Goalkeeper Mathew Ryan will captain the side in Qatar at what will be his third FIFA World Cup, with Mathew Leckie the other player in the squad selected to represent Australia at a FIFA World Cup for the third time.
This year’s tournament will be the second FIFA World Cup for Aziz Behich, Milos Degenek, Jackson Irvine, Jamie MacLaren, Aaron Mooy and Bailey Wright, with seventeen players selected in a FIFA World Cup squad for the first time.
Head Coach Graham Arnold said the Socceroos go to Qatar full of pride and belief after a challenging four years.
“It’s been a unique and difficult qualification campaign and we now arrive in Qatar with an exciting squad which will do everything to make Australia proud on the world stage,” Arnold said.
“Over the past four years, 32 players have made their debut for the national team. I want to thank every player who has helped the team over this journey. We have called upon 68 players during the qualifying campaign and every one of them has played a part in getting us here.”
“The make-up of our team reflects Australia’s multicultural landscape. Our boys come from all over the world, they all have different journeys, but we are united by one jersey,” Arnold expressed.
After securing qualification for the fifth consecutive FIFA World Cup, sixth appearance in total, the Socceroos will be looking to progress through the group stages for the first time since 2006.
The squad features nine members of the Tokyo 2020 Olyroos’ squad in Nathaniel Atkinson, Keanu Baccus, Thomas Deng, Cameron Devlin, Joel King, Riley McGree, Kye Rowles, Harry Souttar and Mitchell Duke as the overage player.
“We have worked hard to give younger players an opportunity over the campaign, to expose them to international football, to test them against the best and I’m thrilled with the development and maturity of this group who now get a chance on the biggest stage possible,” Arnold said.
The Socceroos kick off their FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ campaign against defending champions France at Al Janoub Stadium on Tuesday, 22 November at 10.00pm local / Wednesday, 23 November 6:00am AEDT.
Goalkeepers: Mathew RYAN, Danny VUKOVIC, Andrew REDMAYNE.
Defenders: Harry SOUTTAR, Bailey WRIGHT, Kye ROWLES, Joel KING, Fran KARACIC, Thomas DENG, Milos DEGENEK, Aziz BEHICH, Nathaniel ATKINSON.
Midfielders: Aaron MOOY, Riley MCGREE, Cameron DEVLIN, Jackson IRVINE, Ajdin HRUSTIC, Keanu BACCUS.
Forwards: Jamie MACLAREN, Awer MABIL, Mathew LECKIE, Garang KUOL, Craig GOODWIN, Mitchell DUKE, Jason CUMMINGS, Martin BOYLE.