World Cup Tickets: How Tony Popovic guided the Socceroos to the World Cup 2026
World Cup Tickets: For all the exhilaration the Socceroos felt after clinching qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026, their sixth straight showing, they didn’t have much opportunity to savor it collectively. Some had commitments with their ongoing clubs and made a dash to Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport. Others had been part of an Abu Dhabi-based preparation camp before the international break and were keen to reconnect with loved ones.
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Martin Boyle, unable to replicate his previous qualification festivities from four years ago due to Saudi Arabia’s alcohol restrictions, was instead bound for Disneyland with his family. It was also almost 2 a.m. by the time they eventually returned to their hotel after the 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia that sealed their spot, meaning fatigue was also playing its role in dulling celebrations.
With availability being the most valuable asset, Riley McGree and Milos Degenek hadn’t yet jetted off for their offseason getaways and were ushered into a spacious function room to film interviews with media outlets just waking up back in Australia. Patrick Yazbek, meanwhile, paused for a relaxed moment to sit and share a meal with his family, who had traveled to Jeddah and were rewarded with seeing his first start in national colors.
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Perhaps the mood was also slightly more muted because, unlike past qualifications, this one had been largely straightforward; there was no necessity this time for an enormous outpouring of relief or anxiety. After a dramatic 1-0 success over Japan in Perth the prior week, the Australians had traveled to Jeddah knowing they only needed to avoid a defeat by five goals or more to guarantee progression.
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Goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitchell Duke then erased any lingering doubts and confirmed qualification without a playoff for the first time since the 2014 edition. Simple, almost anticlimactic, for Australian soccer. Roughly nine months had passed since the team wrapped up a winless opening window in the third round of qualifiers, punctuated by a 1-0 setback against Bahrain on the Gold Coast, just their second defeat in a “live” World Cup qualifier on Australian soil since 1981.
After six years at the reins, Graham Arnold resigned following those fixtures and, stepping in, Football Australia appointed Tony Popovic. The first individual from the 2006 "Golden Generation" chosen to guide the side from the technical area, the no-nonsense coach was given a direct objective.
Stabilize the squad and get them over the line. Even before the scoreless draw with Indonesia that ultimately signaled Arnold’s final match, events in Jakarta had hardly unfolded in a way that calmed unsettled minds.
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Losing Kusini Yengi to a sending-off during the dispiriting loss to Bahrain, the oppressive heat and humidity of the sprawling metropolis blanketed their preparations, before torrential rain forced the cancellation of the team’s stadium walk-through at the Gelora Bung Karno ground.
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A visit from the late Pope Francis to the venue the prior week had damaged the surface, something evident during the contest, and an irritated Arnold shook his head as he led the squad to one of the nearby training venues. “A disaster,” is how he later summed it up.
In the limited post-match questions, an agitated Arnold took after the 0-0 deadlock, he said, “I need to go home and do some serious thinking.” Looking back, that was unmistakable foreshadowing for his imminent departure. At the time, however, the prospect of the veteran stepping down mid-campaign, with a must-win game against China and a crucial trip to Japan looming, wasn’t widely anticipated.
It seemed that change was inevitable sooner or later, but with an extended break of over 100 days following the November fixtures, the most logical timing for it, whether by Arnold’s decision or the federation’s, appeared to be then. Yet as the Socceroos group boarded planes and began the long journey home from Indonesia’s capital, there was a growing sense that something had shifted within the camp.
FIFA World Cup Final Tickets: Arnold’s Final Stand with Socceroos
Arnold had been grappling with burnout and creeping disillusionment since the side’s quarterfinal elimination at the Asian Cup earlier that year, a tournament he felt was theirs to win. Now staring at this slump, the experienced coach who had often positioned himself as a shield for his players throughout his leadership started to show signs of wear. Every managerial tenure has a shelf life and, if it hadn’t already expired, it now looked dangerously close.
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Fully aware of how repetitive slogans and speeches were being perceived, he had used them to divert criticism away from his players, but his language during this window revealed otherwise. Instead of protecting them, Arnold assigned blame to the players for their lack of finishing in front of goal, stating he couldn’t score for them, while also calling out the media’s fixation on their struggles to dismantle low defensive setups.
“If you had a lemon and squeezed it, is there any juice left in it?” Arnold’s close confidant, iconic NRL coach Wayne Bennett, asked him in a phone chat following the Bahrain loss. “No,” Arnold answered. “Well, there’s your answer then. All the best,” came Bennett’s reply. When word of Arnold’s resignation broke, it surprised many, to the extent that he had to personally reassure friends and relatives that his sudden departure wasn’t health-related.
Football World Cup 2026 Tickets: Behind the Scenes of the Socceroos Coaching Transition
One of the defining characteristics of Football Australia in recent years is that the governing body doesn’t fire coaches; under CEO James Johnson’s leadership, regardless of gender, age group, or level, managers have only exited through resignation or contract completion.
And while the federation had several days’ extra notice compared to the Australian public to begin their search for a successor and film a farewell piece with Arnold, it was only a week earlier that Johnson had publicly expressed support for Arnold continuing, saying, “We put our trust in Graham to get the team back on track when we face China.”
Nevertheless, contingency plans were already set, and coaching candidates had already been identified. But with just weeks until vital qualifiers against China and Japan, Football Australia needed to act swiftly. They quickly determined the new coach would be Australian, eliminating overseas names like Hervé Renard and Carlos Queiroz.
Kevin Muscat was their primary target, but he declined; the former Melbourne Victory boss was excelling at Chinese powerhouse Shanghai Port but viewed his long-term coaching future in Europe and, having previously rejected other roles that didn’t suit him, wasn’t yet ready to take on the Socceroos challenge.
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