Tuesday, November 12, 2024 - 06:09:34 PM

It is Australia male national team is the representative of Australia in international soccer. They are officially known as the Socceroos the team is governed by the body that governs soccer within Australia, Football Australia, that is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as well as Regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).

Australia has the sole team in the world that has been the winner of both confederations. It been awarded the OFC Nations Cup four times between 1980 and 2004 in addition to in 2004 the AFC Asian Cup at the 2015 tournament in Australia's home country. The team has played for Australia in the FIFA World Cup tournament on six occasions in 1974 and between 2006 and 2022. The team also been a part of Australia in the FIFA Confederations Cup four times.

1. History

The story of the Australia national soccer team began with their very first international match in 1922. They have been awarded 4 Nations Cup titles, in the years 1980, 1996, as well as the 2004 Asian Cup in 2015. They have not been crowned their place in the FIFA World Cup, with their most impressive performance coming from finishing in the Round of 16 in 2006.

1.1. Early years

It was the first time that an Australia nation-wide team formed in 1922, for an overseas visit to New Zealand, which included two losses and an draw. Over the next three decades, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa became regular opponents in tours (exhibition) match. In that time, Australia also played Canada and India in their tour from Australia between 1924 and 1938, respectively. Australia had their worst loss on the 30th of June in 1951 when they fell 17-0 to an on-tour England team. Australia was given the chance to play in the international arena in the first major international competition as host for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. However, a weak team resulted in the team's poor performance. Since the introduction of low-cost flights, Australia began to diversify its opponents. But, its location played a significant role in the direction of its future throughout the following 30 years. Australia was the winner of its 1967 South Vietnam Independence Cup against seven other nations, however this was not widely recognized domestically.

After not qualifying as a team for FIFA World Cup in 1966 and 1970, while losing in play-offs against North Korea and Israel respectively, Australia finally appeared at their first World Cup in West Germany in 1974. After securing one draw against Chile and losing to East Germany and West Germany The team comprised from mostly players who were amateurs, was eliminated at conclusion of the opening round, coming the bottom of their groups, without scoring one goal. It would turn out to be the final appearance for this Australian squad until after the World Cup tournament returned to Germany over 30 years later in. For the next 40 years that followed, over a 40-year period, the Australian team was famous for its haphazard failures when it tried to be a part of at the World Cup; they lost play-offs in 1966 against North Korea, 1970 to Israel 1986 to Scotland 1994 to Argentina 1997 and to Iran then 2002, to Uruguay.

1.2. First successes and "golden generation"

The team's previous poor performance during World Cup competition was not evident in their performance against powerful European as well as South American sides. in 1988, Australia beat World Champions Argentina 4-1 at the Australian Bicentennial Gold Cup. The year 1997 was the same. Australia played world champions Brazil at 0-0 during the stage of group play. They later defeated Uruguay by 1-0 in the semi-finals in order to make it to finals in the FIFA Confederations Cup Final. In 2001, following an impressive win over reigning World Champions France at the Group Stage, Australia finished the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup in third spot after defeating Brazil with a 1-0 victory in the third-place tie-breaker. Australia won against England by 3-1 in West Ham's Boleyn Ground on the night of 2003 when Wayne Rooney made his international debut.

In the beginning of in 2005 it was announced the Football Federation Australia had entered discussions with to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and to end a nearly 40-year relationship in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). A lot of commentators and fans including football broadcaster, and also former Australian captain Johnny Warren, felt that the only option to allow Australia to move forward was to quit Oceania. On March 13 it was announced that the AFC executive committee took the decision in unanimity to accept an invitation from Australia to be a member of the AFC. When Australia's OFC executive committee had unanimously supported the move of Australia, FIFA approved the move on June 30, 2005. Australia became a member of Asia and the move was set to take beginning on January 1, 2006, but prior to that, Australia had to compete to be a contender for a World Cup position as an OFC member.

After a highly successful performance, Australia made the first steps towards qualifying to participate in the 2006 World Cup. Following the announcement that the team's coach Frank Farina stood down from the position following Australia's disappointing performance in the 2005 Confederations Cup, Guus Hiddink was named the new coach of the national team. Australia was ranked 49th. They will then take on the 18th ranked Uruguay in another match from the 2001 qualifying play-off in order to earn the chance to participate at this year's World Cup. After a win in a friendly game against Jamaica the first match of the play-off competition was defeated (1-0) and the second leg scheduled to take place by Australia four days after in Sydney on the 16th of November.

The second stage of the play-off qualifying was played in the presence of 82,698 fans at Stadium Australia. Australia was ahead Uruguay in the 90th minute 1-0 after a goal from Mark Bresciano in the first half. The aggregate was even, and the game was extended. There was no scoring after two extra time, and the game was sent to an extra shootout. Australia took the shootout (4-2) and made Australia the first team to make it to the World Cup via a penalty shootout. Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer made two saves and John Aloisi scoring the winning penalty to qualify for the World Cup, Australia's first qualification in over 32 years.

Australia entered in the 2006 World Cup as the second most ranked team. However, their rankings significantly improved over the following months, after several exhibition games against teams with high profile, including an 1-1 draw with the Netherlands and a 1-0 victory at the sold out 100,000 capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground against the then European champions Greece. In this year's World Cup, Australia was put in Group F together with Japan, Croatia and defending champions Brazil. In their first group match, Australia defeated Japan 3-1 in the first group game, with Tim Cahill scoring two goals (84' 90') and John Aloisi scoring one (90 2') in the final eight minutes. Their goals were a landmark and were the first scored by the men's soccer team at the World Cup and it was also the first win for an Oceania team at World Cups, as well because all three goals were scored in the final seven minutes in the match that was never played in the course of a World Cup match. Australia faced Brazil during their first game of the group that Australia was defeated by Brazil by 2-0. Australia played Croatia in their final match. Its final result (2-2) could ensure that Australia advance to the 16th round which they lost out of the tournament following an 1-0 loss to final champions Italy after the defender was penalized for a controversial decision during the 90th minute. The defeat was the ending of Hiddink's tenure as the nation's coach. The team's success at the 2006 World Cup later saw the team being named AFC National Team of the Year, and being called"the "golden generation" in the history of the Socceroos.

1.3. Later success

Coach Graham Arnold, Australia went to their first Asian Cup in 2007, with a strong team that comprised 15 players from last season's World Cup team. In Group A , they faced with Oman (1-1 draw), Thailand (4-0 win) and the eventual the champions Iraq (3-1 losing) which ensured that Australia made it to the quarter-finals at the end of the event. Although, after a draw 1-1 with Japan in an extra period, Australia ended the match by penalty at an early stage in the semifinals. A friendly match played on the 11th of September 2007 in Argentina (1-0 defeat) took place in Graham Arnold's final game as coach. The position being eventually taken with Pim Verbeek on the 6th of December 2007.

Australia started their 2010 World Cup campaign in the third round of qualifying, placed in a group comprised comprising Qatar, Iraq and China PR with Australia was first. Australia was eventually able to advance towards in the 2011 World Cup after comfortably winning the fourth round of qualification the group of Japan, Bahrain, Qatar and Uzbekistan. The team's place was confirmed prior to even playing the last two matches. It was beating its group, beating Japan in the rankings by five percentage points.

Australia was included in Group D at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which included the three time World Champion Germany, Ghana and Serbia. On June 14, 2010 Australia was playing Germany. Pim Verbeek's baffling decision to not play a recognized striker saw Australia defeat 4-1. Verbeek was heavily criticized for his play, and SBS (Australia's World Cup broadcaster) chief soccer analyst Craig Foster calling for his immediate removal. Australia's second group game against Ghana was an 1-1 draw, the third and final match in the group against Serbia was an 2-1 victory. The loss of Australia to Germany was a snub in the stage of group play. Pim Verbeek resigned coaching the Australian manager at the conclusion of 2010's World Cup and was soon replaced by Holger Osieck.

In 2010 Australia had qualified for their third AFC Asian Cup, topping their qualifying group. The success of their campaign during the 11th AFC Asian Cup saw Australia be runners-up against Japan losing to Japan in the final 1-0 after extra time.

The year 2012 was the first time Australia was invited to take part for the East Asian Cup. Australia went from Hong Kong to compete in several qualifying matches in hopes of getting into next year's East Asian Cup. Despite a number of debuts and fielding a less experienced team, Australia was successful, winning in front of Hong Kong, North Korea, Guam and Chinese Taipei in order to qualify for in the 13th East Asian Cup, where Australia was unable to finish ahead of Japan, South Korea and China PR. On August 26, the 26th of August Australia was admitted as a full member of the ASEAN Football Federation but as part of their admission accord with the sub-confederation the national team of Australia is prohibited from taking part during AFF Championship. AFF Championship due to their perceived disparity in football quality in comparison to Australia and the other countries in the region.

Australian's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification began by playing a series of friendly games in Germany, the United Arab Emirates (0-0), Germany (1-2 win), New Zealand (3-0 win), Serbia (0-0) and Wales (1-2 victory). Its World Cup campaign started in the third round of qualification with Australia winning their group to advance into the next round. After winning their final fourth round match, Australia finished as runners-up in their group, and qualified to play in the 2014 FIFA World Cup on 18 June 2013.

Following their qualification to World Cup qualification, World Cup, Australia played in a string of friendly matches in the midst of a series of friendly matches against Brazil and France and suffered consecutive defeats of 6-0. In addition to previous poor performance during this 2013 World Cup qualification campaign resulted in the manager Holger Osieck's dismissal, bringing his four-year stint as the manager of Australia to an conclusion.

1.4. New generation: the 2015 Asian Cup triumph

After a search lasting two weeks for an interim head coach, Ange Postecoglou was eventually named manager. Postecoglou was charged with rejuvenating Australia's national team. Australian national team. It was thought to have been dependent on players from the Golden Generation of 2006, eventually leading to a decline of performance, which culminated in consecutive defeats of 6-0 to Brazil as well as France. In his first match as Australia's manager, a friendly game in the midst of a friendly match against Costa Rica, Australia won by 1-0 thanks to an assist from Tim Cahill.

In this year's World Cup, Australia were assigned to Group B along with the current Cup holders Spain and the runners-up in the 2010 tournament Netherlands as well as Chile. Their opening game got not a great startafter they lost two goals in the first 15 minutes by Alexis Sanchez and Jorge Valdivia. However, despite a goal scored by Tim Cahill that inspired a post-match revival from Postecoglou's side the team ultimately lost in the final to Chile 3-1. The second game in the match against Netherlands Netherlands was a tight one but they lost with a loss of 3-2 which led to their early exile together with their fellow Spanish team. Australian supporters praised the team for their impressive performance in the midst of a challenging group. The final result was that Australia ended in Group B with a 3rd consecutive loss to the previous world champions Spain 3-1. Australia's successful World Cup performances in a difficult group made it appear that the new Golden Generation was set to start.

In their first match preceding in the World Cup, Australia played World Cup quarter-finalists Belgium in Liege in the World Cup quarter-finals, with Australia being defeated by 2-0. The following day, Australia achieved their first international win in ten years and their only victory under Ange Postecoglou. They won the 3-2 win over Saudi Arabia in London. After a draw against their neighbors, the United Arab Emirates, and losing consecutively in the games against Qatar and Japan in addition to previous bad performances throughout the season, Australia dropped to the 94th and 102th positions on the FIFA World Rankings, their lowest ever position.

The year 2015 was a time to see Australia hosting the 2014 AFC Asian Cup, with the team returning for their third time at the event. Australia have won their opening two group games in the group stage against Kuwait and Oman easily and with scores of 4-1 and 4-0, respectively. This ensured their passage to the knockout phase, despite losing their final group game in the final group match against South Korea in Brisbane 1-0. They played China PR during the quarter-finals and prevailed by 2-0 thanks to two goals in the second half from Tim Cahill. In the semi-finals Australia beat the United Arab Emirates 2-0. United Arab Emirates and advanced to the final for the second time in succession. They took on South Korea in the final on the 31st of January on the 31st of January at Stadium Australia, winning 2-1 after extra time, to take home their first Asian victory and be a part of an appearance in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.

After Australia was selected to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Ange Postecoglou quit his post as coach. The former coach of the Netherlands national team, Bert van Marwijk, was appointed his successor. On March 8, 2018 following van Marwijk's initial team announcement following his first squad announcement, it was announced by the FFA confirmed the fact that Graham Arnold will take the coaching position from this year's FIFA World Cup until the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Through van Marwijk, Australia was included with Denmark, France and Peru. The opening match of Australia against the eventual World Champions France was praised for its brave effort, and Australia only lost 1-2 due to an imaginary own goal scored by Aziz Behich. Following the loss against France, Australia produced another remarkable performance by winning Denmark 1-1. But in the most crucial match against the already defeated Peru, Australia lost 0-2 and was eliminated of the World Cup with only a point. They became the only team in the AFC to not win in this year's FIFA World Cup. In the following match, van Marwijk left his post and Arnold took over with the position of head coach. Socceroos.

under Graham Arnold, Australia started their 2019 AFC Asian Cup in hope of winning the trophy, being placed in the same group as Jordan, Syria and Palestine However, their hopes were destroyed by a shock loss of 0-1 to Jordan. Australia came back to the game, defeating Palestine by 3-0, before winning an important match by a gruelling 3-2 victory against Syria which eliminated both Palestine and Syria during the process. This victory enabled Australia the chance to go through the round of 16, which they defeated Uzbekistan with penalties 4-2after drawing the match 0-0 over 120 minutes. In the quarter-finals however, at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium the venue in which Australia had lost their first game in the first round against Jordan, Australia once again was unable to victory on the same field and lost to the hosts United Arab Emirates 0-1 due to a slip by Milos Degenek. Eventually, they failed to claim the trophy.

2. Team image

As per detail below.

 

2.1. Media coverage

Australian match broadcasts are carried on Paramount and on free-to-air by Network 10.

The coverage previously provided was via Fox Sports (2018-2021), Ten network with the 10-channel Bold channel. ABC, SBS until 2016 and Nine on its 9Go! channel (2016-2017).

The national team has established record ratings on both free-to-air and subscription television. The final 2006 World Cup qualifying match against Uruguay was the most watched program on SBS history, with an audience in excess of 3.4 million viewers. Likewise, the 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Uzbekistan was the record-breaking match for the largest audience for subscription television that averaged 431,000 viewers. In 2015, the Asian Cup Final against South Korea was watched by a total audience in excess of 5.3 million Australians in all.

2.2. Kit

The first Australia jersey was blue, with a an hoop of maroon on the socks. The colours are representative of state flags of New South Wales and Queensland and Queensland. The design reminded us of the Australian national strip of the time. The team wore a mostly light blue uniform until 1924, when they switched to gold and gold with green.

Australia has worn a yellow jersey typically with shorts that are green and yellow socks from the 1960s. The color of socks changed throughout the 1970s, 80s and 1990s, changing from white to the exact green as the shorts. They also changed to the same yellow hue that the shirt. The uniqueness of the uniform is precisely the mix of colors used even though the flag of the country includes the colors blue white, red, and blue however, the uniforms are based on hues of yellow and green. This is because, unlike other national teams that draw their colors from the flag however, the Australian team chooses to base the colours of the most common plant native to the country the acacia plant with its green leaves and yellow flowers.

The team's current away kit is a turquoise shirt that has a gold stripes on the right and left sides of the shirt, with the coat of arms is placed over navy-colored background. It's paired with navy shorts (also featuring the golden stripes) as well as turquoise socks. The Australian kits were made by various companies, such as Umbro, Adidas, KingRoo and, since 2004, by Nike.

Instead of showing the logo instead of the logo Football Australia, Australia's jersey typically displays an emblem of Australia on one breast on the left. The first time the team wore the traditional yellow and green colors in 1924. The 1994 World Cup kits were produced by Adidas like the other national team kits during the tournament and with Adidas as the sponsor of the tournament. However, the kits included Umbro logos, as a result of Umbro's Australian relationship in the period. Nike extended the kit maker contract together with FFA over a period of 11 years, and gave them the rights to create national kits up to 2022. In the run-up to this year's World Cup, the new kit that would wear by the players were revealed. The new kits featured an unadorned yellow shirt, with a collar of green as well as simple dark green shorts, and white socks, in a nod of the 1974 Socceroos. The front of the neck included the phrase "We Socceroos can do the impossible" The quote was from Peter Wilson, the captain of the 1974 Australian team. The kit was well-received. In March of this year, FFA revealed the new Socceroos kit, which included yellow jerseys along with yellow shorts and green socks. The new kit was said to be in line of the FIFA directive that required every national side to wear uniform shirts and shorts. The kit was met with public outrage, due primarily to the change in colour of the shorts, from the traditional green to the yellow.

2.2.1. Kit suppliers

Kit supplier Period Notes
Umbro 1974–1983 1974 FIFA World Cup jerseys were manufactured by Adidas but featured an Umbro logo.
Adidas 1983–1989  
Kingroo 1990–1993  
Patrick 1993  
Adidas 1993–2004  
Nike 2004–present Current deal runs until 2023.

2.3. Nickname

The nickname for Australia, "Socceroos", was invented in 1967 by Sydney journalist Tony Horstead in his coverage of the team's tour of goodwill through South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It is used frequently by the Australian citizens and the nation's governing body called the FFA. The name is a symbol of a social tendency to use colloquialisms within the country. It also signifies an Australian English use of the sport's name.

The name is similar to the majority of Australian national representative nicknames for teams; they are used casually when talking about the team in the media, or in conversations. In addition, the name originates from a well-known symbol of Australia and, in this instance the Kangaroo. Both soccer and kangaroo are combined to form an evocative word called soccer-roo for example. Olyroos to refer to an Australia Olympic soccer squad as well as Hockeyroos in reference to an Australian National women's team in hockey.

2.4. Rivalries

Australia's longest-running rivals are its neighbours from the Trans-Tasman region New Zealand. The history of the two teams goes back to 1922 when they first met on their respective international debuts. This rivalry among the Socceroos as well as New Zealand's All Whites (New Zealand) is part of a larger friendly rivalry between neighbors Australia as well as New Zealand, which applies not just to sports but also to the cultural aspects of both countries. The rivalry was heightened during the time that Australia both New Zealand were both members of the OFC which regularly played at OFC Nations Cup finals and in FIFA World Cup qualifications, in which only one team from the OFC qualified for qualifying for the World Cup. Since Australia quit its membership in the OFC and joined in the AFC since 2006, the competition between the two teams has become less frequent. But the rivalry between both teams is not going away and matches that do happen getting a lot of media and public focus.

Following its accession to with the AFC, Australia began to create a fierce rivalry to its fellow Asian powerful Japan. The rivalry started at the 2006 World Cup, where the two nations were joined. The rivalry continued , with both countries regularly interacting at different AFC events such as 2011, the Asian Cup final and qualification for the 2010 2018 as well as 2022 World Cups.

Another significant rival within Asia has to be South Korea, who Australia faced at the three World Cup qualification campaigns in the 1970s. They have since joining the AFC they have played regularly including the triumph of Australia during the 2015 Asian Cup final.

2.5. Supporters

The primary supporter group for the Australian national team is Socceroos Active Support (SAS). SAS was formed in January 2015 as an autonomous group that uses social media to organize and stay in touch. SAS replaced the previous actively-operating support group Terrace Australis, who were created in 2013 by Football Federation Australia and fans in 2013 during the 2014. World Cup qualification campaign. The group was formed as a result of low off-field activity and insufficient participation from the community. Before, the advent of Terrace Australis saw the Green and Gold Army take away its position as a center for support and active participation, which it been claiming since its inception since 2001. Following its year 2015 AFC Asian Cup triumph, the players had encouraged the those in Australia to concentrate more towards the team of the nation and to be proud of the soccer team of Australia.

2.6. Home stadium

Australia has no designated national stadium, but the team has a variety of locations across the country, for either exhibition or tournament events. In recent years, the biggest international matches are usually moved around several large stadiums which include Stadium Australia in Sydney, Hunter Stadium in Newcastle and Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. International games have also been held at Melbourne Cricket Ground and Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Melbourne as well as Canberra Stadium in Canberra.

Australia traditionally played in historically played at the Gabba in Brisbane where Australia played its first ever home-soil-based international match on June 9 in 1923. Other venues that have regularly hosted international home games are Olympic Park Stadium in Melbourne and Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney Showground, Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney and Subiaco Oval in Perth.

In England The Socceroos were also able to play numerous "home" games before on Craven Cottage in Fulham (Fulham Football Club's home stadium) as well as Loftus Road, in Shepherd's Bush (Queens Park Rangers the home of Queens Park Rangers) due to the fact that there's an extensive Australian expatriate community living in West London, and that many of the senior team plays on European leagues.

3. Recent results and fixtures

As per detail below.

 

3.1. 2021

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 2 September 2021  Australia 3–0  China Doha, Qatar
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 7 September 2021  Vietnam 0–1  Australia Hanoi, Vietnam
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 7 October 2021  Australia 3–1  Oman Doha, Qatar
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 12 October 2021  Japan 2–1  Australia Saitama, Japan
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 November 2021  Australia 0–0  Saudi Arabia Sydney, Australia
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 16 November 2021  China 1–1  Australia Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

3.2. 2022

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 27 January 2022  Australia 4–0  Vietnam Melbourne, Australia
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 1 February 2022  Oman 2–2  Australia Muscat, Oman
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 24 March 2022  Australia 0–2  Japan Sydney, Australia
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 29 March 2022  Saudi Arabia 1–0  Australia Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Friendly 1 June 2022  Australia 2–1  Jordan Doha, Qatar
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 7 June 2022  United Arab Emirates 1–2  Australia Al Rayyan, Qatar
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 13 June 2022  Australia 0–0  Peru Al Rayyan, Qatar
Friendly 22 September 2022  Australia v  New Zealand Brisbane, Australia
Friendly 25 September 2022  New Zealand v  Australia Auckland, New Zealand
2022 FIFA World Cup 22 November 2022  France v  Australia Al Wakrah, Qatar
2022 FIFA World Cup 26 November 2022  Tunisia v  Australia Al Wakrah, Qatar
2022 FIFA World Cup 30 November 2022  Australia v  Denmark Al Wakrah, Qatar

4. Coaching staff

As of March 2018

Position Name
Head coach Australia Graham Arnold
Assistant coach Netherlands René Meulensteen
Assistant coach England Kenny Lowe
Assistant coach Australia Tony Vidmar
Goalkeeping coach Australia John Crawley[109]
Fitness coach Australia Andrew Clark
Sport scientist Germany Fabian Ehrmann
Chief Medical officer Australia Dr. Mark Jones
Physiotherapist Australia Lesley Gelis
Physiotherapist Australia Cameron Dunkerley
Physiotherapist Australia Kurt Lisle
Technical analyst Australia Doug Kors
Team manager Australia Joel Freeme
Technical director Australia Trevor Morgan
Technical consultant England Ron Smith
General manager Australia James Duvcevski

 

5. Players

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

 

5.1. Current squad

These 28 athletes were selected as part of an expanded team for the friendly match against Jordan on the 1st of June in 2022 as well as in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC Fourth Round play-off against United Arab Emirates on 7 June 2022.

Tom Rogic was initially selected to the squad, but then removed for personal reasons.

Goals and caps correct at the time of 14 June 2022, following the game against Peru.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
  GK Mathew Ryan (captain) 8 April 1992 (age 30) 74 0 Spain Real Sociedad
  GK Danny Vukovic 27 March 1985 (age 37) 4 0 Netherlands NEC
  GK Andrew Redmayne 13 January 1989 (age 33) 3 0 Australia Sydney FC
  DF Trent Sainsbury 5 January 1992 (age 30) 60 4 Qatar Al-Wakrah
  DF Aziz Behich 16 October 1990 (age 31) 52 2 Scotland Dundee United
  DF Milos Degenek 28 April 1994 (age 28) 37 1 United States Columbus Crew
  DF Bailey Wright 28 July 1992 (age 30) 27 2 England Sunderland
  DF Jason Davidson 29 July 1991 (age 31) 23 1 Belgium Eupen
  DF Fran Karačić 12 May 1996 (age 26) 9 1 Italy Brescia
  DF Kye Rowles 24 June 1998 (age 24) 3 0 Scotland Heart of Midlothian
  DF Nathaniel Atkinson 13 June 1999 (age 23) 3 0 Scotland Heart of Midlothian
  DF Joel King 30 October 2000 (age 21) 2 0 Denmark OB
  MF Aaron Mooy 15 September 1990 (age 31) 52 7 Scotland Celtic
  MF Jackson Irvine 7 March 1993 (age 29) 48 7 Germany St. Pauli
  MF Ajdin Hrustic 5 July 1996 (age 26) 19 3 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
  MF Craig Goodwin 16 December 1991 (age 30) 10 1 Australia Adelaide United
  MF Riley McGree 2 November 1998 (age 23) 9 1 England Middlesbrough
  MF Kenny Dougall 7 May 1993 (age 29) 5 0 England Blackpool
  MF Denis Genreau 21 May 1999 (age 23) 3 0 France Toulouse
  MF Gianni Stensness 7 February 1999 (age 23) 2 0 Norway Viking
  FW Mathew Leckie 4 February 1991 (age 31) 71 13 Australia Melbourne City
  FW Awer Mabil 15 September 1995 (age 26) 28 7 Spain Cadiz
  FW Jamie Maclaren 29 July 1993 (age 29) 25 8 Australia Melbourne City
  FW Mitchell Duke 18 January 1991 (age 31) 20 7 Japan Fagiano Okayama
  FW Martin Boyle 25 April 1993 (age 29) 18 5 Saudi Arabia Al-Faisaly
  FW Adam Taggart 2 June 1993 (age 29) 16 6 Japan Cerezo Osaka
  FW Marco Tilio 23 August 2001 (age 20) 4 0 Australia Melbourne City
  FW Nicholas D'Agostino 25 February 1998 (age 24) 2 0 Australia Melbourne Victory

5.2. Recent call-ups

The following players were selected in the last 12 months, and are qualified to be selected.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Lawrence Thomas 9 May 1992 (age 30) 1 0 Australia Western Sydney Wanderers  China, 17 November 2021
GK Paul Izzo 6 January 1995 (age 27) 0 0 Australia Melbourne Victory  Vietnam, 7 September 2021
DF Ryan McGowan 15 August 1989 (age 32) 22 0 Scotland St Johnstone  Saudi Arabia, 30 March 2022
DF Alex Wilkinson 13 August 1984 (age 37) 16 0 Australia Sydney FC  Saudi Arabia, 30 March 2022
DF Rhyan Grant 26 February 1991 (age 31) 21 1 Australia Sydney FC  Japan, 24 March 2022
DF Callum Elder 27 January 1995 (age 27) 1 0 England Hull City  China, 17 November 2021
DF Harry Souttar 22 October 1998 (age 23) 10 3 England Stoke City  Saudi Arabia, 11 November 2021
DF Brad Smith 9 April 1994 (age 28) 23 0 United States D.C. United  Vietnam, 7 September 2021
DF Ryan Strain 2 April 1997 (age 25) 0 0 Scotland St Mirren  Vietnam, 7 September 2021
MF Tom Rogic 16 December 1992 (age 29) 53 10 unattached  Jordan, 2 June 2022
MF James Jeggo 12 February 1992 (age 30) 15 0 Belgium Eupen  Saudi Arabia, 30 March 2022
MF Connor Metcalfe 5 November 1999 (age 22) 3 0 Germany St. Pauli  Saudi Arabia, 30 March 2022
MF Ben Folami 6 August 1999 (age 22) 1 0 Australia Melbourne Victory  Saudi Arabia, 30 March 2022
MF Brandon Borrello 25 July 1995 (age 27) 4 0 Australia Western Sydney Wanderers  Oman, 1 February 2022
FW Bruno Fornaroli 7 September 1987 (age 34) 2 0 Australia Perth Glory  Saudi Arabia, 30 March 2022
FW Nikita Rukavytsya 22 June 1987 (age 35) 23 1 Israel Maccabi Haifa  China, 17 November 2021
FW Andrew Nabbout 17 December 1992 (age 29) 10 2 Australia Melbourne City  Saudi Arabia, 11 November 2021
FW Chris Ikonomidis 4 May 1995 (age 27) 17 2 Australia Melbourne Victory  Japan, 12 October 2021
FW Daniel Arzani 4 January 1999 (age 23) 6 1 Australia Macarthur  Japan, 12 October 2021

 

6. Records

Australia holds the current world record for the most win as well as the greatest number of goals scored a single player during an international match. Both records were set in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification match against American Samoa on 11 April 2001. Australia beat American Samoa 31-0, with Archie Thompson scoring 13 goals and David Zdrilic scoring 8. A few days prior to the 31-0 victory, Australia broke the record for the biggest win by winning the 22-0 victory over Tonga. With the score of 13 and 8 goals, respectively, Thompson and Zdrilic broke records previously jointly that was held by an other Australian, Gary Cole, who scored seven goals against Fiji in 1981. Iranian Karim Bagheri who recorded seven goals against Maldives in 1997.

At the time of 2 June 2022.

6.1. Most capped players

Rank Name Caps Goals Position Career
1 Mark Schwarzer 109 0 GK 1993–2013
2 Tim Cahill 108 50 FW 2004–2018
3 Lucas Neill 96 1 DF 1996–2013
4 Brett Emerton 95 20 MF 1998–2012
5 Alex Tobin 87 2 DF 1988–1998
6 Mark Bresciano 84 13 MF 2001–2015
Paul Wade 84 10 MF 1986–1996
8 Mark Milligan 80 6 MF 2006–2019
Luke Wilkshire 80 8 DF 2004–2014
10 Mile Jedinak 79 20 MF 2008–2018

6.2. Top goalscorers

Rank Name Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Tim Cahill 50 108 0.46 2004–2018
2 Damian Mori 29 45 0.64 1992–2002
3 Archie Thompson 28 54 0.52 2001–2013
4 John Aloisi 27 55 0.49 1993–2008
5 John Kosmina 25 60 0.42 1977–1988
Attila Abonyi 25 61 0.41 1967–1977
7 David Zdrilic 20 31 0.65 1997–2010
Mile Jedinak 20 79 0.25 2008–2018
Brett Emerton 20 95 0.21 1998–2012
10 Graham Arnold 19 56 0.34 1985–1997

6.3. Most clean sheets

Rank Name Clean sheets Caps Ratio Career
1 Mark Schwarzer 44 109 0.4 1993–2013
2 Zeljko Kalac 24 54 0.44 1992–2006
3 Mathew Ryan 24 74 0.32 2012–present
4 Jeff Olver 13 37 0.35 1985–1989
5 Robert Zabica 12 27 0.44 1990–1994

7. Competitive record

To see the complete record of the team's national team against other nations, refer to Australia national soccer team's all-time record.

Overview
Event 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place
FIFA World Cup 0 0 0 0
FIFA Confederations Cup 0 1 1 0
AFC Asian Cup 1 1 0 0
OFC Nations Cup 4 2 0 0
Total 5 4 1 0

7.1. FIFA World Cup

 

Australia's FIFA World Cup record   Qualification record
Year Host Round  Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad   Outcome Pld W D L GF GA Confederation
1930 to 1962 Not member of FIFA   Not member of FIFA
1966  England Did not qualify   Play-off 2 0 0 2 2 9 CAF/AFC/OFC
1970  Mexico   Play-off 9 3 5 1 12 8 AFC/OFC
1974  West Germany Group stage 14/16 3 0 1 2 0 5

Squad

  Qualified 11 5 5 1 21 10
1978  Argentina Did not qualify   4th 12 6 2 4 20 11
1982  Spain   2nd 8 4 2 2 22 9
1986  Mexico   Play-off 8 4 3 1 20 4 OFC
1990  Italy   2nd 6 2 2 2 11 7
1994  United States of America   Play-off 10 7 1 2 21 7
1998  France   Play-off 8 6 2 0 34 5
2002  Korea Republic
 Japan
  Play-off 8 7 0 1 73 4
2006  Germany Round of 16 16/32 4 1 1 2 5 6 Squad   Qualified 9 7 1 1 31 5 AFC
2010  South Africa Group stage 21/32 3 1 1 1 3 6 Squad   Qualified 14 9 3 2 19 4
2014  Brazil 30/32 3 0 0 3 3 9 Squad   Qualified 14 8 4 2 25 12
2018  Russia 3 0 1 2 2 5 Squad   Qualified 22 14 6 2 51 18
2022  Qatar Qualified   Qualified 20 13 4 3 45 12
2026  Mexico
 Canada
 United States of America
To be determined   To be determined
Total 0 titles 6/22 16 2 4 10 13 31   161 95 40 26 407 125

7.2. FIFA Confederations Cup

 

Australia's FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA
Saudi Arabia 1992 No OFC representative invited
Saudi Arabia 1995
Saudi Arabia 1997 Runners-up 2/8 5 2 1 2 4 8
Mexico 1999 Did not qualify
South Korea Japan 2001 Third place 3/8 5 3 0 2 4 2
France 2003 Did not qualify
Germany 2005 Group stage 8/8 3 0 0 3 5 10
South Africa 2009 Did not qualify
Brazil 2013
Russia 2017 Group stage 6/8 3 0 2 1 4 5
Total 0 titles 4/10 16 5 3 8 17 25

7.3. AFC Asian Cup

 

Australia's AFC Asian Cup record AFC Asian Cup qualification
Host nation(s) and year Round Pos Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1956-2004 Not AFC member  
Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Vietnam 2007 Quarter-finals 7/16 4 1 2 1 7 5 4 3 0 1 7 3
Qatar 2011 Runners-up 2/16 6 4 1 1 13 2 6 3 2 1 6 4
Australia 2015 Champions 1/16 6 5 0 1 14 3 Qualified as hosts
United Arab Emirates 2019 Quarter-finals 7/24 5 2 1 2 6 4 8 7 0 1 29 4
2023 Qualified 8 8 0 0 28 2
Total 1 title 5/18 21 12 4 5 40 14 26 21 2 3 70 13

7.4. Summer Olympics

 

Australia's Summer Olympics record Summer Olympics qualification
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA GP W D L GS GA
1908–1952 Did not participate  
Australia 1956 Quarter-finals 5th 2 1 0 1 4 4
Italy 1960 Withdrew
Japan 1964 Did not enter
Mexico 1968
West Germany 1972
Canada 1976
Soviet Union 1980
United States 1984
South Korea 1988 Quarter-finals 7th 4 2 0 2 2 6
1992–present See Australia national under-23 team  
Total 0 titles 2/17 6 3 0 3 6 10

7.5. OFC Nations Cup

 

Australia's OFC Nations Cup record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA
New Zealand 1973 Did not participate
New Caledonia 1980 Champions 1/8 4 4 0 0 24 4
1996 Champions 1/4 4 3 1 0 14 0
Australia 1998 Runners-up 2/6 4 3 0 1 23 3
French Polynesia 2000 Champions 1/6 4 4 0 0 26 0
New Zealand 2002 Runners-up 2/8 5 4 0 1 23 2
Australia 2004 Champions 1/6 7 6 1 0 32 4
2008 and onwards Not OFC member
Total 4 titles 6/10 28 24 2 2 142 13

7.6. AFF Championship

After joining the AFF in 2013 Australia has not participated in this event.

 

7.7. Minor tournaments

Year Position GP W D L GF GA
South Vietnam 1967 South Vietnam Independence Cup 1st 5 5 0 0 15 6
Singapore 1982 Merlion Cup 1st 4 4 0 0 14 2
Australia New Zealand 1983 Trans-Tasman Trophy 2nd 2 0 0 2 1 4
Singapore 1983 Merlion Cup 1st 4 3 0 1 10 5
China 1984 China–Australia Ampol Cup 2nd 1 0 0 1 2 3
China 1985 China–Australia Ampol Cup 1st 1 1 0 0 3 0
Australia New Zealand 1986 Trans-Tasman Trophy 1st 2 1 1 0 3 2
China 1986 China–Australia Ampol Cup 1st 1 1 0 0 2 0
South Korea 1987 President's Cup 2nd 3 2 1 0 2 1
Australia New Zealand1987 Trans-Tasman Trophy 2nd 2 0 1 1 1 2
Australia 1988 Australia Bicentenary Gold Cup 2nd 4 2 0 2 7 4
Australia New Zealand 1988 Trans-Tasman Trophy 1st 2 2 0 0 4 1
Indonesia 1990 Independence Cup 1st 1 1 0 0 3 0
Australia New Zealand 1991 Trans-Tasman Trophy 1st 2 2 0 0 3 1
South Korea 1991 President's Cup 2nd 1 0 1 0 0 0
Indonesia 1992 Independence Cup 3rd 2 1 0 1 3 1
Japan 1994 Kirin Cup 2nd 2 0 1 1 1 2
Australia New Zealand 1995 Trans-Tasman Trophy 1st 2 1 1 0 3 0
South Africa 1996 Simba Cup 2nd 3 2 0 1 6 2
Chile 2000 Copa Ciudad de Valparaíso 4th 3 0 2 1 2 3
United Arab Emirates 2000 LG Cup (UAE) 3rd 2 1 0 1 3 4
Japan 2001 AFC–OFC Challenge Cup 2nd 1 0 0 1 0 3
Total 10 titles 50 30 8 12 90 46

8. All-time record

The following lists show that Australia the men's soccer national team's records against all time against rival nations. The data is compiled from FIFA World Cup, FIFA Confederations Cup, OFC Nations Cup, AFC Asian Cup and Summer Olympics matches, as along with many international friendly tournaments and matches.

Australia's FIFA world rankings
Rank Year Games
Played
Best Worst
Rank Move Rank Move
35 2021 10 32 6 41 -2
41 2020 0 41 1 42 -1
42 2019 10 41 2 46 -3
41 2018 11 32 4 43 -7
38 2017 13 38 7 55 -10
47 2016 10 40 17 68 -9
57 2015 14 57 37 100 -2
100 2014 11 53 4 102 -14
58 2013 12 36 7 59 -7
36 2012 13 20 2 36 -9
23 2011 17 19 5 26 -2
26 2010 13 19 4 26 -6
21 2009 12 14 13 32 -10
28 2008 13 28 10 48 -5
48 2007 10 39 4 52 -6
39 2006 13 33 9 48 -4
48 2005 12 48 9 60 -4
58 2004 12 49 40 89 -9
82 2003 3 45 6 82 -13
50 2002 4 43 4 50 -3
48 2001 16 46 18 77 -5
73 2000 15 63 29 92 -6
89 1999 0 50   89 -11
39 1998 9 32 3 39 -6
35 1997 19 31 17 36 -4
50 1996 12 48 9 61 -9
51 1995 9 47 11 58 -8
58 1994 6 44 2 58 -6
49 1993 10 49 12 65 -13

9. Honours

Major:

  • FIFA Confederations Cup
    • Runners-up: 1997
    • Third place: 2001
  • AFC Asian Cup
    • Winners: 2015
    • Runners-up: 2011
  • OFC Nations Cup
    • Winners: 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004
    • Runners-up: 1998, 2002

Other:

  • AFC Men's Team of the Year: 2006, 2015

Invitational Tournaments:

  • South Vietnam 1967 South Vietnam Independence Cup – Winners
  • Australia 1988 Australia Bicentenary Gold Cup – Runners-up

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