Australia coach Tony Popovic has announced the first eight members of what he has termed a ‘train-on’ squad that will head to a pre-camp in Florida this week ahead of the forthcoming FIFA World Cup™.
Speaking ahead of his departure to the city of Sarasota, the Socceroos boss said he wanted to give players returning from injury or those who had seen limited playing time at club level a chance to press their claims to make the final squad.
“You can call it a pre-camp or a train-on squad but we wanted to make sure we give players a chance to make the squad. We felt that if we gave them a week or two off that they would fall behind with the limited time that some of them have had.”
The initial group of eight players includes half a dozen who have recently completed their domestic campaign in the A-League, including Macarthur FC duo Mitch Duke and Anthony Caceres, Brisbane forward Nick D’Agostino, the recently returned Mathew Leckie, Melbourne Victory forward Nishan Velupillay and Western Sydney’s Brandon Borrello.
Also heading to the USA are key defender Harry Souttar, who has suffered a string of injury setbacks over the past 18 months, as well as Portsmouth defender Hayden Matthews.
“It’s been great to see Harry Souttar back in the fold, we haven’t seen him since November 2024. He’s a fantastic player so it’s great to see him get some games recently.
“The same with Mathew Leckie who has also had limited recent minutes with injury but a player with his mentality is important at a World Cup and we want to give him a chance of being in the squad.”
Australia are set to name their final 26-strong squad on 1 June, with the head coach arguing that there is still plenty of competition for spots in that final group.
“Due to those players who we’re not sure about where they’re at physically I could say I’m 75-80 per cent confident in the final squad but there is room for players to impress.
“There will be more players coming in [to the pre-camp] next week and as players finish their seasons we’ll bring more in each week.”
Popovic also addressed news surrounding Aidan O’Neill, with the central midfield controller picking up an injury at his club, New York City, this weekend.
“We’re still waiting for confirmation of how serious it might be so that’s not the best news to wake up to but it’s hard to determine how serious it is at the moment.”
Australia will play two pre-tournament international matches, against Mexico in Los Angeles on 30 May and Switzerland on 6 June, in San Diego. Those fixtures will serve as a final tune-up ahead of group stage tussles with Türkiye, co-hosts USA and Paraguay at a tournament that Popovic believes they can impress at.
“I’ve said from day one why can’t it be this group that can be the one to do something special. We’ll go in to the tournament with that mindset and the thought that it be us that can go further than Australia has ever gone before.”
