{"id":778885,"date":"2026-07-04T16:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T16:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/778885\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T16:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T16:54:11","slug":"success-failure-or-something-else-how-the-socceroos-world-cup-campaign-rated-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/778885\/","title":{"rendered":"Success, failure or something else? How the Socceroos\u2019 World Cup campaign rated | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Socceroos arrived in the lone star state of Texas eyeing a historic win, a chance to secure a World Cup<\/a> knockout victory for the first time. Against a resolute Egypt, however, they found in their pistol mostly blanks.<\/p>\n

The shootout in Dallas<\/a> will become Australian football\u2019s most debated topics after the substitution of goalkeeper Patrick Beach and selection in the high-pressure fourth slot<\/a> of 18-year-old Lucas Herrington, but the successes or failures of Australia\u2019s World Cup campaign cannot be distilled into a few spot kicks.<\/p>\n

The Socceroos progressed out of their World Cup group for the third time, matching their efforts from 2006 and 2022. Yet in the expanded tournament, they failed to replicate the mathematical progress of those two earlier tournaments: the round of 16 trumps the last 32.<\/p>\n

Defender Aziz Behich said after the match his feelings were mixed, and there was \u201ca lot to be proud of\u201d as well as a bit of \u201cwhat if\u201d<\/a>. Winger Awer Mabil was more positive. \u201cOnce we sit down and just reflect a bit, we should all be proud,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This campaign will be deeply analysed in coming days, weeks and years. Was Australia\u2019s forward mix a result of planning or necessity? Was the late Cristian Volpato call-up a reflection of the Socceroos\u2019 desperation? Is Nestory Irankunda really a central striker?<\/p>\n

Nestory Irankunda takes on his man in the last-32 game against Egypt. Photograph: Jam Media\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Coach Tony Popovic was in no doubt the team had delivered across the four matches. \u201cThe performance tonight was outstanding, I thought it was wonderful against Turkey, fantastic against Paraguay \u2013 a game that had we lost, we\u2019d be going home,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought we were very good in the second half against the US, so overall I can only compliment the entire group and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Popovic knows that\u2019s not the whole story. The Socceroos finished with three goals scored from 390 minutes of football, and just one win in four. Yes, they might have kept two clean sheets and were solid against Egypt despite conceding, but their attack came only in flashes.<\/p>\n

Under Popovic\u2019s precautionary principles, Australia were tough to break down at the expense of attacking vitality. From their three group matches they recorded an expected goals value of 2.08 according to Opta \u2013 a measure of how many goals they would be expected to score based on the location of chances. That places them in the bottom quarter of the competition, but their expected goals conceded was 2.68, leaving them in the top quarter.<\/p>\n

Tactical mastery is getting the former to rise at the same time as the latter falls. The next task for Popovic \u2013 or whoever replaces him after next year\u2019s Asian Cup \u2013 is to do just that, even if it is akin to finding the sport\u2019s secret recipe.<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball\u2019s hard, it\u2019s a tough game and watching it looks a lot easier than it actually is,\u201d said midfielder Connor Metcalfe. \u201cI think we should be happy with what we\u2019ve achieved and with the goals we\u2019ve scored.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor Metcalfe\u2019s goal against Turkey was a highlight of the Socceroos\u2019 campaign. Photograph: Abbie Parr\/AP<\/p>\n

To assess the campaign as a whole, the first instinct is to follow the sentiments of the players after the Paraguay match. They were clearly elated at progressing out of the group stage from an easybeat-free Group D.<\/p>\n

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On the other hand, there is the nature of the result in Dallas. This Egypt side are seven-time African champions, and have in their XI Mo Salah, one of Africa\u2019s greatest footballers. The Socceroos were not expected to win this match, especially given they are two places below Egypt at 26 on Fifa\u2019s rankings, but the two teams were broadly of the same quality.<\/p>\n

That makes this defeat an opportunity lost. Navigate what was a winnable fixture and the Socceroos would be looking at a rematch of their last-16 tussle with holders Argentina, and a chance to avenge that 2-1 defeat in Qatar. The buildup over the next few days, following Argentina\u2019s struggles against Cape Verde<\/a> and Lionel Messi\u2019s growing legacy, would have landed the Socceroos in the footballing spotlight and handed them a chance to make a statement on the world stage. Now, Australia\u2019s players are going their separate ways, disappearing over the horizon in a meek conclusion to their North American adventure.<\/p>\n

To assess Australia\u2019s tournament in terms of merely results and statistics neglects the deeper impact of five or more weeks together for this group of players. Volpato came in late and still became a crucial contributor in the final two matches. Irankunda graduated from a must watch to a must start. The experience for Alessandro Circati and Herrington will be invaluable, securing the heart of the Socceroos defence for the next decade. Popovic said after the match \u201cthe future is bright\u201d, and on that occasion he was not gaslighting.<\/p>\n

Then there is the broader Australian cultural impact of four matches at the tournament. The joy in Vancouver after that win against Turkey feels long ago now, but the nature of that unlikely result grabbed broader Australia by the scruff of the neck. What football really needed was a follow-up \u2013 in daylight hours preferably \u2013 to consolidate this fresh group of Socceroos in the front of the national consciousness. Now, unfortunately, it\u2019s back to late night World Cups for 2030 and 2034, at least.<\/p>\n

In the end, sparkling potential and nation-stopping broadcasts does not make up for the shock of a sudden elimination, the brain clunking through the near-misses and their implications. Of Popovic\u2019s shootout calls. Of Jordy Bos\u2019s knee injury. Of a missing striker. Was the 2026 World Cup a success for the Socceroos? Ask again in 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Socceroos arrived in the lone star state of Texas eyeing a historic win, a chance to secure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-778885","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\/778885","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=778885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}