Socceroos coach Graham Arnold believes a smooth path to the FIFA World Cup awaits Australia
The Socceroos will enter the Asian Football Confederation’s third-round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers full of confidence.
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Socceroos coach Graham Arnold is confident Australia’s journey to the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be far less rocky than the path to the previous edition of the tournament due to his squad’s greater depth.
The Australians start the AFC third round of World Cup qualifiers in September, with 18 nations to be split in three groups of six who will play each other twice, home and away.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the World Cup.
It’s a direct path to the tournament – being held in the US, Canada and Mexico – that Arnold wants his team to achieve rather than needing a second, and possibly third, chance to qualify via another group stage or playoffs.
The Socceroos were forced to qualify for the 2022 World Cup through the intercontinental playoffs when the Asian Football Confederation was restricted to a maximum of five nations participating in the tournament.
With the World Cup expanding to 48 teams in 2026, at least eight, and possibly nine, AFC nations will qualify.
And while that suggests the Socceroos should comfortably reach the World Cup for a sixth successive time, Arnold will take nothing for granted and insist that Australia is one of the six teams to qualify from the third-round group stage.
“Last time, I know people look at it that it was a very hard qualifying phase for us, but I was having to build depth while I was trying to win World Cup qualifiers, but now I think that’s done,” the national coach said.
“This time I won’t have to do (increase depth) during the World Cup qualifiers and run the risk of results.
“We’ve got at least 30-odd players that are capable and ready. We’ve got some depth in the squad.
“It’s looking good, so it’s important that the group of 30-35 people keep going and we qualify directly for the next World Cup (from the third-round of qualifiers).”
Arnold said the Socceroos were at the stage were there was next to nothing between his first and second-choice teams.
“Probably when I first started six years ago, if you put the starting 11 against the reserves it could have been 2-0 or 3-0 for the starting 11, whereas these days the starting 11 against the subs, it’s 0-0. It’s a tough game because we’ve got good depth,” he said.
“The depth side of it is crucial because if you get one or two injuries, three injuries, and you don’t have the depth, then you can’t replace the players.”
Arnold was also pleased that more Socceroos were set to play in top European leagues next season following the promotion of their clubs.
They include Cameron Burgess (Ipswich Town, English Premier League), Alessandro Circati (Parma. Italian Serie A) and Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe (both St. Pauli, German Bundesliga).
“Club is their job, the national team is the icing on the cake,” Arnold said.
“They get paid at club land and they’re working at club land every day, and if they’re doing well there then we get the benefits from it with the national team … and I truly believe that playing for the national team and getting the opportunity to play someone like Argentina, or England, that it doesn’t just build their skills, it builds their belief, and they believe they belong.”
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Originally published as Socceroos coach Graham Arnold believes a smooth path to the FIFA World Cup awaits Australia
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