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Australia World Cup 2018 profile: Ones to watch, best bets and more
Get fully up to date on the Australia squad including their star men, ones to watch and a best bet for their World Cup campaign.
Australia Factfile
- FIFA World Ranking: 40
- Sky Bet outright winner odds: 750/1
- Best Bet: Australia to score over 2.5 goals at 11/10
- World Cup appearances: 4
- Best World Cup finish: Round of 16 (2006)
- Nickname: The Socceroos
Coach - Bert van Marwijk: The Dutchman led his native Netherlands to the World Cup final in 2010, where they famously tried to kick Spain off the park in South Africa. It remains to be seen how he will set his team up at this World Cup as he took over only after Australia had already qualified - van Marwijk actually achieved qualification for Russia with Saudi Arabia.
Legend - Craig Johnston: 'Skippy' may be an odd choice given he never represented his country at international level but as his nickname suggests he represented Australian football at the very highest level when playing in the all-conquering Liverpool side in the early 1980s. Johnston won nine major honours including five league titles and the European Cup - while he also invented Predator football boots for good measure.
Star Man - Tim Cahill: Would probably go down as the country's legend were he not still playing, so he gets star man status. A goalscorer supreme for the Aussies, he's got almost half their goals in World Cup finals.
Did you know? Australia's Archibald Thompson holds the scoring record for most goals in an international match after netting a quadruple hat-trick (13 goals) in a 31-0 victory over American Samoa in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup.
Fun Fact: Cahill has scored five of Australia's 11 World Cup goals, that puts him level with Lionel Messi despite playing six fewer games.
Qualifying: It is always a long, tough road for the Aussies given the nature of the qualifying system, and they needed that man Cahill to bail them out with an extra-time winner against Syria before clinching their spot with a play-off win over Honduras.
Group C fixtures: France (11am, June 16, Kazan), Denmark (1pm, June 21, Samara), Peru (3pm, June 26, Sochi)
Australia squad
Goalkeepers: Brad Jones (Feyenoord), Mat Ryan (Brighton), Danny Vukovic (Genk).
Defenders: Aziz Behich (Bursaspor), Milos Degenek (Yokohama F. Marinos), Matthew Jurman (Suwon Samsung Blue Wings), James Meredith (Millwall), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney), Trent Sainsbury (Grasshopper Zurich).
Midfielders: Jackson Irvine (Hull City), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa), Robbie Kruse (VfL Bochum), Massimo Luongo (QPR), Mark Milligan (Al-Ahli), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield), Tom Rogic (Celtic), Tim Cahill (Millwall).
Forwards: Daniel Arzani (Melbourne City), Tomi Juric (Luzern), Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin), Andrew Nabbout (Urawa Red Diamonds), Dimitri Petratos (Newcastle Jets), Jamie Maclaren (Hibernian).
Australia Profile
They may have made just four previous appearances at the World Cup, but Australia are back for their fourth consecutive appearance on the world stage.
Bert van Marwijk will be leading the Socceroos in Russia. The 65-year-old has a wealth of experience, most notably leading the Netherlands to the final back in 2010 where they lost to Spain.
He took over in January following Ange Postecoglou’s resignation. Prior to Australia, he led Saudi Arabia to qualification, ending their 12-year absence from the World Cup.
Australia will line-up in Group C alongside Denmark, France and Peru and find themselves as the big outsiders.
They are 14/1 to win the group, with 7/2 available on them to qualify for the knockout stages.
Australia face an uphill task, but they can take confidence under Van Marwijk’s leadership given his recent track record.
Who to watch out for
Despite their long odds, Australia have a squad filled with some recognisable faces.
Huddersfield's Aaron Mooy could prove to be key, while Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan will be involved, as will the likes of Massimo Luongo, Jackson Irvine and Mile Jedinak, all currently featuring in the Sky Bet Championship.
Tim Cahill could be a part of Australia’s squad and is one of the most famous players within it.
The 38-year-old has scored 50 goals in 103 appearances for his country, and will be hoping for one more World Cup before retirement.
Tom Rogic has enjoyed a great season with Scottish champions Celtic and is set to be a part of Australia’s midfield.
How did they qualify?
Australia had an incredibly tough task to reach the World Cup finals in Russia.
Featuring in the Asian Football Confederation, they started off in the second round of qualification, lining up in a group with Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajkistan, Bangladesh which they won with relative ease.
The third round saw them finish third in their group, behind Japan and Saudi Arabia which sent them through to the fourth round play-offs.
They beat Syria 3-2 on aggregate which saw them advance to the inter-confederation play-off against Honduras from the CONCACAF region.
Australia won 3-1 in the second leg which wrapped up victory and a spot in Russia, but they had to wait until November 15, 2017 to secure their place.
What will I hear when they play?
You've heard it at the rugby, you've heard it at Wimbledon when Lleyton Hewitt plays, and the old favourite of "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!'' is still the go-to chant for any Australian sports fans.
Any interesting facts about Australia?
Due to climate and land, 85% of Australians live within 50 km of the coast.
It’s fair to say that Australia is a fairly big country. In fact, it is as wide as the distance between London and Moscow.
The land size is also highlighted by the fact that there are three times as many sheep as there are people living in Australia.
There is a variety of wildlife within Australia and the kangaroo and emu were chosen to be the two animals on the Coat of Arms because they cannot walk backwards, with the aim of reflecting a forward-thinking society.
Any famous football moments?
They have not featured a great deal at the World Cup but Australia still have their fair share of famous football moments.
One of the most well-known came back in 2001, when they beat American Samoa 31-0 in a qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup.
Archibald Thompson had a game he’ll never forget, securing a quadruple hat-trick with 13 goals. Thompson still holds the scoring record for most goals in an international match.
Remarkably, Australia didn’t qualify for the tournament in the end, losing in the intercontinental play-off against Uruguay.
Still, they finished their group campaign with a healthy +66 goal difference, managing not to concede in any of their four matches.