Graham Arnold has resigned as Socceroos coach, leaving Football Australia in a scramble to find a replacement ahead of next month’s crucial World Cup qualifiers.
Arnold had been under immense pressure since Australia’s 1-0 defeat to Bahrain on the Gold Coast and the 0-0 draw in Indonesia earlier this month, which has put the team’s chances of direct qualification for the 2026 tournament in peril.
He met with FA bosses earlier this week and chose to step aside for the good of the Socceroos, sources speaking under the condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak publicly have told this masthead.
Australia is currently fifth in Group C in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and meet bottom-placed China and top-placed Japan next month. Only the top two teams in the group will qualify directly, while the teams in third and fourth still have a chance of making it via the fifth round of qualifiers and beyond.
The loss to Bahrain was only the second time since 1981 that the Socceroos have suffered defeat in a World Cup qualifier on home soil, and in that match and the one played in Jakarta, Arnold’s side struggled to create meaningful chances in the face of defensively-minded opposition – a recurring problem during his reign.
He said after the draw with Indonesia that he had to go away and “think about things”, but few expected him to quit on his own accord.
Graham Arnold deals with more dejection against Indonesia from the dugout in Jakarta.Credit: Getty Images
Arnold will go down as one of the most successful coaches in Australian history, having guided the Socceroos to their best-ever World Cup campaign at Qatar 2022, beating Tunisia and Denmark and testing eventual champions Argentina in the round of 16.
However, the remainder of his tenure has been a struggle, having failed twice to steer the Socceroos past the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup. The qualification process for Qatar almost saw him lose his job, with Australia only getting there after Arnold’s bold gambit to send in the unheralded Andrew Redmayne as goalkeeper for their penalty shootout against Peru.
While sources have said “alarm bells” had been ringing at FA after the previous international window, chief executive James Johnson publicly backed Arnold and refused to provide an answer when this masthead pressed him on whether he would survive if the Socceroos’ results continued to nosedive.
With their clash with China at Adelaide Oval less than three weeks away, FA has to act quickly, Already on the search for a full-time replacement for Tony Gustavsson as Matildas coach, they must now find someone to take the reins of the Socceroos.
More to come …
