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When Tony Popovic finally gathered his maiden Socceroos squad, the new coach outlined a range of standards. The majority were clear and to the point – suitable considering the upheaval around his sudden arrival, after Graham Arnold’s resignation, and with under three weeks to get ready for crucial 2026 World Cup fixtures against China and Japan.

Popovic asserted that any player who aimed to pull on a Socceroos shirt would need to adopt an “premier” attitude to secure, or maintain that distinction. But there was a further theme. Not so much an order and more an evocation – and one that has been cast sharper into focus with each step taken on the journey towards the World Cup in North America.

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

Just over a year on from that team talk in an Adelaide hotel, many of other things have evolved, even if Popovic’s goals are the same. The coach, for one, looks truly comfortable as Socceroos manager. The 52-year-old’s image for discipline differs greatly with the expansive and at times jovial figure speaking freely for over an hour in what have become periodic interviews with football media. Similarly have the fortunes of his team progressed, with thoughts of a defeat to Bahrain and draw with Indonesia seeming fairly distant after successes over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June secured the Socceroos’ place in next year’s worldwide tournament.

Those wins came as part of an 11-game winning streak under Popovic, one that was only ended away by the United States earlier this month. It’s form that has taken the Socceroos to the unexpected precipice of crashing pot two in the World Cup draw. The results of November friendlies against Venezuela, at the moment placed 50th in the world, and 13th-ranked Colombia – as well as Ecuador’s games against Canada and New Zealand, and the last games of European qualifying – loom large in this respect.

While Popovic acknowledges that he started in the job assuming to only be able to depend on a key players of players, he now feels the pool he can trust has grown. This doesn't only come through the breakthrough of young players such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as authentic international players. There are also the examples of Miloš Degenek’s comeback from the sidelines and Paul Izzo’s growth into a bona fide Socceroos keeper with the ability to challenge Maty Ryan.

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

This unforeseen rise of talent, and the transformation in thinking it has brought about in Popovic, has created opportunities for players on the fringes of the squad. Even those not yet regarded within those group can remain optimistic that, by June next year, they could be on the plane. 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 steadily, then the coach is making clear they’re highly likely of being part of his plans.

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

But this expansion, in a way, leads back to Popovic’s first talk as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to exceed expectations him, to do something outstanding and rise above the expectations others have for them, he wants his team to have the same philosophy.

“Saying I want to do something exceptional is just ‘we don’t want to have restrictions’,” Popovic says. “We don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves into ‘let’s be competitors at the World Cup, and let’s go home and pat each other on the back for being there’.

“I emphasize 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 observing and cheering something special from the Socceroos? Why should we have boundaries? Why not do it now?”