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When Tony Popovic eventually assembled his maiden Socceroos squad, the recently appointed coach outlined a range of expectations. A lot were straightforward and direct – suitable given the disruption surrounding his sudden appointment, after Graham Arnold’s resignation, and with less than three weeks to make arrangements for vital 2026 World Cup fixtures against China and Japan.

Popovic insisted that any player who aspired to represent in a Socceroos shirt would need to embrace an “premier” attitude to earn, or continue to earn that honour. But there was an additional theme. Less a demand and more an evocation – and one that has been brought sharper into focus with every step taken on the road towards the World Cup in North America.

“My visions were to do something extraordinary, in my first talk to the players,” Popovic says. “That stays constant.”

Just over a year on from that team talk in an Adelaide hotel, plenty of other things have shifted, even if Popovic’s ambitions are the same. The coach, for one, looks really comfortable as Socceroos manager. The 52-year-old’s image for discipline stands in stark contrast with the expansive and at times cheerful figure speaking freely for over an hour in what have become semi-regular interviews with football media. Likewise have the performances of his team progressed, with recollections of a defeat to Bahrain and tie with Indonesia feeling rather remote after wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June booked the Socceroos’ berth in next year’s global tournament.

Those victories came as part of an 11-game winning streak under Popovic, one that was only broken away by the United States earlier this month. It’s form that has taken the Socceroos to the unexpected edge of breaking into pot two in the World Cup draw. The outcomes of November friendlies against Venezuela, currently placed 50th in the world, and 13th-ranked Colombia – as well as Ecuador’s games against Canada and New Zealand, and the final games of European qualifying – loom large in this regard.

Although Popovic concedes that he started in the job thinking to only be able to rely on a key players of players, he now thinks the selection he can trust has expanded. This is not only through the breakthrough of young players such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as real international players. There are also the cases of Miloš Degenek’s comeback from the sidelines and Paul Izzo’s blossoming into a true Socceroos keeper with the capability to challenge Maty Ryan.

“The squad has totally changed in my mind – of what’s attainable with players that have come in,” Popovic says. “I first thought, ‘OK, this is my group; I don’t truly have much beyond this. Just make it work and make them better.’ Now, I feel like there are 15, 20 players that have entered that, and I’m sure there are others to come that I trust can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This unexpected rise of talent, and the change in thinking it has brought about in Popovic, has paved the way for players on the fringes of the squad. Even those not yet considered amongst those ranks can hold out hope that, come June next year, they could be on the roster. A player like Adrian Segečić might be about to miss a month of playing due to an ankle injury, but if he – or any other player – continues to perform consistently, then the coach is stating plainly they’re highly likely of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a limit or a halt on that – to reveal in March that this is our squad, and there may be one or two more inclusions,” Popovic says. “No, I want every player to believe that they have an possibility. Why can’t there be one more player that comes in in June?”

But this expansion, in a way, returns us to Popovic’s initial speech as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to impress him, to do something special and go beyond the hopes others have for them, he wants his team to have the same attitude.

“Saying I want to do something special is just ‘we don’t want to have boundaries’,” Popovic says. “We don’t want to box ourselves into ‘let’s be participants at the World Cup, and let’s go home and congratulate ourselves for being there’.

“I repeat it to the group: one day, Australia will go very far in the World Cup. And why not this group? Why do we have to wait two or three World Cups, when I’m sitting back and cheering something exceptional from the Socceroos? Why should we have boundaries? Why not do it now?”