This is not, by any measure, a vintage Socceroos squad. The days when this team’s FIFA World Cup campaigns would be spearheaded by household names such as Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka now seem a distant memory.
But while Australia’s class of ‘22 lack in star power, there are still some exciting, lesser-known talents who could make a major impression in Qatar. “I believe in my players,” coach Graham Arnold told FIFA+ back in June. “I know we don’t have anyone at the moment consistently starring in the world’s biggest leagues, but there is talent there.”
Spirit and togetherness exists in plentiful supply, too, and those attributes came to the fore when – after a difficult, COVID-hit AFC qualifying campaign – the Socceroos ground out play-off wins over United Arab Emirates and then Peru to qualify for a fifth successive World Cup.
No-one in Australia will need reminded that they have fallen at the first hurdle in the last three of those global finals, and emerged winless from the last two. But having prevailed as underdogs against the Peruvians, Arnold’s charges are determined to upset the odds once again – starting with holders France on 22 November.
We look at five players whose form and fortunes will be crucial to the Socceroos’ hopes.
Martin Boyle
Position: Forward
Age: 29
Passed over for selection by Scotland, this Aberdeen-born attacker has spent the last few years showing his native country just what they’re missing.
Boyle, who is married to Scotland women’s international Rachael Small, had never even been to Australia before being selected by the Socceroos. As he told FIFA last year, his selection arose by pure chance as Graham Arnold visited two of his then Hibernian team-mates and was alerted by them to Boyle’s Aussie parentage.
Once in the green and gold, he made an instant impression, scoring two goals and laying on another in his first start to upstage Tim Cahill on the Aussie legend’s 108th and final international appearance. Boyle has continued to impress in the time since, contributing goals and assists and stretching opponents’ defences with his blistering pace.
That speed will be one of Arnold’s most potent offensive weapons in Qatar and, with Australia sure to be on the back foot at times, is sure to be central to any counter-attacking strategy. With the 29-year-old back at Hibernian and back among the goals after a spell in Saudi Arabia, he should arrive confident and ready to make his mark at this, his first World Cup.
Ajdin Hrustic
Position: Attacking midfielder
Age: 26
With the talented Tom Rogic’s future still shrouded in mystery, Hrustic is without rival as Australia’s most creative midfielder. Elegant and confident on the ball, his ability to both score and create established the Verona playmaker as the breakout star of the Socceroos’ Qatar 2022 qualifying campaign.
Team-mates have been quick to acknowledge as much, with winger Matt Leckie lauding Hrustic’s ability to “at any time of the game, pick a pass or do something special”. World Cup defences should also be wary of his capacity for the spectacular in set-piece situations, which was demonstrated more than once during the World Cup preliminaries.
The 26-year-old is one of precious few Australia players operating in one of Europe’s so-called big five leagues, having recently swapped Eintracht Frankfurt of the Bundesliga for Serie A’s Verona. The trajectory of his club career has matched his international fortunes, and last season he was one of the penalty-scoring heroes as Eintracht won their first European trophy in over four decades.
Awer Mabil
Position: Winger
Age: 26
Mabil’s mere presence at this World Cup is inspiring. This, after all, is a young man who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp after his parents fled conflict in Sudan, and who survived as a child on one meal a day, playing barefoot with a rolled-up sock as his football.
The skills learned in those awful conditions shone brightly when Australia took in Mabil’s family in 2006. His rise since has been the stuff of fairy tales, and the connection to his adopted country was reaffirmed when he slotted home the sixth penalty in the shootout win over Peru that secured the Socceroos’ World Cup spot. "I knew I was going to score,” Mabil said afterwards. “It was the only way to say thank you to Australia on behalf of my family.”
This talented, elusive winger has contributed a great deal more than that coolly dispatched penalty since making an emotional debut in 2018. Now playing in La Liga with Cadiz after a successful seven-year stint with Danish side Midtjylland, he will be one of the players relied upon to provide the attacking inspiration that Arnold’s team will need against some of the world’s top sides.
Aaron Mooy
Position: Midfielder
Age: 31
A midfield mainstay for much of the past decade, Mooy’s continued importance was reinforced during those World Cup play-offs.
He arrived in Doha having not played a competitive game in four months, with his only preparation some individual sessions with Australia’s former strength and conditioning coach. But while this might have pointed to a substitute’s role, and Mooy bringing his experience in the latter stages, he ended up starting and seeing out both matches, playing all 120 minutes against Peru before stepping up to slot home a penalty. “What that kid did is just amazing,” said an admiring Arnold afterwards.
It showed too that, barring injury, this classy and composed technician is almost sure to be asked to anchor the Socceroos’ midfield in Qatar. Arnold is also hopeful that a switch from Shanghai to Scotland, where Mooy is now playing under former Australia coach Ange Postecoglou at Celtic, will be crucial to ensuring that he arrives in peak condition.
“We all know that Ange will get the best out of Aaron,” Arnold has said. “With better fitness, with more match rhythm, and under Ange, I expect that when he walks into Qatar he’ll be the leader that we need on the field.”
Mat Ryan
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 30
While Andrew Redmayne was Australia’s shootout hero in the play-offs, no-one doubts that the ‘Grey Wiggle’ will be back on the bench for the World Cup itself. Mat Ryan is, after all, the team’s captain and the most-capped player of the current generation.
This status has not been bestowed by accident. Though his height (he stands at just 6ft) has often been raised as a potential weakness, Ryan is a tremendous shot-stopper and outstanding with the ball at his feet.
He shone especially brightly during a four-year spell with English Premier League side Brighton, and while a loan move to Arsenal and permanent switch to Real Sociedad didn’t yield much in the way of playing time, Ryan’s recent move to Danish champions FC Copenhagen should provide him with the necessary pre-tournament match practice. His place for Australia should be assured either way, with Arnold having lauded him as “a fantastic goalkeeper”.
Ryan himself has spoken of “wanting to shock the world and show that we can match it with the best out there” in Qatar. If Australia are to do that, some big performances from their skipper are sure to be required.
