankunda\u2019s importance to Australia, it has been dispelled. The 20-year-old was player of the match against Turkey, and changed the game in the second half against the USA. His aggression and appetite for contact set the tone of the Australian advance.<\/p>\n

Many were surprised by his omission from the XI in Seattle. The man himself was disappointed. \u201cI would have preferred to start, of course. For me, it was the biggest game. It was the game that I looked most forward to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have loved to play from the start and create some things and score some goals, but obviously the coach decided different. He wanted to approach the game differently, which is fine with me, you know. I play for the team, not for myself, so I\u2019m really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irankunda alone cannot shoulder the hopes of Australia at this tournament. The Socceroos may have lost the game against the USA, but in substitute Cristian Volpato they have found another contributor.<\/p>\n

Irankunda was effusive about his new teammate. \u201cHe\u2019s a top player, he\u2019s my mate,\u201d he said, adding they had been in touch since Irankunda broke through in the A-League Men some five years ago. \u201cHe\u2019s a talented player and I\u2019m just happy to have him here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nestory Irankunda closes down Matt Freese. Photograph: Maddy Grassy\/AP<\/p>\n

The pair have the potential to drive Australia towards unprecedented heights over the next decade. Yet the combination was hard to imagine as recently as last month. Volpato\u2019s decision to commit to Australia on the eve of the World Cup was hard to parse. After his less-than-impressive debut against Switzerland, he looked like more of a long-term option, for whom this tournament came around too soon. \u201cIt was probably wasn\u2019t the easiest game to play straight away,\u201d Volpato said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve been working now in training, so I feel fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forget about the notion of the winger not contributing until the 2030 or 2034 World Cup tournaments. Volpato has proven his value within just two weeks. The 22-year-old completed five dribbles against the USA, connected well with Irankunda and had one of the Australians\u2019 best openings shortly after coming on. \u201cI thought I could have scored there,\u201d Volpato said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I try to do. I try to help the team, lift the spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing for Australia has also had an instant, personal impact on the man who grew up in Western Sydney but has been in Italy since 2020. \u201cWalking out today, I was tearing up, it was amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I knew about this, I would have come [to play for Australia] a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s shock 1-0 defeat to Paraguay<\/a> crystallises the opportunity for the Socceroos. Australia can be guaranteed a berth in the last 32 with a draw against Paraguay, but even a narrow defeat is likely to be enough to qualify as a third-placed team \u2013 but that outcome will not be decided until other groups finish their pool matches.<\/p>\n

Connor Metcalfe, who scored against Turkey but was named on the bench against USA, was another who was impressive in the second half rally in Seattle. He was unlucky not to win a penalty when he was checked while making a run into the area. Mo Tour\u00e9 was isolated until he was taken off at half-time, but he remains Australia\u2019s lead striker.<\/p>\n

With Tour\u00e9 up front, and two of Irankunda, Metcalfe and Volpato starting and the other off the bench, Australia\u2019s forward line begins to make sense based on what has been seen over the past month. The personnel and structure, however, means little unless the Australians compete from the first whistle.<\/p>\n

Irankunda, when told there is growing support in Australia for him to start, said he appreciated the sentiment. \u201cI\u2019m happy that people support me, I\u2019m happy that the nation supports me and the nation backs me,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the coach\u2019s decision is his decision, so at the end of the day we just look forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Socceroos are down, but they are not out. The 2-0 defeat to the USA was a sudden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-749268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}