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Russian (RU) Inside Australia's World Cup roster 2026: Cristian Volpato, Nestory Irankunda the livewires in Tony Popovic's Socceroos squad originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Australia has sprung a World Cup selection bombshell with Serie A talent Cristian Volpato selected ahead of veteran Martin Boyle.
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Volpato only declared his allegiance to the Socceroos on Friday, switching over from Italy, but didn't play in Sunday's 1-0 friendly loss to Mexico.
Boyle missed World Cup 2022 in Qatar through injury and at 33 years of age, will likely now not represent Australia in a World Cup.
The Sporting News has all the key details on Socceroos' World Cup squad below.
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Australia World Cup roster 2026
Australia coach Tony Popovic named his final squad on June 1. It was announced after Sunday's 1-0 friendly defeat to Mexico at the Rose Bowl.
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Teams had until Monday, May 11 to submit to FIFA an official preliminary list of 35-55 players, from which they are required to name a final roster by Saturday, May 30.
Caps and stats are correct as of June 1.
GK | Levante UD (La Liga, Spain) | 34 | 104 | ||
GK | Randers FC (Superliga, Denmark) | 31 | 4 | ||
GK | Melbourne City (A-League, Australia) | 22 | 1 | ||
DEF | Melbourne City (A-League, Australia) | 35 | 83 | ||
DEF | Feyenoord (Eredivisie, Netherlands) | 22 | 3 | ||
DEF | Swansea City (Championship, England) | 30 | 26 | ||
DEF | Bayern Munich (Bundesliga, Germany) | 22 | 12 | ||
DEF | Apoel FC (First Division, Cyprus) | 32 | 56 | ||
DEF | Albirex Niigata (J-League, Japan) | 33 | 13 | ||
DEF | Colorado Rapids (MLS, USA) | 18 | 3 | ||
DEF | Grazer AK (Bundesliga, Austria) | 24 | 4 | ||
DEF | Leicester City (Premier League, England) | 27 | 37 | ||
DEF | New York City (MLS, USA) | 25 | 5 | ||
MID | Hearts (Premiership, Scotland) | 27 | 4 | ||
MID | Heracles Almelo (Eredivisie, Netherlands) | 29 | 37 | ||
MID | St Pauli (Bundesliga, Germany) | 33 | 81 | ||
MID | St Pauli (Bundesliga, Germany) | 26 | 35 | ||
MID | Sydney FC (A-League, Australia) | 21 | 5 | ||
MID | Aidan O'Neill | New York City (MLS, USA) | 27 | 30 | |
FWD | Watford (Championship, England) | 20 | 14 | ||
FWD | Melbourne City (A-League, Australia) | 35 | 80 | ||
FWD | CD Castellon (Segunda, Spain) | 30 | 38 | ||
FWD | Mohamed Toure | Norwich City (Championship, England) | 22 | 9 | |
FWD | Nishan Velupillay | Melbourne Victory (A-League, Australia) | 25 | 7 | |
FWD | Cristian Volpato | Sassuolo (Serie A, Italy) | 22 | ||
FWD | Machida Zelvia (J-League, Japan) | 25 |
Australia injuries ahead of World Cup
Australia lost one of their creative fulcrums on the eve of the World Cup with Riley McGree injuring his hamstring in Middlesborough's Championship play-off final defeat to Hull City.
McGree created the winner for Mat Leckie against Denmark which sent the Socceroos through to the World Cup 2022 round-of-16, while he also assisted Aziz Behich's goal which locked in 2026 qualification.
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Defender Hayden Matthews and striker Nick D'Agostino were also forced to leave the Socceroos pre-World Cup with injury, but neither were likely to be key playerrs
Australia players to watch at World Cup
With the controversial nature of his selection, Cristian Volpato's Socceroos career will be closely watched, with his national team debut likely to come in the pre-World Cup friendly against Switzerland.
Nestory Irankunda is the nation's most exciting player, with his incredible speed and shot power underpinning a super talent. It will be interesting to see whether he is used off the bench or unleashed as a starting weapon.
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Starting striker Mohamed Toure turned heads for Norwich in the Championship this season with nine league goals and three assists in 11 matches. He will almost certainly lead the line for Australia and looks to have great potential as a future star.
MORE:All you need to know about Australia's schedule at the 2026 World Cup
Who is Australia coach at the World Cup?
Socceroos coach Tony Popovic is an Australian native and has been in charge of the national team since September 2024, when he replaced Graham Arnold.
With Australia's World Cup qualification hopes looking shaky, the nation went on an eight-game unbeaten run once Popovic was appointed, ultimately sealing their spot in USA, Mexico and Canada.
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It was the first time the Socceroos had qualified directly for the World Cup - not via a playoff - since 2014.
Popovic accumulated 58 caps for Australia during a distinguished playing career that included a stint in the Premier League with Crystal Palace.
His coaching career honours include an AFC Champions League with the Western Sydney Wanderers, while he won the A-League Premiers Plate on three occasions with three clubs - Wanderers, Perth and Melbourne Victory.
He has experienced plenty of heartbreak, losing five A-League grand finals and having never been on the winning side.
Can Australia replace players on World Cup roster?
Once the final roster is official, participating teams at the World Cup could only make changes before the first game of the tournament, and only in the case of extraordinary circumstances.
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According to the official tournament rules (page 32), "a player listed on the final list may only be replaced in the event of serious injury or illness up until 24 hours before the start of his team's first match."
Australia World Cup history
Australia has never won the World Cup, with their best result reaching the Round of 16 in 2006 and 2022, where they lost to the tournament winners on both occasions: Italy (2006) and Argentina (2022).
They have qualified for seven World Cups with the last coming consecutively.
Current FIFA World Ranking: No. 27 (April 1, 2026)
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances (last): 6 (Qatar 2022)
How Germany qualified, W-L-D: AFC third round Group C runner-up, 5-4-1
World Cup record:
Games: 20 GP (4 W, 4 D, 12 L)
Goal differential: -20 (17 GS, 37 GA)
Australia World Cup schedule
Australia was drawn into Group D with the United States, Paraguay and the winners of the UEFA playoff path C, which ended up being Turkey.
United States | ||||||||
Paraguay | ||||||||
Australia | ||||||||
Turkey |
Australia and Group D match schedule
Date | Time (ET) | Match | Location |
Fri, Jun. 12 | 9 p.m. | United States vs. Paraguay | SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA) |
Sun, Jun. 14 | 12 a.m. | Australia vs. Turkey | BC Place (Vancouver, CAN) |
Fri, Jun. 19 | 3 p.m. | United States vs. Australia | Lumen Field (Seattle, WA) |
Sat, Jun. 20 | 12 a.m. | Turkey vs. Paraguay | Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, CA) |
Thu, Jun. 25 | 10 p.m. | Turkey vs. United States | SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA) |
Thu, Jun. 25 | 10 p.m. | Paraguay vs. Australia | Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, CA) |
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