The selection calls that will make or break the Socceroos’ World Cup hopes

Defence

Last squad: Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess, Hayden Matthews, Jason Geria Milos Degenek, Kye Rowles, Jordan Bos, Aziz Behich, Lewis Miller, Rhyan Grant.

Problems galore. Alessandro Circati (ACL) is already down. Now Harry Souttar (knee) and Hayden Matthews (ankle) are out for the season, so at least two fresh centre-backs will need to come into this squad, while Thomas Deng is also a question mark and is yet to feature for his new club Yokohama F. Marinos. Assuming Popovic keeps the back three set-up, Cameron Burgess could shift into Souttar’s central position, with Kye Rowles on the left and Jason Geria on the right – so any new faces don’t have to be starters.

Hibernian’s Nectarios Triantis played in the A-League as a defender but is lighting up Scotland as a holding midfielder; more on him shortly. His teammate Jack Iredale is also in form and can provide cover as both a left-sided centre-back and left-back, which is another issue for Popovic, with the dynamic Jordan Bos sidelined with a hamstring injury. His absence means Aziz Behich is a certainty to start, probably both matches, but also could present a chance for Callum Elder to add to his single cap won in 2021, as he is a first-team fixture at left-back for Derby County in England’s Championship.

Other local options at centre-back include Melbourne City’s Kai Trewin and Adelaide United’s Panagiotis Kikianis, who is fresh off winning the Asian Cup with the Young Socceroos. It’s probably too early for Kikianis, but Matthews earned his first call-up off a similarly small body of work, so it wouldn’t be a massive shock. As for Central Coast’s Trent Sainsbury, his team’s terrible form has damaged his chances, while new Sydney FC signing Alex Grant is lacking miles in the legs.

Meanwhile, Lewis Miller – another Hibs player – leads the race for the right-sided fullback/wing-back position, although it is a shallow field. Fit-again Ryan Strain likely comes into the mix.

Midfield

Last squad: Jackson Irvine, Aiden O’Neill, Ajdin Hrustic, Max Balard, Anthony Caceres, Riley McGree, Patrick Yazbek.

Jackson Irvine is playing and captaining a Bundesliga team and is therefore a lock – or as close to a lock as there can be in the Popovic era. But who will start next to him as the other holding/central midfielder? Popovic has cycled through five different options in his four games at the helm so far, including some serious wildcards in Luke Brattan and Anthony Caceres, the latter being likely to keep his spot. But Aiden O’Neill, the captain of his Belgian club Standard Liege, is the only one to have started more than one game next to Irvine.

O’Neill is playing regularly, and well, at a good level. But so is Max Balard at NAC Breda, the so-called ‘Australian Kante’, who was picked but sat on the bench unused during the November window. And so is Nectar Triantis, as we mentioned earlier, albeit at a slightly lower level in Scotland. Both present compelling cases with their recent club form. Will Popovic give one of them a chance, stick with O’Neill, or do something completely different – like go for the standout midfielder in the A-League, Melbourne Victory’s Ryan Teague?

In terms of more attack-minded midfielders, there’s bad news: Riley McGree is injured and Ajdin Hrustic is a bit-part player at Salernitana, who are in a relegation battle in Serie B. But there’s also good news: Connor Metcalfe (FC St. Pauli) and Massimo Luongo (Ipswich Town) are both finally fit again, although neither has played very much of late.

Attack

Last squad: Mitchell Duke, Kusini Yengi, Craig Goodwin, Brandon Borrello, Martin Boyle, Nishan Vellupillay.

The big question here – as ever – is who will play at centre forward? Kusini Yengi injured himself in Australia’s last outing and has only just returned to action in the English Championship, so should be in the squad. Mitchell Duke’s season in Japan is only a few weeks old, and he is clearly out of favour, having featured only once off the bench in five games. Is this the moment when the Socceroos turn away from the hard-working 34-year-old? If so, that potentially opens the door for Noah Botic, the Western United striker who is leading the A-League’s golden boot race, and is proving the most consistent threat among the crop of youngsters emerging in this position at home.

Mohamed Toure, who scored a timely brace for his Danish club Randers FC on Tuesday (AEDT) morning, would be in the mix – but he, along with Sydney FC bench weapon Adrian Segecic, have been named in an under-23s national squad that will travel to Qatar for a friendly tournament during the March window, so they have presumably been overlooked.

As for the two inverted wingers that we presume Popovic will continue to play with, Craig Goodwin is a lock, and probably too Martin Boyle, who’s in good nick at Hibernian. But Nishan Vellupilay has gone off the boil at Melbourne Victory, and Brandon Borrello’s spot is vulnerable, and he risks being overtaken by someone like Western Sydney Wanderers teammate Nicolas Milanovic – or Nestory Irankunda, who was named February’s player of the month at Swiss club Grasshoppers, where Bayern Munich sent him on loan for the balance of this season. The 19-year-old has three assists from nine games and is pretty much the team’s most important attacking player already. Is he ready to deliver in crunch games for the Socceroos, though?

The other name to keep in mind is veteran Mathew Leckie, one of the heroes of Australia’s 2022 World Cup campaign. At 34, his best days are behind him, but he is fit and in good form for Melbourne City and could play a crucial role in a squad lacking top-end experience. He could also fill any role forward of the back four for the Socceroos – including up front, where he might prove most useful given the relative inexperience and fitness-related doubts over the other strikers available.