World Cup selection caps off meteoric rise for Shellharbour’s Socceroo Joel King

Four years ago Joel King hadn’t even made his professional football debut. Now the Shellharbour junior is packing his bags for the World Cup with the Socceroos.

Shellharbour junior Joel King has continued his remarkable rise by being named in the Socceroos squad for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The 22-year-old left-back, who has four caps for the national team, was selected in Graham Arnold’s 26-man squad for the tournament, which kicks off on November 21.

He joins an illustrious group of Illawarra footballers who have represented Australia on the greatest stage, following in the footsteps of the likes of Scott Chipperfield, Mile Sterjovski and Luke Wilkshire.

Back home, the decision was met with plenty of excitement.

“We heard it at about 6:30 yesterday morning,” said Joel’s father, Bruce. “Joel rang from Denmark. I was sitting in a meeting, but we were waiting on this phone call.

“I just got up and left (the meeting), and then obviously came back with a big grin on my face. That’s how we found out. It was a Facetime call, so my wife was on there, so was my son and my daughter. All five of us were there.”

He added: “We probably prepared ourselves for the bad news, but when it came through with the good news, I’m telling you, we all had smiles on our faces.”

The news was also met with cheers at King’s youth club, Shellharbour Junior Football Club.

“I can’t say about a bad word about him,” says club president Yani Sekulovski, who’s known King since he was about six years old. “He’s one of the best, most humble kids that I’ve met – both on and off the park.”

King during his Socceroos debut against Vietnam in January. Photo: Mike Owen/Getty Images

King’s selection marks an incredible rise over the past few years.

Remarkably, the 22-year-old, who currently plays his club football with Danish outfit Odense Boldklub in the Danish Superliga, hadn’t even made his professional debut at the time of the last World Cup in 2018, and was turning out for Sydney FC’s youth team in the NSW NPL.

After making his A-League debut Sydney against the Newcastle Jets in April 2019, King then went on to become a first team regular.

In his first full season in the first team he was instrumental in Sydney winning the minor and major premiership double, starting in the 1-0 grand final victory over Melbourne City.

The following season, 2020-21, King was named the A-League Young Player and the Year, and then went on to represent Australia at the Tokyo Olympics.

King then became Socceroo #615 on January 27 this year in rather unique circumstances.

With first choice left-back Aziz Behich stranded in a snowstorm in Turkey, King was selected to start in Australia’s 4-0 win over Vietnam in Melbourne.

A young Joel King playing for the Shellharbour Junior Football Club. Photo: Supplied.

And while he knew his son was in the running for World Cup selection, Bruce King says the rise has been nothing short of remarkable.

“It’s crazy, it’s all happened very quickly over the past couple of years. We were over the moon when he went to the AIS in Canberra. But then when he got picked for Sydney FC, that was great,” he said.

“But now he’s going to the World Cup, it’s unbelievable.”

The 22-year-old won’t be the only King in Qatar for the tournament, with Joel’s parents taking the chance and booking tickets and accommodation in advance, just in case their son managed to make the squad.

“We really can’t wait,” says Bruce.