{"id":3944,"date":"2026-06-16T08:04:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944"},"modified":"2026-06-16T08:04:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:04:57","slug":"twenty-years-after-playing-in-the-world-cup-for-australia-popovic-is-now-guiding-the-socceroos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944","title":{"rendered":"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Australia\u2019s head coach Tony Popovic answers a question during a press conference, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Vancouver, British Columbia, ahead of the team\u2019s World Cup soccer match against Turkey. (AP Photo\/Abbie Parr)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

VANCOUVER, British Columbia \u2014 Maybe when Australia\u2019s World Cup<\/a> journey is over, Tony Popovic can reflect on his legacy with the Socceroos.<\/p>

Read more Fit to be tied: The big upsets at the World Cup so far have been matches ending at 0-0, 1-1 and 2-2<\/a><\/p>\n

For now, though, the United States awaits.<\/p>\n

Popovic is back at the World Cup as Australia\u2019s head coach, 20 years after he played for the Socceroos at the sport\u2019s premier tournament.<\/p>\n

Australia made a statement in its Group D opener, defeating Turkey 2-0 on Saturday<\/a> night in Vancouver, British Columbia. Turkey, making its return to the World Cup for the first time in 24 years, was widely considered the stronger side going into the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, as a coach, you\u2019re proud of the group, you\u2019re proud of the staff, you\u2019re proud that you made so many people happy in the stands. You don\u2019t really reflect too much on what it does for you, but I think that\u2019s normal for a coach, because you\u2019re already thinking, is there anyone that\u2019s injured?\u201d Popovic said. \u201cWe need to recover well, and we need to get the boys focused quickly on the next challenge. So personally, of course, I\u2019m proud, but maybe one day in the future I can look back on this and reflect and remember, and it\u2019ll probably be a very special moment for me, my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Socceroos, training during the World Cup in Oakland, California, head to Seattle on Friday to face the United States, which also won its opener 4-1 over Paraguay<\/a> to assume the top spot in the group standings.<\/p>\n

Popovic was a defender for the Socceroos, earning the nickname \u201cThe Enforcer.\u201d Detail oriented, he was known for his focus not just on the field, but also on nutrition, training and recovery \u2014 attributes he brings to the team as coach.<\/p>\n

He made 58 appearances and scored eight goals with the national team during his playing career. He announced his retirement shortly after the World Cup in 2006, when Australia lost to eventual champion Italy in the round of 16. Popovic scored in a friendly against Paraguay in his final appearance with the squad that year.<\/p>\n

On the club side, he was best known for a lengthy stint with Crystal Palace in the English Premier League.<\/p>

Read more Iran, amid protests and fragile peace, plays on at the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

Following his playing career, he became an assistant with Sydney in the Australian top tier before taking over as the inaugural head coach of Western Sydney Wanderers. He guided the Wanderers to the Asian Champions League title in 2014, becoming the first Australian club to win that continental tournament. More recently he was coach of the Melbourne Victory until taking over the Socceroos in September 2024 when Graham Arnold resigned<\/a> following a pair of poor results.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe challenges me a lot, not just on the pitch, but I think off the pitch, as a professional, and even just as a man,\u201d Australia goalkeeper Paul Izzo said during camp earlier this month. \u201cFor that, I\u2019m extremely grateful. He\u2019s a coach that I tend to really respond well with. Sometimes it may seem quite intense, that\u2019s what I prefer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Football Australia gave Popovic a contract extension before his first game in charge at a World Cup.<\/p>\n

Popovic responded by making some bold moves with his starting lineup against Turkey, starting 22-year-old Patrick Beach in goal over Mathew Ryan, who has played 104 times for Australia. He also left veteran midfielder Jackson Irvine on the bench and had 10 players on World Cup debut in the starting lineup.<\/p>\n

Afterward Popovic said the win was great for the young Socceroos\u2019 confidence, while at the same time admitting there\u2019s a ways to go before they reach their full potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, they should get a boost, of course,\u201d he said. \u201cCeiling? They\u2019re nowhere near it, because they\u2019re a young group with no experience in the World Cup, very limited experience playing for their national team. So their ceiling should come in four or eight years, really, most of these boys. So we know we need that, but we are delighted with the result.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Dustin May perfect into 7th inning and completes 1-hitter as Cardinals blank Padres 3-0<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe when Australia\u2019s World Cup journey is over, Tony Popovic can reflect on his legacy with the Socceroos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTwenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Maybe when Australia\u2019s World Cup journey is over, Tony Popovic can reflect on his legacy with the Socceroos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T08:04:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9f65145540731ec3a1c6898dfb0a7fc6-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T08:04:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944\"},\"wordCount\":776,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/736a3c4e764190ecfccde986e0a01e5e-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944\",\"name\":\"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/736a3c4e764190ecfccde986e0a01e5e-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T08:04:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/736a3c4e764190ecfccde986e0a01e5e-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/736a3c4e764190ecfccde986e0a01e5e-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Australia's head coach Tony Popovic answers a question during a press conference, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Vancouver, British Columbia, ahead of the team's World Cup soccer match against Turkey. (AP Photo\\\/Abbie Parr)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3944#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"Maybe when Australia\u2019s World Cup journey is over, Tony Popovic can reflect on his legacy with the Socceroos","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-06-16T08:04:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9f65145540731ec3a1c6898dfb0a7fc6-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos","datePublished":"2026-06-16T08:04:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944"},"wordCount":776,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/736a3c4e764190ecfccde986e0a01e5e-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944","name":"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/736a3c4e764190ecfccde986e0a01e5e-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-16T08:04:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/736a3c4e764190ecfccde986e0a01e5e-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/736a3c4e764190ecfccde986e0a01e5e-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Australia's head coach Tony Popovic answers a question during a press conference, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Vancouver, British Columbia, ahead of the team's World Cup soccer match against Turkey. (AP Photo\/Abbie Parr)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3944#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Twenty years after playing in the World Cup for Australia, Popovic is now guiding the Socceroos"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}