Impatient Popovic confident Australia can make history against Egypt
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Australia Press Conference – Dallas Stadium, Arlington, Texas, U.S. – July 2, 2026 Australia coach Tony Popovic and Australia’s Aiden O’Neill during the press conference REUTERS/Issei Kato
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DALLAS, July 2 : Tony Popovic wants his Australia team to deliver the nation’s first-ever win in the knockout rounds of a World Cup against Egypt in Dallas on Friday rather than putting faith in his young squad to deliver success in the future.
The Australians have progressed through the opening phase for the second World Cup in a row with Popovic leaning heavily on the younger members of his squad as the team emerged from a group featuring the United States, Turkey and Paraguay.
“We believe the future is bright, of course, and there are many young players that aren’t here at this stage that will be in the future as well,” said Popovic.
“But I’ve maintained all along that we wanted to deliver now, with this group. We believe that they’re good enough to deliver now.
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“We’ve shown that already by getting through the group, a very difficult group. And we’ve done that through the quality that these boys have.
“Tomorrow is another opportunity to not think about the future but to think about now, the present. And I’m sure these boys will deliver once more a very good performance tomorrow.”
Popovic has often gone for youth over experience, with 21-year-old goalkeeper Patrick Beach preferred ahead of Maty Ryan while Alessandro Circati, Jordan Bos, Mo Toure and Nestory Irankunda are among other youngsters to have featured.
Twice previously Australia have played in the knockout rounds they have been beaten by the eventual champions, losing to Italy in 2006 as well as Argentina in Qatar four years ago.
“We know how big this game is and I think all the players are ready to deliver,” Popovic said.
“We have to really stay in the moment. The history gets made after the game, so we have to do our part during the match, whether that’s 90 minutes, extra time or penalties, to create that history.
“I’m expecting the game to be even more difficult than we’ve had so far because it’s a knockout game and respect to Egypt as well. But I also feel that we can play better and tomorrow is a chance to do that.”
The Australians go into the game without Mathew Leckie and Jacob Italiano, who left the squad due to injury earlier in the tournament, while Egypt have doubts over Mohamed Salah’s availability due to a hamstring strain.
“We have prepared for Mohamed Salah playing,” said Popovic. “We’ve seen when he’s not on the pitch the players that are in those positions where he may play. So we’ve prepared for both scenarios and we’ll see tomorrow.”
Source: Reuters
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