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Australia’s Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold has named his 26-man squad to represent Australia at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Goalkeeper Mathew Ryan will captain the side in Qatar at what will be his third FIFA World Cup, with Mathew Leckie the other player in the squad selected to represent Australia at a FIFA World Cup for the third time.
This year’s tournament will be the second FIFA World Cup for Aziz Behich, Milos Degenek, Jackson Irvine, Jamie MacLaren, Aaron Mooy and Bailey Wright, with seventeen players selected in a FIFA World Cup squad for the first time.
Head Coach Graham Arnold said the Socceroos go to Qatar full of pride and belief after a challenging four years.
“It’s been a unique and difficult qualification campaign and we now arrive in Qatar with an exciting squad which will do everything to make Australia proud on the world stage,” Arnold said.
“Over the past four years, 32 players have made their debut for the national team. I want to thank every player who has helped the team over this journey. We have called upon 68 players during the qualifying campaign and every one of them has played a part in getting us here.”
“The make-up of our team reflects Australia’s multicultural landscape. Our boys come from all over the world, they all have different journeys, but we are united by one jersey,” Arnold expressed.
After securing qualification for the fifth consecutive FIFA World Cup, sixth appearance in total, the Socceroos will be looking to progress through the group stages for the first time since 2006.
The squad features nine members of the Tokyo 2020 Olyroos’ squad in Nathaniel Atkinson, Keanu Baccus, Thomas Deng, Cameron Devlin, Joel King, Riley McGree, Kye Rowles, Harry Souttar and Mitchell Duke as the overage player.
“We have worked hard to give younger players an opportunity over the campaign, to expose them to international football, to test them against the best and I’m thrilled with the development and maturity of this group who now get a chance on the biggest stage possible,” Arnold said.
The Socceroos kick off their 2022 FIFA World Cup – Qatar campaign against defending champions France at Al Janoub Stadium on Tuesday, November 22.
AUSTRALIA
Goalkeepers
Mat Ryan (FC Copenhagen), Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC), Danny Vukovic (Central Coast Mariners)
Defenders
Aziz Behich (Dundee United), Milos Degenek (Columbus Crew), Bailey Wright (Sunderland AFC), Harry Souttar (Stoke City), Fran Karacic (AC Brescia), Nathaniel Atkinson (Heart of Midlothian), Joel King (Odense BK), Kye Rowles (Hearts of Midlothian), Thomas Deng (Albirex Niigata)
Midfielders
Aaron Mooy (Celtic), Jackson Irvine (FC St. Pauli), Ajdin Hrustic (Hellas Verona), Riley McGree (Middlesbrough FC), Cameron Devlin (Heart of Midlothian), Keanu Baccus (St Mirren)
Forwards
Mathew Leckie (Melbourne City), Awer Mabil (CF Cadiz), Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City), Mitchell Duke (Fagiano Okayama), Martin Boyle (Hibernian), Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United), Garang Kuol (Central Coast Mariners), Jason Cummings (Central Coast Mariners)
The 2️⃣6️⃣ players heading to our sixth @FIFAWorldCup 🫡✈️
#GiveIt100 #Socceroos pic.twitter.com/7G6A6KbEpk— Socceroos (@Socceroos) November 8, 2022
