Australia national football team players: the 26 Popovic picked for Brazil, and the seven yet to play
Tony Popovic has left out Mathew Ryan and called up seven uncapped players for Australia’s two friendlies against Brazil. Here is the full Socceroos squad with caps, goals and clubs.
Sep 23, 2026
Tony Popovic has named 26 Australia national football team players for two friendlies against Brazil, and seven of them have never played for the Socceroos. It is his first squad since Australia went out of the 2026 World Cup on penalties to Egypt, and he has made ten changes to the group that went to North America. The biggest of them is the omission of the captain, Mathew Ryan.
The two games are in Queensland: Townsville on Friday 25 September and Brisbane on Tuesday 29 September, both at 8pm local time (3.30pm IST). Below is the full squad by position with caps and goals, the players who have dropped out, and what the selection says about where Australia are heading before the Asian Cup in January.
Australia squad for the Brazil friendlies
Caps and goals are correct as of 18 September 2026, the day the squad was announced.
Goalkeepers
| Player | Club | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Beach | Troyes (France) | 6 | 0 |
| Paul Izzo | Randers (Denmark) | 4 | 0 |
| Jacob Chapman | St Mirren (Scotland) | 0 | 0 |
Defenders
| Player | Club | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aziz Behich | Melbourne City (Australia) | 87 | 3 |
| Miloš Degenek | APOEL (Cyprus) | 57 | 1 |
| Harry Souttar | Leicester City (England) | 42 | 11 |
| Alessandro Circati | Benfica (Portugal) | 17 | 1 |
| Jason Geria | Albirex Niigata (Japan) | 16 | 0 |
| Jacob Italiano | Grazer AK (Austria) | 7 | 0 |
| Lucas Herrington | Hull City (England) | 6 | 0 |
| Kealey Adamson | QPR (England) | 0 | 0 |
| Kasey Bos | Excelsior (Netherlands) | 0 | 0 |
| Dylan Leonard | Alemannia Aachen (Germany) | 0 | 0 |
Midfielders
| Player | Club | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Irvine | Cerezo Osaka (Japan) | 86 | 14 |
| Connor Metcalfe | St Pauli (Germany) | 40 | 2 |
| Riley McGree | Middlesbrough (England) | 35 | 1 |
| Aiden O’Neill | New York City FC (USA) | 35 | 0 |
| Paul Okon-Engstler | FC Köln (Germany) | 10 | 0 |
| Patrick Yazbek | Nashville SC (USA) | 9 | 0 |
| Alexander Robertson | Cardiff City (Wales) | 3 | 0 |
Forwards
| Player | Club | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nestory Irankunda | Sporting CP (Portugal) | 19 | 6 |
| Mohamed Touré | Norwich City (England) | 13 | 2 |
| Tete Yengi | Machida Zelvia (Japan) | 3 | 1 |
| Eli Adams | Gamba Osaka (Japan) | 0 | 0 |
| Yaya Dukuly | Celje (Slovenia) | 0 | 0 |
| Marcus Younis | Brøndby (Denmark) | 0 | 0 |
The seven who have never played
Goalkeeper Jacob Chapman, defenders Kealey Adamson, Kasey Bos and Dylan Leonard, and forwards Eli Adams, Yaya Dukuly and Marcus Younis are all uncapped. Five of them are first-time call-ups; Bos and Leonard have been in camp before without getting on the pitch. Add Alexander Robertson and Tete Yengi, on three caps each, and nine of the 26 have played three senior internationals or fewer.
Some of them are very young. Leonard and Lucas Herrington are both 19, and Herrington already has six caps. At the other end, Aziz Behich turns up at 35. The squad’s average age is 25.9.
Chapman is the one with a story behind him. He is Sydney-born, came through Sydney United 58 and Marconi Stallions in the New South Wales NPL, and left for Huddersfield Town in 2019. He has earned the call-up by playing regularly for St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.
Who has been left out
Ten players who went to the World Cup are not in this squad, and between them they hold 350 caps and 35 goals.
| Player | Position | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathew Ryan | GK | 105 | 0 |
| Mathew Leckie | FW | 82 | 14 |
| Ajdin Hrustic | MF | 39 | 4 |
| Awer Mabil | FW | 39 | 10 |
| Jordan Bos | DF | 31 | 4 |
| Cameron Burgess | DF | 29 | 0 |
| Nishan Velupillay | FW | 9 | 3 |
| Kai Trewin | DF | 7 | 0 |
| Cameron Devlin | MF | 5 | 0 |
| Cristian Volpato | FW | 4 | 0 |
Ryan is the headline. He is the third most-capped player in Australia’s history, behind Mark Schwarzer on 109 and Tim Cahill on 108, and his 105 caps are more than ten times what the three goalkeepers in this squad have between them. But he lost his place during the World Cup to Patrick Beach and appeared only when Popovic sent him on for the shootout against Egypt. On that evidence, Beach is now the first choice.
Where the experience and the goals are
The whole squad has 495 caps. Three players account for 230 of them: Behich (87), Jackson Irvine (86) and Miloš Degenek (57), the only three past 50. Behich is level with Alex Tobin in sixth on the all-time list, so one appearance against Brazil takes him clear of Tobin. Irvine is eighth.
The goals are even thinner. The 26 have scored 42 international goals between them. Tim Cahill scored 50 on his own. Irvine has 14, and the second-highest scorer in the squad is a centre-back: Harry Souttar has 11 from 42 games. Nestory Irankunda, still only 20, is next on six. Nobody else has more than three.
Only one player, Behich, plays his club football in Australia. The other 25 are spread across 13 countries, with five in England and four in Japan.
How Australia’s World Cup ended
| Date | Match | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 13 June | Australia v Turkey | Won 2-0 |
| 19 June | USA v Australia | Lost 2-0 |
| 25 June | Paraguay v Australia | Drew 0-0 |
| 3 July | Australia v Egypt (round of 32) | 1-1, lost 4-2 on penalties |
Australia opened Group D by beating Turkey 2-0 in Vancouver, with Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe scoring. They did enough after that to reach the knockout rounds for the third time, then drew 1-1 with Egypt, equalising through an own goal, and lost the shootout 4-2. Souttar missed the first penalty. Egypt went through to the last 16 for the first time in their history.
We have profiled three of those opponents: the Turkey squad, the Paraguay squad and the Egypt squad.
Brazil, then the Asian Cup
Australia have beaten Brazil once, 1-0 in the third-place play-off at the 2001 Confederations Cup in Ulsan, through a late Shaun Murphy goal. For the players Brazil can call on, see our Brazil squad page. These two friendlies are also the Socceroos’ only home games before a very different kind of test.
The Asian Cup runs in Saudi Arabia from 7 January to 5 February 2027. Australia are in Group D with Singapore (9 January), Iraq (14 January) and Tajikistan (19 January). Seven uncapped players and no Ryan is a bold selection for a squad just over three months from a tournament, but these are the last games where Popovic can look at new faces without anything riding on the result. Expect several of the seven to get minutes across the two nights.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Australia’s football coach? Tony Popovic, who took over from Graham Arnold in September 2024 during World Cup qualifying.
Who is the most capped Australia player? Mark Schwarzer, with 109. Tim Cahill has 108 and Mathew Ryan 105.
Who is Australia’s top scorer? Tim Cahill, with 50 goals in 108 games.
When do Australia play Brazil? Friday 25 September 2026 in Townsville and Tuesday 29 September in Brisbane, both at 8pm local time.