{"id":515701,"date":"2026-06-28T22:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/515701\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T22:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:53:09","slug":"unflappable-lucas-herrington-takes-praise-and-world-cup-progress-in-his-stride-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/515701\/","title":{"rendered":"Unflappable Lucas Herrington takes praise and World Cup progress in his stride | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nestory Irankunda and Cristian Volpato might be the Socceroos\u2019 excitement machines, but in the shop window of this World Cup<\/a> there is one model worth more than all others.<\/p>\n

Lucas Herrington, who at 18 became the youngest Australian to start a World Cup match when the defender played against Paraguay, has already been linked with a move to Barcelona. Such is his trajectory, his next transfer is expected to fetch a price close to \u2013 or more than \u2013 the Australian record set by Harry Souttar, who was bought by Leicester for \u00a315m (approximately A$26m) in 2023.<\/p>\n

So when Souttar likens Herrington to the most expensive of all automotive brands \u2013 as he did after the match against Paraguay \u2013 it is a significant compliment. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t think that\u2019s his first World Cup game. The guy was absolutely composed, calm,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can see the guy\u2019s like a Rolls-Royce.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herrington\u2019s A-League club Brisbane Roar negotiated a 20% sell-on clause with Colorado<\/a> when they sold him last year, but before the World Cup the club\u2019s owners decided to cash in, for around A$500,000. The decision is likely to cost the club millions of dollars. The midfielder Connor Metcalfe said simply: \u201cThey\u2019ll probably be kicking themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herrington handles all this talk of transfers, and links to Barcelona, the same way he does a forward bearing down on him when he has the ball. He admits he has heard the speculation, and does not pretend it does not affect him, but he is attempting to remain focused on this tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to stay present and really enjoy this moment. It\u2019s my first one, hopefully first of many, but it doesn\u2019t come around very often,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m really just trying to put my best forward and work hard, and we\u2019ll see what comes after it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucas Herrington profile<\/a><\/p>\n

Herrington has been a priceless addition to this World Cup squad. That 0-0 draw against Paraguay<\/a> \u2013 and his starring role \u2013 turned out to be critical in securing Australia a place in the last 32. The players did not know it at the time but a 1-0 defeat, if all other results ended up the same, would have left Australia eliminated and Iran would have qualified.<\/p>\n

The defender\u2019s calm distribution, and his physical dominance in the air and on the ground even as Paraguay targeted the teenager in the first half, helped to secure Australia\u2019s progress. It also enhanced his reputation, if that was possible for a player who in the past year has leaped from the A-League to matches against stars such as Lionel Messi, Thomas M\u00fcller and Son Heung-min in Major League Soccer, to the starting XI of a national side in the last 32.<\/p>\n

Metcalfe said that what Herrington has been demonstrating at 18 has been \u201cwild\u201d, and his composure gives players around him confidence. \u201cNothing really fazes him, he never looks nervous, I\u2019m not nervous when he has the ball,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes if a young player is playing, a lot of the other boys can be nervous they\u2019re going to make a rash decision, but he is calm on the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herrington himself cannot explain his otherworldly serenity. \u201cI try to stay calm, I mean it\u2019s not something that I work on. I think it might just come naturally, but I just believe in my abilities, believe in the team\u2019s abilities and just play what\u2019s in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

His World Cup debut against Paraguay was later than many expected. Herrington started both Socceroos\u2019 warm-up matches, but the more experienced Cam Burgess was preferred for the matches against Turkey and the USA. Some eyebrows were raised when it was Jason Geria, not Herrington, who was brought on for Burgess against the USA.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every day<\/p>\n

Sign up to Australia Sport<\/p>\n

Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Finally, in the days before the Paraguay clash, the head coach, Tony Popovic, told Herrington he would get his chance. \u201cI was ready for all three games and I just wanted to be involved, so when I got the nod for the Paraguay game I was over the moon,\u201d the defender said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI let my parents know. Mum was a bit nervous but she was more excited than anything and I just wanted to really remember it as the proudest moment of my life and just really enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucas Herrington is not getting carried away by Australia\u2019s progress in the World Cup. Photograph: Chris Arjoon\/Zuma Press Wire\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The Herrington story was made all the more incredible last week when a video of the Brisbane fan zone during the 2022 World Cup was unearthed by the football website Football 360. It showed a 14-year-old Herrington \u2013 with unmistakably lanky frame topped with curly hair \u2013 watching the Socceroos with his friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been supporting the Socceroos at the World Cup for as long as I can remember, so to be here is special and my mates back home are also supportive,\u201d Herrington said. \u201cIt\u2019s another one of those moments that I pinch myself, and just try and make everyone from where I\u2019m back from just proud and give them someone to look at, [and show] that they can do it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herrington was grateful when told on Sunday of Souttar\u2019s praise in his press conference, and the young defender was given a choice of another automative brand to which he might be more comfortable being likened. \u201cNo, I\u2019m happy with Rolls-Royce,\u201d Herrington said. \u201cI\u2019ll take that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nestory Irankunda and Cristian Volpato might be the Socceroos\u2019 excitement machines, but in the shop window of this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-515701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}