13 things you need to know about the Socceroos

From the striker who has embraced an unfortunate nickname, to a coach willing to take a risk - here’s what you need to know about the Socceroos.

Jason Cummings of the Socceroos prepares to kick a penalty with Mathew Leckie of the Socceroos.

The Socceroos squad isn’t filled with household names like Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill and Mark Viduka, but one day out from Australia’s World Cup opener here is what you need to know.

From the Scottish-born striker with an unfortunate nickname, to a coach willing to gamble in the big moments — brush up on your Socceroos knowledge before the game against France at 6am Wednesday (AEDT).

The players have taken a stand

When you arrive in Doha, it’s striking how many past and present players are in advertising to promote Qatar.

From Brazil star Neymar promoting SIM cards, to Portugal legend Luis Figo showing you how great Qatar is in a MasterCard ad, to David Beckham wanting to give you access to Qatar’s top attractions.

Which makes the Socceroos’ bold stand about human rights concerns in Qatar in the lead up to the World Cup even gutsier.

Concerned about human rights concerns in Qatar, such as the rights of foreign workers and the LGBTQI community, 16 players read lines from a collective statement in a video released last month.

It’s more than any other team competing in Qatar has done.

The Socceroos have taken a stance against Qatar's dismal human rights record.

Graham Arnold is a coach willing to take risks

The Socceroos coach isn’t afraid of the big calls - such as substituting captain Mat Ryan off in extra time in the playoff against Peru for goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne.

Redmayne - nicknamed the Grey Wiggle for his dance to put the Peru penalty takers off - became the hero saving the penalty that sent Australia to Qatar.

Arnold was assistant coach under Dutch legend Guus Hiddink in the 2006 World Cup, who was never afraid to make a bold play. And neither is Arnold.

Not convinced? He also overlooked his son-in-law Trent Sainsbury - who played the majority of the qualifiers - for the final squad because he hasn’t played enough lately.

Should make for a fun Christmas lunch…

Andrew Redmayne of Australia saves the winning the penalty to send Australia to Qatar.

Australia has a good record in Qatar

The Socceroos will be one of the best prepared for the conditions in Qatar. Both of the playoff wins against the UAE and Peru were in Qatar. And with Covid-19 stopping the Socceroos from playing at home for much of the qualifiers, they beat China and Oman in Doha.

While the European teams may struggle to get used to the hot conditions, even with airconditioned stadiums, that won’t be an issue for the Socceroos.

Training base advantage

Also helping the Socceroos is being based at the Aspire Academy. The only other team based there is Qatar, and as Arnold has said, if it’s good enough for the host nation it must be a good location.

While other teams have to travel between their accommodation and training base, it’s all in one spot for the Socceroos.

We can thank Cahill for that. The Socceroos legend is now a football director at the Qatari Aspire Academy and helped secure it for Australia.

A long winless streak

Not helping Australia’s chances is a World Cup finals winless streak going back to 2010.

That was a 2-1 win against Serbia, but since then Australia has been to two World Cups for five losses and one draw. The second group match against Tunisia is the best chance to break that streak.

Lack of goals

But a lack of goals could be the big problem for the Socceroos. The national team has never really been able to replace the goals Cahill scored so regularly in the big moments.

Scotland-based winger Martin Boyle withdrawing with injury this week hasn’t helped, because he was one of the few to really provide a spark.

A lot of weight is on the shoulders of Jamie Maclaren, who scores regularly in the A-League with Melbourne City, and Mitch Duke, who embodies the never say die attitude of the Socceroos but hasn’t scored many goals.

A case of deja vu

If you think the teams in our group look a little familiar, you’re right.

Four years ago our group also included France - who went on to win the World Cup - and Denmark.

The Socceroos managed respectful results against both - a 2-1 loss to France and a 1-1 draw with Denmark.

Rounding out the group this year is African side Tunisia.

Denmark is a stronger team than four years ago after making the semi-finals of the Euros last year.

The Danes also provide one of the best stories of the World Cup, with the return of key playmaker Christian Eriksen.

He collapsed in the Euros group match against Finland after a cardiac arrest. At the time there were fears he wouldn’t even survive, let alone play again.

The French curse could continue

Facing the reigning world champions doesn’t sound like an easy start for the Socceroos, but consider this…

France came into the 2002 World Cup as champions and lost the opening game against Senegal and crashed out in the group stage.

In 2010, they came into the World Cup after making the final four years earlier and infighting saw the team implode and eliminated early.

Good World Cup, followed by a bad one. Will history repeat a third time?

How many Aussies have travelled to Qatar

No one loves a big sporting event more than Australians, but the numbers in Qatar aren’t quite at the levels we’ve seen more.

There have been 26,000 tickets sold to 10,000 Australians, which is well below what we’ve seen in previous World Cups.

About 2000 of those Australians are also expats based in Qatar.

Thomas Deng, Garang Kuol and Awer Mabil were all born in Africa, before migrating to Australia.

A team for all Australians

The Socceroos has always been a team that truly represents multicultural Australia, and the 2022 squad is no different.

Nine of the 26 players selected were born overseas, including Awer Mabil, Thomas Deng and Garang Kuol, who were all born in Africa.

Kuol, who has signed for English giants Newcastle United, is the one to watch this World Cup.

“Australia is probably the best country in the world at being multicultural,” Mabil said.

Lack of minutes for key players

One major concern for the Socceroos is how many players come into the World Cup without much football under their belts for their club sides.

Stoke City defender Harry Souttar is a key in defence for Australia, but is only just coming back from an ACL injury that put him out for 12 months.

His defensive partner Kye Rowles impressed in the playoffs, but has also struggled for minutes in Scotland ahead of Qatar.

Captain Mat Ryan in goals also isn’t playing regularly in Denmark.

Jason Cummings is happy to be known as the Cum-Dog.

Meet the Cumdog

One player with plenty of minutes under his belt, is Scotland-born Jason Cummings.

He represented Scotland before switching his allegiance to Australia, and has embraced a nickname many others would want to avoid.

“I got that nickname, it was my wrestling nickname,” Cummings recently said.

“I wrestled some guy called Grado, he was a wrestler in Scotland, and he came in when I was at Hibs.

“He came in and he was giving it the big one so I chucked on the spandex, put ‘Cumdog’ on the chest and I battered him.

“The rest was history. Everyone’s called me Cumdog since then but now I’m in Australia, everyone is calling me the Cumdingo. So the Cumdog or Cumdingo, no problem.”

The Socceroos are now World Cup regulars

For fans who endured the heartbreaking qualifying losses before finally breaking the 32-year drought in 2006, it’s hard to believe the Socceroos are now at a fifth straight finals.

And with the tournament being expanded to 48 teams from 2026, there is no reason why Australia shouldn’t make it every four years from now on.