What must be done by Irankunda and company to remain in Popovic’s plans
When Mohamed Toure dominated Tyler Bindon off the ball to open the scoring in the Socceroos’ 3-1 victory over New Zealand on Tuesday, you couldn’t have missed it if you tried. It
reached a nearly raucous crescendo in the 76th minute when Nestory Irankunda, the talisman-elect, smashed the crossbar with a rocket free kick from at least 30 yards out. In a match that saw two young attacking dynamos stake their claims and saw Alessandro Circati lead the youngest Socceroos team since 2017 and become the youngest Australian men’s captain in nearly 50 years, Tuesday night’s match gave Australian football a tantalising look at its future. It was nearly hard to avoid being caught up in all the excitement if you had even a passing familiarity with Australian football; I have seen the future, and that future includes golazos. Most would have been caught up in it, though, with one particular
noteworthy exception. His attention was focused on his preparations to guide the Socceroos into the 2026 FIFA World Cup since head coach Tony Popovic has demonstrated an ability to filter out any outside noise or criticism over how he leads the team since taking over last year. In fact, Popovic has earned a unique reputation for genuinely meaning it when he says that coaches don’t read the articles about them in the media or keep an eye on the online conversation surrounding them.
Therefore, it probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise in retrospect that Adrian Segecic and Noah Botic didn’t play in either of the two Football Ashes legs. Popovic has a well-established routine when it comes to bringing young players into his national setup. He has spoken about this as being its own unique step in the process of becoming a Socceroo, and it has generally had few exceptions during his tenure. This is in contrast to the excitement surrounding the presence of young and untried players in the squad, which was so great that Segecic briefly topped the Australian trend on X when lineups for the Auckland fixture dropped without him in them.
Both Segecic and Botic have spent the last two weeks at camp on watch-and-learn duty, just like Maximilien Balard, Nectarios Triantis, Kai Trewin, Kasey Bos, and Paul Okon-Engstler before them. In addition to receiving advice from coaches and seasoned staff members of what it takes to get into the “elite,” they will have had the chance to provide the coaching staff a glimpse of their professionalism both on and off the training track.
Popovic is attempting to preserve the “environment” with the side. They will have learnt how to acquire the coach’s confidence that they can deliver when the lights are shining brightest, then get back up and repeat the process a few days later. “This experiment was designed to bring in young, gifted athletes who could play in the future and see how they fit in. And we’ll be content in any case,” Popovic stated prior to the Auckland match. “We have learnt a lot about them, regardless of who gets minutes in this game.”
However, neither of these young players nor any other player not present in this camp should be writing off their chances of winning the World Cup just yet. Additionally, none of the crew should be preparing their in-flight film for June of next year. Popovic made it clear at a team meeting during the September window that a line has been drawn in the sand for every player who wants to be a part of his World Cup squad, regardless of their age, level of experience, or style of play. Every player was once again expected to earn their spot, and he declared that the slate had been cleared.
“What you did up until June — they’re learning very quickly — doesn’t guarantee your World Cup spot,” Popovic stated. “The young boys have just as much of an opportunity as the senior players, so you need to keep playing well to be on the aircraft to go to the World Cup. More than merely numbers, we want to expand the pool of depth and quality.
In light of this, ESPN has examined the young people who have generated controversy over the last week and enquired as to what they must do next in order to board the flight to North America. Toure undoubtedly possesses all the necessary skills to start as the Socceroos’ striker at the World Cup. And he has likely even jumped to the front of the line after a September window in which he scored his first and second goals for the national team in Auckland and contributed a game-winning assist in Canberra.
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