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Australia men's national soccer team

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"Australia national football team" redirects here. For other uses, see Australia national football team (disambiguation).

Australia
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Socceroos
AssociationFootball Federation Australia
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Head coachHolger Osieck
CaptainLucas Neill
Most capsMark Schwarzer (103)
Top scorerDamian Mori (29)
Home stadiumANZ Stadium
Sydney Football Stadium
Etihad Stadium
Melbourne Cricket Ground
AAMI Park
Suncorp Stadium
FIFA codeAUS
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current39
Highest14 (September 2009)
Lowest92 (June 2000)
First international
 New Zealand 3–1 Australia 
(Dunedin, New Zealand; 17 June 1922)
Biggest win
 Australia 31–0 American Samoa 
(Coffs Harbour, Australia; 11 April 2001)
(World Record for international matches)[1]
Biggest defeat
 Australia 0–8 South Africa 
(Adelaide, Australia; 17 September 1955)
World Cup
Appearances3 (first in 1974)
Best resultRound of 16, 2006
Asian Cup
Appearances2 (first in 2007)
Best resultRunners-up, 2011
OFC Nations Cup
Appearances6 (first in 1980)
Best resultChampions, 1980, 1996,
2000, 2004
FIFA Confederations Cup
Appearances3 (first in 1997)
Best resultRunners-up, 1997

The Australian national association football team represents Australia in international association football competitions. Its official nickname is the "Socceroos". The team is controlled by Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and also an invitee member of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) since 2006. In 2012 it agreed to compete in the East Asian Football Federation East Asian Football Championship.

Australia is a four-time Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) champion and has been represented at three FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1974, 2006 and 2010. Australia topped their group in the 2010 World Cup qualification without losing a match and only conceding one goal, and became one of the first nations to qualify for the finals tournament: during the qualification, they reached their highest placing, 14th, in the FIFA World Rankings. However, Australia failed to progress past the group stage in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

History

Australian team in 1924

The first Australian national team was constituted in 1922 for a tour of New Zealand. During the tour, Australia suffered two defeats and scraped a draw. Australia, New Zealand, Republic of China and South Africa became regular opponents in "Test" or "Friendly" matches for the next 25 years. With the advent of cheap air travel, Australia diversified its range of opponents. However, its geographical isolation continued to play a role in its destiny for the next 80 years.

Early FIFA World Cup campaigns

The Australian national team first played at the World Cup finals in West Germany in 1974[2] after having missed out in play-offs in 1966 and 1970, losing to North Korea and Israel respectively. It would prove to be their only appearance until 2006.

The road to the 1974 World Cup began with a series of home and away matches against Iraq, New Zealand, and Indonesia. The Socceroos, having won this tournament, then played and won a two-legged fixture against one of the Socceroos' biggest rivals Iran, managing to hold on to a slim overall lead in front of 120,000 Iranian fans in the Azadi Stadium, Tehran, during the second leg.[3] South Korea, having itself knocked out Israel at the equivalent stage, was then drawn as Australia's final hurdle. Over the course of another two-legged playoff the scores remained even, and so a deciding match was played in Hong Kong. Australia won this match, through a Jimmy Mackay goal, scored off a free kick.

Australia were drawn into Group A consisting of hosts and favourites West Germany, East Germany and Chile. Australia held the East German's 0–0 at half-time before defender Colin Curran deflected the ball into his own net early in the second half. East German striker Joachim Streich then secured the points with a goal halfway through the second half, with the game finishing 2–0. Australia lost their following match to West Germany 3–0 with goals to Wolfgang Overath, Bernhard Cullmann and star-striker Gerd Müller. Having lost both their opening games, Australia could not proceed further in the tournament and the Australians managed to hold Chile to a scoreless draw, seeing Australia earn its first ever World Cup finals point. It was to be the last appearance for the Australian team until the World Cup tournament returned to Germany more than three decades later. Over that 32 year time span, the Australian team was known for its near misses in its attempts to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, most notably 1998 against Iran and 2002 against Uruguay.

Before that, they lost play-offs in 1966 (to North Korea), 1970 (to Israel), 1986 (to Scotland), and 1994 (to Argentina) and even lost to Fiji in the OFC qualifying matches in 1988 1–0.

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification

Australia's road to USA 94 is an example of the difficult qualifying path which members of the Oceania confederation have had to endure. In order to qualify for USA 94, Australia had to endure 3 playoff stages. The first stage was the Oceania playoff. Australia finished on top of Group 1 in Oceania going undefeated in four games against weaker sides Tahiti and the Solomon Islands and scoring thirteen goals over the four games. Australia played New Zealand in the Oceania playoff. The first leg was played in New Zealand on 30 May 1993, with Australia winning the game 1–0. Australia won the return leg 3–0 to win the playoff stage with a 4–0 aggregate score. Having won the Oceania playoff, Australia now had to win a 2-leg playoff against Canada, the CONCACAF runner up. The first leg was played in Canada on 31 July 1993, with the Canadians winning the 1st leg 2–1. In the second leg, which was played on 15 August 1993 in Sydney, Australia managed a 2–1 win which saw the game go into extra time after a 3–3 aggregate scoreline. The game went into a penalty shootout which was won by Australia 4–1. Australia then qualified for the 2-leg playoff against the South American group 1 runner up, Argentina. The first leg was played in Sydney on 31 October 1993. The 1st leg ended with a 1–1 draw. On 17 November 1993, the second leg was played in Argentina, with Argentina winning 1–0 and denying Australia a place at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. After the game Argentine legend Diego Maradona was so impressed with the Socceroos performance that he said to then captain Paul Wade "Your tears of pain, will one day be tears of joy". [citation needed] Just to qualify for the 1994 World Cup Australia would have had to beat Argentina, the runners-up from the 1990 World Cup, and ranked 9th[dead link] in the world at that time.

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

In 1997 Australia failed to qualify for the World Cup finals despite being undefeated in the qualifying rounds. After winning the OFC qualifying tournament, Australia had to play Iran over two legs in one week, with the winner progressing to the World Cup finals to be held in France. Australia, under coach Terry Venables, tied the away leg 1–1 and looked like they were going to proceed to the finals in France, initially leading 2–0 in the home game in Melbourne, until Iran managed to score two late goals to tie the game and progress to the finals on the away goals rule. This match has been named one of the most memorable matches by many of the retired Australian and Iranian football players. At the time the crowd that packed the MCG was the highest ever for an association football match in Australia.

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Frank Farina, the manager of Australia from 1999 to 2005.

In 2001 Australia again won the qualifying tournament for 2002 FIFA World Cup. Second and third-string line-ups thrashed a number of tiny island nations in a competition that made a mockery of the Confederation, including a world-record 22–0 win against Tonga, then smashed that record with a 31–0 win over American Samoa only two days later. Still missing Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, Australia comfortably beat New Zealand, their only real threat in the Oceania confederation. Australia then once again had to win a two leg playoff in November, in order to advance to the World Cup finals to be held in South Korea and Japan.

On this occasion the opposition was the 5th placed South American team, Uruguay. In the preceding four months Uruguay's preparation had been six World Cup qualifying matches, as follows: beat #2 ranked Brazil 1:0; drew 1:1 with #8 ranked Colombia; drew 1:1 with #2 ranked Argentina. In contrast, Australia's preparation had included no qualifying games since two matches in 4 days in June, against #81 ranked New Zealand, although had played two friendly matches – a loss to Japan in August and a 1:1 draw with France in November.

In the first leg in Melbourne, Australia won 1–0 after Kevin Muscat scored from a penalty kick; however, Australia's qualification campaign ended unsuccessfully as they lost 3–0 in the away leg in Montevideo just five days later with the South Americans proving too strong.

Outside qualification campaigns

The team's previously poor record in World Cup competition was not reflected in their reasonable performances against strong European and South American sides. In 1988, Australia defeated Argentina 4–1 in the Bicentennial Gold Cup. In 1997, Australia drew with Brazil 0–0 in the group stage and then defeated Uruguay 1–0 in the semi-finals to reach the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup Final. In 2001, after a victory against France in the group stage, Australia finished the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup in 3rd place after defeating Brazil 1–0 in the Bronze Final. Australia also drew with France 1–1 in Melbourne in November 2001. Another highlight for Australian football was the 3–1 victory over England in a friendly in London in 2003.[4]

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

In 2004, the team took the first steps towards qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup by topping the round-robin stage of the Oceania Football Confederation World Cup qualification tournament. The team drew 2–2 with the Solomon Islands, which combined with other results put that team ahead of New Zealand in the standings and meaning that the Solomon Islands qualified for the final playoff rather than the expected New Zealand.

Australia faces Germany in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup

Coach Frank Farina stood down from the position by "mutual consent" on 29 June 2005 after Australia failed to win a game at the 2005 Confederations Cup, citing ever increasing speculation over his position. On 22 July, Guus Hiddink was announced by FIFA as the new national coach. This announcement came after intense speculation by the Australian media over potential candidates and even a premature announcement from Hiddink himself. Hiddink combined his roles as manager of Dutch club PSV Eindhoven with that of Australia, and remained the coach of Australia until the end of the Australian team's 2006 World Cup campaign, after which he accepted a position coaching Russia.

After some initial training sessions with the Australian team in the Netherlands, his first campaign as national coach resulted in a 11–1 aggregate win over the Solomon Islands in the OFC Qualifying Tournament Final. The remaining task for Hiddink and Australia was the Oceania-South America playoff against the fifth placed team from the CONMEBOL Qualifying Tournament for a place in the World Cup.

In October 2005, Australia beat Jamaica 5–0 in a friendly in London. The win was the Socceroos' biggest win against a team ranked higher than them in the FIFA World Rankings list and also Australia's biggest win against a country which has participated in the World Cup.

Australia, ranked #49, then moved on to play 18th ranked Uruguay in a rematch of the qualifying matches in 2001. Again, there was a huge contrast in preparation. Australia had only two recent qualifying matches, against #138 Solomon Islands, only three days apart. Uruguay's preparation had included four qualifying matches, in the previous two months, including: beaten #26 Colombia, drawn with #33 Ecuador, and beaten #4 Argentina.

Fearing a repeat of security problems which occurred in Montevideo in 2001, Australia announced that they would hold their training sessions in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and would only stay in Montevideo for the game. Uruguay called for the first leg to be moved a day earlier, to 11 November. This idea was rejected by Australia. [citation needed] As a result, Uruguay had announced that they had moved the kick off time back five hours to 9:00 pm local time on 12 November. This meant that Australia would miss their direct flight back to Sydney for the second leg. This would also mean that Uruguay would have an extra day of preparation for the second leg.

However, this plan backfired on the Uruguayans. Their plans to charter a plane for a direct flight to Sydney fell through (they ended up flying over in economy class seating on a regular commercial flight). When Uruguay asked to move the kickoff back, Australia, which by that time had arranged, with their sponsor Qantas, a specially fitted out 767 (which included massage tables, and much room and space) for immediately after the game, refused. Eventually, FIFA stepped in and ordered the kickoff moved back to 6:00 pm local time. [citation needed]

Australia playing Uruguay at ANZ Stadium (formerly Telstra Stadium) in 2005; the match is in the second period of extra time.

Uruguay defeated Australia 1–0 in Montevideo on 12 November 2005, after a header from Dario Rodriguez. Australia had the better of their Uruguayan opponents for a lot of the match, but they could not capitalise on their opportunities. In Sydney, on 16 November for the second leg of the qualifying series and in front of 82,698 fans at Telstra Stadium, [citation needed] Australia led Uruguay 1–0 after 90 minutes following a goal by Mark Bresciano in the first half. The aggregate was tied, and extra time was played. Neither team scored after two periods of extra time, bringing the game to a penalty shootout. Australia won the penalty shootout 4–2, making Australia the only team to ever qualify for a World Cup via a penalty shootout. Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer made two saves and John Aloisi scored the winning penalty.

The resulting win led to scenes of celebration across the country, as the Socceroos qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, their first qualification in 32 years.

Immediately after that qualification, Australia went into the 2006 World Cup as the second lowest-ranked side. Their ranking on the FIFA World Rankings improved in subsequent months, leapfrogging other qualified countries.

Acceptance into the AFC

Many commentators and fans felt that the only way for Australia to progress was to abandon the Oceania Football Confederation. Football had developed over time to place increasing importance on tournaments rather than friendly matches. This established the Continental championships and their qualifiers as the major source of competitive matches for national teams. This served to starve Australia of potential opponents and resulted in long gaps between fixtures for the national team.

Football broadcaster and former Socceroos captain Johnny Warren, expressed his desire for Australia to join Asia. Despite previous attempts to do so, each notoriously ending in failure, a story was leaked from Tokyo in March 2005 suggesting that FIFA had entered into secret discussions with the AFC on this very issue. On 23 March, the AFC Executive Committee made a unanimous decision to invite Australia to join the AFC.

AFC President, Mohammed Bin Hammam, outlined reasons for this decision.

As well as being a developed football nation, Australia brings a developed economy and this is actually what we want in football. Besides Japan, Korea, China and Saudi Arabia if Australia joins the benefits are huge, this is what we're after.

On 17 April, the OFC executive committee unanimously endorsed Australia's proposed move. FIFA approved the move on 30 June, and it took effect on 1 January 2006. Earlier, on 1 December, the AFC Executive Committee announced that Australia would be put into the ASEAN zone. Currently, Australia is an invitee member of ASEAN Football Federation.

Australia was duly entered into the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification. On 4 January, Australia was drawn into group D, alongside Bahrain, Lebanon and Kuwait. Lebanon later withdrew due to recent military conflict in the area. Australia's first game as a member of the AFC was on 22 February, a 3–1 win away to Bahrain in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification. They subsequently qualified for the finals on 16 August after defeating Kuwait 2–0.

Preparation for the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Australia was placed into 2006 World Cup Group F, along with Japan, Croatia and defending champions Brazil.

In late December 2005, Coach Guus Hiddink appointed former Dutch player, Johan Neeskens, as Assistant Coach, to work alongside Graham Arnold, Ron Smith, Tony Franken and Anthony Crea.

On 13 February 2006, Australia launched a new home and away strip for the World Cup. The home strip, similar to the 1974 outfit, is an entirely yellow shirt with green shorts. The away strip is entirely obsidian blue with yellow trimmings (the heraldic colours of Australia). The jerseys were launched at a lavish ceremony at the Berlin Olympic Stadium in Berlin. On 17 March 2006, the FIFA World Cup trophy visited Sydney on its tour around the world.

While the team was preparing for the World Cup, Socceroos player Tony Vidmar was ruled out after being diagnosed with a heart condition. In all, the squad that won the qualification matches saw 5 changes in the lead-up the World Cup finals. Joel Griffiths, Ahmad Elrich, Ljubo Milicevic, Tony Vidmar and Michael Thwaite were replaced by Joshua Kennedy, Mile Sterjovski, Michael Beauchamp, Craig Moore and Mark Milligan respectively.

As part of a national support effort for the Socceroos in Australia, the television network SBS ran a competition, "Song for the Socceroos", in order to select a World Cup anthem for the Socceroos. The winning song "Green and Gold" was announced on 16 May.[5]

On 25 May 2006 in Melbourne, Australia played a friendly against Greece, then current European Champions, and ranked #20 in FIFA rankings. Australia won 1–0 thanks to a Josip Skoko volley early on in the match. The match, at the 100,000 capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground, was sold out in only 2 hours,[6] and was a great sendoff for Australia from home soil, despite the questionable quality of the Greek performance.

Australia played the Netherlands in a friendly match in Rotterdam on 4 June. The Dutch, ranked #3 in the world, went ahead in the 9th minute after goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer parried a Ruud van Nistelrooy shot, the Socceroos failed to clear the ball and van Nistelrooy scored with a follow-up strike. Australia's Tim Cahill equalised in the 53rd minute following a goal-line scramble after Mark Viduka hit the crossbar from a penalty kick. The match ended in a 1–1 draw. The only blemish was the dismissal of defender Luke Wilkshire in the 61st minute, after a wild challenge on Giovanni van Bronckhorst. The next day, the Socceroos left for Germany.

Australia played a final pre-World Cup friendly against 123rd-ranked Liechtenstein on 7 June. Defender Lucas Neill headed an own goal in the 8th minute, giving Liechtenstein the lead until Mile Sterjovski equalised in the 20th. Australia struggled to gain a lead on their opponents until the final 15 minutes when a goal each from Joshua Kennedy and John Aloisi won Australia the game 3–1.

2006 FIFA World Cup

While in Germany for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the Socceroos stayed in the town of Öhringen. Just days before Australia's first World Cup match against Japan, it was reported in the west that the Japan Football Association chairman claimed the Socceroos were "guilty of a lot of dirty fouls" and that "they target ankles in particular."[7] However, a further scrutiny of the original Japanese script reveals that there was a misinterpretation by the western media, possibly to spice up the competition. While it is unclear who started this mistranslation, deliberately or otherwise, Saburo Kawabuchi of Japan Football Association later commented that this would not be the first or the last time mistranslation happens and should not be taken too seriously.

On 12 June, the Socceroos defeated Japan 3–1 in their opening game in Kaiserslautern, with Tim Cahill scoring two goals (84', 89') and John Aloisi scoring one (92+') in the last eight minutes to claim their first World Cup finals victory. An early controversial call by Egyptian referee Essam Abd El Fatah, that awarded a goal (26') to Shunsuke Nakamura, despite an apparent foul[8] to Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, had the Australians playing catch-up until the last eight minutes. Schwarzer and Viduka claimed that Abd El Fatah apologised over allowing Nakamura's goal to stand after the incident, admitting he had made a mistake,[9] although Abd El Fatah later denied making an apology and said that "FIFA's refereeing committee... agreed unanimously that Japan's goal against Australia was correct."[9] Both Cahill and Aloisi came in as substitutes in the second half of the game. Their goals were the first ever scored by Australia in the World Cup Finals, and Australia became the first team in the 2006 tournament to come back after being 1–0 down. Also, no other team has scored three goals in the last seven minutes of a match in World Cup finals history.[10]

On 18 June, hours before Australia's second game against world champions Brazil, a British newspaper claimed that several Australian players had placed bets amongst themselves, which was said to be against FIFA regulations.[11] Tim Cahill admitted that teammates Lucas Neill and Archie Thompson bet that Cahill would score the first ever Australian goal at the World Cup. Mark Viduka also said that the players were taking bets on who was going to be the first to score, and that goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac was the bookmaker. FIFA have since cleared all players of any wrongdoing, by interpreting their regulations as referring to betting with professional bookmakers, rather than betting within a team.[12]

Australia met Brazil in their second Group F game in Munich on 18 June. The Australians held Brazil to a 0–0 half time scoreline before Adriano put Brazil in front (49'). Brazil substitute Fred scored (90') with the help of substitute Robinho to give Brazil a 2–0 win, which saw the Brazilians go through to the second round.

A day later, following the Brazil game, Harry Kewell was in hot water after an altercation with the referee from the Brazil game. FIFA announced that it would investigate the incident. On 20 June, charges were dismissed against Kewell due to "inconsistent reporting by match officials",[13] allowing him to play the next game against Croatia.

On 22 June, Australia faced Croatia in Stuttgart. The final score was 2–2. A goal from Darijo Srna in the second minute put Australia on the back foot. Australia equalised with a penalty goal from Craig Moore (38') after Croatian defender Stjepan Tomas handballed near the Croatian goal. Niko Kovac gave Croatia a 2–1 lead after halftime before Australia equalised again through Harry Kewell (79') in a moment described by SBS broadcast commentator Simon Hill as "well, it just had to be Harry". Kewell appeared to be offside for the goal, in a match riddled with errors.[14] The referee Graham Poll dismissed calls for a penalty in the 5th minute when Croatia's Josip Šimunić appeared to wrestle striker Mark Viduka to the ground near goal. Despite penalising Croatia for Stjepan Tomas' handball in the 39th minute, he failed to penalise Tomas for exactly the same deed in the 75th minute,[15] when Australia were trying to equalise again. Towards the end of the match, Poll blew the final whistle at the moment that John Aloisi scored what would have been a winning goal, and then blew the final whistle again, before presenting Simunic with three yellow cards and then sending him off after the final whistle.[16] Here, Simunic is the world record holder for "Most Yellow Cards in a Football Match." Poll issued eight yellow cards resulting in three expulsions. Brett Emerton was sent off for his second bookable offence (although he was already suspended for the next match for receiving his second yellow card of the group stage earlier in the match). The Daily Telegraph reported on 25 June that Graham Poll was dismissed from World Cup refereeing duties by FIFA, who claimed that his mistake was "unacceptable".[17] As Brazil beat Japan 4–1, Australia proceeded to the next round to face Italy.

On 26 June, Australia met Italy in Kaiserslautern. Kewell was unavailable for the game, entering the stadium on crutches reportedly suffering from an attack of gout[18] and infected blisters (later diagnosed as septic arthritis). The score at half-time was 0–0. Italy went down to 10 men due to the red card (51') given to Marco Materazzi for a two-footed tackle on Mark Bresciano. Otherwise, six yellow cards were issued in total. Almost three minutes into stoppage time, with the score still at 0–0 and Australia being pushed into their own half, a controversial penalty was awarded to Italy when Fabio Grosso fell under a Lucas Neill challenge in the final seconds of the match. Francesco Totti scored from the spot (95') and the game ended immediately with Australia eliminated. Coach Guus Hiddink officially ended his reign as the coach of the Socceroos following the 1–0 loss to Italy and took the managerial job with Russia. Australian assistant coach Graham Arnold branded the penalty a "joke", to the agreement of several Australian players, including Tim Cahill, who believed Grosso should have been cautioned for diving.

2007 AFC Asian Cup

Australia, led by Graham Arnold, went to their first Asian Cup sending a strong squad which included 15 players from the World Cup team. Australia was drawn in Group A alongside (co-host) Thailand, Oman and Iraq.

In their first match, Australia were only able to earn a 1–1 draw against a lower-ranked Oman team. Australia played poorly, with Oman leading for most of the match after Badar Al-Maimani scored in the 32nd minute, but were once again saved by Tim Cahill who scored a late equaliser in the 92nd minute after coming on as a substitute in the second half.

Australia lost their second group match 3–1 to eventual Asian Cup winners Iraq, with Lucas Neill receiving a red card (90'), following two yellow cards. Mark Viduka scored the lone goal for the Australians in the 47th minute of the match which at that point in the game was the equaliser but Iraq scored another two goals to win.

In the third match of the group stage, Australia defeated Thailand 4–0 with Mark Viduka scoring two goals, with Michael Beauchamp and Harry Kewell scoring one goal each. The victory assured Australia's progression to the quarter final stage of the tournament.

After drawing 1–1 with Japan after extra time, Australia exited the tournament on penalties at the quarter final stage. The first two Australian penalty kicks were both unsuccessful by Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill with Australia eventually bowing out 4–3 to end their inaugural participation in Asia's most prestigious football tournament.

In a friendly international at the MCG on 11 September 2007, the Socceroos were defeated by Argentina one goal to nil. The friendly was Graham Arnold's last game as head coach. It had been widely speculated that Dutchman Dick Advocaat would take over as Head Coach for the Socceroos 2010 World Cup Qualifiers by the end of 2007 but he backed out of a contract with the FFA to continue coaching Zenit Petersburg. [citation needed] It has been reported that FFA is considering legal action against both person and club. [citation needed] As a result the Socceroo's head coach position was left open, with technical director Rob Baan the caretaker for a match against Nigeria at Loftus Road, London (Australia winning 1–0.) The position was filled on 6 December 2007 when the FFA announced Pim Verbeek as the new head coach.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

The Socceroos were seeded to enter the AFC qualification campaign in the third round alongside Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan. They were drawn into a group composed of Qatar, Iraq and China with the media dubbing it the "group of death". Fixtures started in February 2008, with a home match against Qatar at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne giving Australia a 3–0 victory. This was Pim Verbeek's first competitive match in charge of the Socceroos. The majority of the Australian squad consisted of overseas, mainly European based, players after Pim Verbeek announced the local A-league was not yet up to World Cup standards. A week after the match, Australia moved up to 38th on the FIFA World Rankings.

In the second group game, Australia drew 0–0 with China with Mark Schwarzer saving a penalty in the last few minutes. In their 3rd out of 6 qualifiers on Sunday, 1 June, Australia beat Iraq at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, 1–0, with a headed goal from Harry Kewell proving the difference between the two teams early in the 2nd half of play. In the return match in Dubai, Iraq defeated Australia 1–0 through a wonder strike from Emad Mohammed. Australia then defeated Qatar 3–1 on 14 June in Doha to progress to the fourth round of the AFC qualifiers. Their final game in 3rd round qualifying ended in a 1–0 home defeat to China.

Australia was drawn alongside Japan, Bahrain, Qatar and Uzbekistan in the fourth round of Asian World Cup qualification, which commenced with a 1–0 victory over the Uzbeks in Tashkent on 10 September 2008. Scott Chipperfield's run was unmarked and he comfortably headed in a Luke Wilkshire cross. They then proceeded to beat Qatar 4–0 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, to go top of the group, with goals scored by Tim Cahill and Josh Kennedy with Brett Emerton scoring a brace for the home side. The game was delayed 30min (and close to abandoned) after a torrential rainstorm hit Brisbane Stadium prior to the match. Their next match was against Bahrain on 19 November. Australia managed a 1–0 victory despite a brilliant performance by the Bahrainis and a disappointing performance by Australia. Both the Australian coach and players admitted they were lucky to take the points which came courtesy of a Marco Bresciano goal in the 93rd minute. They dedicated the win to Craig Moore who missed the match following surgery for testicular cancer. Australia remained top of the group with 10 points after 4 games following a 0–0 draw away against Japan. The Socceroos were on the brink of qualifying after a convincing 2–0 win over Uzbekistan on 1 April in Sydney. After a lacklustre first half, the Socceroos scored two goals with a Josh Kennedy header in the 66th minute and a Harry Kewell penalty in the 73rd minute after Richard Garcia was taken down in the penalty box. Australia then secured their place in South Africa after holding Qatar 0–0 at Doha on 5 June.

Australia's qualification was already assured before the final two games, both home fixtures. In Sydney on Wednesday 10 June, goals to Mile Sterjovski and David Carney gave Australia a 2–0 victory over Bahrain. Australia's final qualification game ended with a 2–1 victory over Japan, Australia coming back from a goal in the 40th minute by Japan's Marcus Tulio Tanaka with Tim Cahill's equalising header in the 59th minute, and his winning goal 17 minutes later off a Nicky Carle corner. This victory left Australia top of Group A ahead of Japan by 5 clear points.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Australia lost 0-4 against Germany in the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Australia were drawn into Group D of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, featuring three-time world champion Germany, Ghana and Serbia.

Prior to leaving for South Africa, Australia played a warm-up game in Melbourne against New Zealand. Australia played poorly with Vince Grella and Tim Cahill both performing dangerous tackles on Leo Bertos which could have earned red cards in competitive fixtures.[19] Despite trailing 1–0 at half-time, Australia managed to equalize through Dario Vidosic in the second half, with Brett Holman scoring the winner in injury time for a 2–1 victory.

In South Africa, Australia played another warm up game against Denmark in Johannesburg and won 1–0, a single goal from towering striker Joshua Kennedy proving to be decisive.[20] Australia's final warm up game before beginning their World Cup campaign was against United States with Australia suffering a 3–1 defeat and Tim Cahill scoring the only goal.[21]

On 14 June 2010, Australia faced Germany in Durban. Pim Verbeek surprisingly chose to play without a recognised striker. Australia were comprehensively defeated 4–0, with goals by Podolski and Klose in the first half, followed by two more goals in the second half after Australia was reduced to ten men, due to Tim Cahill being sent off with a straight red card for a tackle from behind on Bastian Schweinsteiger. Pim Verbeek was heavily criticised for his tactics,[22] with chief SBS Football Analyst Craig Foster calling for his immediate sacking.[23]

Australia's second group match against Ghana resulted in a draw of 1–1. Australia shot its only goal early in the first half by Brett Holman after Ghana's goalkeeper Richard Kingson fumbled the ball following a Mark Bresciano freekick. Shortly after, a goal-bound strike from Ghana's Jonathan Mensah was blocked on the goal line by Harry Kewell's upper arm, resulting in a penalty kick and a straight red card for Kewell. Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan scored the equalizing goal. Despite the man advantage, Ghana were mostly limited to long-range shots on Australia's goal, and some desperate defending from Australia saw the game finish a draw.

In their final group match against Serbia, Tim Cahill was back from suspension and scored via a header in the second half to allow Australia to go 1–0 up. Only four minutes later, Brett Holman doubled the scoreline to 2–0 with an impressive long-range effort. Late in the second half, Serbia managed to score a late goal through Marko Pantelić after Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer fumbled the ball, and the game ended 2–1. Germany had defeated Ghana 1–0, which meant that both Australia and Ghana finished on 4 points, but Ghana progressed to the knockout stage due to their superior goal difference. Pim Verbeek completed his term as Australian coach at the end of the 2010 World Cup.

2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Holger Osieck of Germany was appointed the new manager of Australia in 2010, shortly after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, replacing Pim Verbeek, who stepped down.

The Socceroos were drawn in Group B for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifying stage along with Oman, Kuwait and Indonesia. The top two teams from the group progressed to the finals in Qatar. Australia progressed through to the 2011 finals in Qatar, topping Group B with 11 points with Kuwait coming in second with 8 points.

2011 AFC Asian Cup

After qualifying for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, Australia were drawn against Bahrain, India and South Korea in Group C. After defeating India 4–0 and drawing 1–1 with South Korea, the Socceroos went into the match against Bahrain needing only a point to progress. The Socceroos won 1–0 and topped their group. On 23 January, Australia edged Iraq, 1–0, in the quarterfinal. The match went into extra time with Harry Kewell heading in a goal in the 117th minute just inside the 18-yard box. Australia went on to destroy Uzbekistan, 6–0, in the semifinals to set up a final against Japan on 29 January, which they lost in extra time 1–0, becoming runners-up.[24]

2013 East Asian Cup qualification

The Socceroos traveled to Hong Kong in December 2012 to compete in a series of qualification matches with the hopes of qualifying for the 2013 East Asian Cup. Qualification opponents included Hong Kong, North Korea, Guam and Chinese Taipei. Australia started the qualifying campaign on December 3 with an underwhelming 1-0 win over Hong Kong, a team Australia were ranked 139 places higher than on the FIFA World Rankings. The only goal of the game was scored by Brett Emerton in the dying stages of the game. Australia then slumped to a 1-1 draw with North Korea despite Archie Thompson scoring in the first 5 minutes of the match. Australia's third match was played on December 7 against Guam. Despite handing several debuts and fielding in-experienced squad, Australia won 9-0, their biggest win since joining the AFC.

2013 East Asian Cup

The Socceroos will travel to South Korea in July to compete in the 2013 East Asian Cup.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

After a number of promising games under new manager, Holger Osieck, including a highly successful 2011 Asian Cup campaign, preparations got underway for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC). The Asian qualifiers began in September and prior to these crucial encounters, FFA organised a number of friendlies against the All Whites, Serbia, Wales and Malaysia. In March 2011, the Socceroos scheduled a game against world footballing powerhouse, Germany in Mönchengladbach, and came out victorious defeating them 2–1. On 5 June Australia defeated New Zealand 3–0 in Adelaide. Two days later they drew 0–0 with Serbia in Melbourne. On 31 July, Australia got drawn in Group D along with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Thailand. On 10 August, Australia played Wales in a friendly match in Cardiff, with Australia coming away victorious 2–1. Tim Cahill and Robbie Kruse scored the goals for Australia. The Group stages started on 2 September.

The Socceroos didn't start well in their first game at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane against Thailand and were lucky to eke out the three points after going down 1–0 courtesy of a Teerasil Dangda goal for Thailand. Josh Kennedy and Alex Brousque cancelled out Teerasil's strike to give Australia a 2–1 win. The Socceroos then travelled to Saudi Arabia the match was expected to be Australia's toughest match in the group but the Socceroos put in a good performance and ran out 3–1 winners with Josh Kennedy netting twice and Luke Wilkshire converting from the penalty spot. Before the third qualifying match, Australia played Asian minnows Malaysia in Canberra. Given they were in the middle of an Asian qualifying tournament, coach Holger Osieck felt it was better for his team to play against an Asian opponent, instead of a European of South American team. He felt they would get more benefit playing a quick tempo Asian style, as opposed to a stronger, more physical European style. Australia won the match 5–0. Luke Wilkshire scored an early goal, before a double each to Josh Kennedy and Alex Brosque sealed a comfortable win. While the match had its detractors, the hit-out proved necessary. The next match against Oman was to be played in Sydney. Josh Kennedy continued his fantastic goal scoring form with one goal, Mile Jedinak and Brett Holman contributed goals as the Socceroos ran out 3–0 victors. The Socceroos then had to go to Muscat, Oman to play their 4th match in Group D. Many thought that Australia would ease past Oman due to Oman's poor performance in the game in Sydney but Oman stunned Australia winning 1–0 in a tightly contested match in which Australia were disallowed a goal which many thought should have counted. The Australian team then proceeded to defeat Thailand 1–0 at home which ensured that they will top the group and thus qualify for the next round of qualifying with 1 game to spare in the third round.

In their last game of the third round of 2014 Asian World Cup Qualification the Socceroos hosted Saudi Arabia at AAMI Park in Melbourne. It was a dead rubber with the Socceroos already qualified for the fourth round so Holger Oseick fielded a number of returning fringe players such as: James Troisi, Mark Milligan, Jade North and Mark Bresciano. The Saudis took the lead through Al Dawsari and were dominating when the Socceroos equalised through Alex Brosque but the Saudis took the lead into half time when Al Shamrani scored to give the Saudis a 2–1 lead. Then the Socceroos came out stronger in the second half and a 3 goals in 3 minutes from Alex Brosque, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton gave the Socceroos a 4–2 lead which they held to finish the game victors by 2 goals. In the final qualification stage, Australia was drawn with Japan, Oman, Iraq and Jordan. Australia started with a 0-0 draw against Oman away. This followed with a 1-1 draw with Japan at home, with a Luke Wilkshire penalty earning a point. After a 3-0 win in a friendly match against Lebanon, Australia were shocked 2-1 by Jordan away, leaving the Socceroo's fourth from fifth in the group with only 2 points in 3 games. After these performances, Australia dropped to 34th on the FIFA World Rankings, the lowest rank since 2007. Australia responded to this however, defeating Iraq 2-1 away with late goals to Tim Cahill and Archie Thompson, moving them into 2nd with five points. Australia scored a 2-1 win over South Korea away in an international friendly on 14 November, with Australia fielding a younger, less experienced side.

2015 AFC Asian Cup

The 2015 AFC Asian Cup will take place in Australia. Australia have already qualified as hosts and runner-up of the 2011 series. North Korea, Japan and South Korea have also qualified.

Competitive record

A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Australia

FIFA World Cup

Main article: Australia at the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not participate – – – – – –
Italy 1934 – – – – – –
France 1938 – – – – – –
Brazil 1950 – – – – – –
Switzerland 1954 – – – – – –
Sweden 1958 – – – – – –
Chile 1962 – – – – – –
England 1966 Did Not Qualify 2 0 0 2 2 9
Mexico 1970 9 3 5 1 12 8
West Germany 1974 Group Stage 14th 3 0 1 2 0 5 11 5 5 1 21 10
Argentina 1978 Did Not Qualify 12 6 2 4 20 11
Spain 1982 8 4 2 2 22 9
Mexico 1986 8 4 3 1 20 4
Italy 1990 6 2 2 2 11 7
United States 1994 10 7 1 2 21 7
France 1998 8 6 2 0 34 5
South Korea Japan 2002 8 7 0 1 73 4
Germany 2006 Round of 16 16th 4 1 1 2 5 6 9 7 1 1 31 5
South Africa 2010 Group Stage 21st 3 1 1 1 3 6 14 9 3 2 19 4
Brazil 2014 To Be Determined 10 6 2 2 17 9
Russia 2018
Qatar 2022
Total Round of 16 3/19 10 2 3 5 8 17 114 64 29 21 301 91

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D * L GF GA Squad
Saudi Arabia 1992 No OFC Representative was Invited
Saudi Arabia 1995
Saudi Arabia 1997 Runners-up 2nd 5 2 1 2 4 8 Squad
Mexico 1999 Did Not Qualify
South Korea Japan 2001 Third Place 3rd 5 3 0 2 4 2 Squad
France 2003 Did Not Qualify
Germany 2005 Group Stage 8th 3 0 0 3 5 10 Squad
South Africa 2009 Did Not Qualify
Brazil 2013
Russia 2017 To Be Determined
Qatar 2021
Total Runners-up 3/9 13 5 1 7 13 20 -

OFC Nations Cup

OFC Nations Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
New Zealand 1973 Did not participate
New Caledonia 1980 Champions 1st 4 4 0 0 24 2
1996 Champions 1st 4 3 1 0 14 0
Australia 1998 Runners-up 2nd 4 3 0 1 23 3
French Polynesia 2000 Champions 1st 4 4 0 0 26 0
New Zealand 2002 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 0 1 23 2
Australia 2004 Champions 1st 7 6 1 0 32 4
Total 4 Titles 6/9 28 24 2 2 142 11
  • Australia left OFC at the end of 2005.

Other records

See also: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

Australia currently hold the world record for the largest win and the most goals scored by a player in an international match. Both records were recorded during the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification match against American Samoa on 11 April 2001. Australia won 31–0 with Archie Thompson scoring 13 goals and David Zdrilic scoring 8 goals.[25][26] Two days before the 31–0 win, Australia broke the record for largest win with a 22–0 win over Tonga. Both wins surpassed the previous record held by Kuwait who beat Bhutan 20–0 on 14 February 2000.[27]

With 13 and 8 goals respectively, both Thompson and Zdrilic broke the previous record jointly held by another Australian, Gary Cole, who scored seven goals against Fiji in 1981,[28] and Iranian Karim Bagheri, who also scored seven goals against Maldives in 1997.[29] Some sources mentioned that the previous record was 10 goals, which was achieved by Denmark's Sophus Nielsen at the 1908 Olympics and Germany's Gottfried Fuchs at the 1912 Olympics.[30] These matches, although fully recognised by FIFA as official matches, were played by amateur players.

Most goals in a match

Record in bold is the current world record.
# Goals Player Score Opponent Competition Date
1 13 Archie Thompson 31–0 American Samoa American Samoa 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 April 2001
2 8 David Zdrilic 31–0 American Samoa American Samoa 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 April 2001
3 7 Gary Cole 10–0 Fiji Fiji 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification 14 August 1981
4 6 John Aloisi 22–0 Tonga Tonga 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 9 April 2001
6 Frank Parsons 08–1 New Zealand New Zealand Friendly 11 September 1948
5 5 John Aloisi 13–0 Solomon Islands Solomon Islands 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 June 1997
5 Damian Mori 13–0 Solomon Islands Solomon Islands 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 June 1997
5 George Smith 10–0 New Zealand New Zealand Friendly 11 July 1936

Largest wins

Record in bold is the current world record.
# Score Opponent Competition Date
1 31–0 American Samoa American Samoa 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 April 2001
2 22–0 Tonga Tonga 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 9 April 2001
3. 17–0 Cook Islands Cook Islands 2000 OFC Nations Cup 19 June 2000
4 16–0 Cook Islands Cook Islands 1998 OFC Nations Cup 28 September 1998
5 13–0 Solomon Islands Solomon Islands 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 June 1997

All-time team record

Main article: Australia national association football record

The following table shows Australia's all-time international record, correct as of 22 August 2012.[31] Only "A" internationals are included.

Results and fixtures

The following table lists the current and previous years' (2012) results and fixtures of the Australia national football team.

For a detailed list of 2012 schedule fixtures and results refer to 2012 Australia national football team season and for a detailed list of 2013 schedule fixtures and results refer to 2013 Australia national football team season.

  Win   Draw   Loss

Template:Multicol-end
  • Australia score always listed first

Players

Current squad

Match date: 26 March 2013
Opposition:  Oman
Competition: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Fourth Round
Caps and goals correct as of: 6 February 2013 vs.  Romania
Notes: 23 man squad.[32]

Date Competition Opponent Score* Venue Ref.
2012
29 February 2012 2014 World Cup Qualification  Saudi Arabia 4–2 Australia Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia [2]
2 June 2012 International Friendly  Denmark 0–2 Denmark Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark [3]
8 June 2012 2014 World Cup Qualification  Oman 0–0 Oman Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat, Oman [4]
12 June 2012 2014 World Cup Qualification  Japan 1–1 Australia Brisbane Stadium, Brisbane, Australia [5]
15 August 2012 International Friendly  Scotland 1–3 Scotland Easter Road, Edinburgh, Scotland [6]
6 September 2012 International Friendly  Lebanon 3–0 Lebanon Saida International Stadium, Sidon, Lebanon [7]
12 September 2012 2014 World Cup Qualification  Jordan 1–2 Jordan Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan [8]
16 October 2012 2014 World Cup Qualification  Iraq 2–1 Qatar Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar [9]
14 November 2012 International Friendly  South Korea 2–1 South Korea Hwaseong Stadium, Hwaseong, South Korea [10]
3 December 2012 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup Qualification  Hong Kong 1–0 Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong [11]
5 December 2012 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup Qualification  North Korea 1–1 Hong Kong Wan Chai, Hong Kong [12]
7 December 2012 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup Qualification  Guam 9–0 Hong Kong Wan Chai, Hong Kong [13]
9 December 2012 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup Qualification  Chinese Taipei 8–0 Hong Kong Wan Chai, Hong Kong [14]
2013
6 February 2013 International Friendly  Romania 2–3 Spain Estadio Municipal de Marbella, Marbella, Spain [15]
26 March 2013 2014 World Cup Qualification  Oman Australia Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia [16]
4 June 2013 2014 World Cup Qualification  Japan Japan Saitama Stadium, Saitama, Japan [17]
11 June 2013 2014 World Cup Qualification  Jordan Australia Docklands Stadium, Melbourne, Australia [18]
18 June 2013 2014 World Cup Qualification  Iraq Australia Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia [19]
20 July 2013 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup  South Korea South Korea South Korea
25 July 2013 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup  Japan South Korea South Korea
28 July 2013 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup  China South Korea South Korea
14 August 2013 International Friendly TBD Australia Australia
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Mark Schwarzer (1972-10-06) 6 October 1972 (age 51) 104 0 England Fulham
1GK Eugene Galeković (1981-06-12) 12 June 1981 (age 43) 6 0 Australia Adelaide United
1GK Mathew Ryan (1992-04-08) 8 April 1992 (age 32) 2 0 Australia Central Coast Mariners
2DF Luke Wilkshire (1981-10-01) 1 October 1981 (age 42) 74 8 Russia Dynamo Moscow
2DF Jade North (1982-01-07) 7 January 1982 (age 42) 39 0 Australia Brisbane Roar
2DF Rhys Williams (1988-07-14) 14 July 1988 (age 35) 11 0 England Middlesbrough
2DF Michael Thwaite (1983-05-02) 2 May 1983 (age 41) 10 0 Australia Perth Glory
2DF Michael Zullo (1988-09-11) 11 September 1988 (age 35) 10 0 Netherlands Utrecht
2DF Robert Cornthwaite (1985-10-24) 24 October 1985 (age 38) 6 3 South Korea Chunnam Dragons
2DF Ryan McGowan (1989-08-15) 15 August 1989 (age 34) 3 0 China Shandong Luneng Taishan
2DF Dino Đulbić (1983-02-16) 16 February 1983 (age 41) 2 0 United Arab Emirates Al-Wahda
3MF Mark Bresciano (1980-02-11) 11 February 1980 (age 44) 65 12 Qatar Al-Gharafa
3MF Tim Cahill (1979-12-06) 6 December 1979 (age 44) 60 26 United States New York Red Bulls
3MF Brett Holman (1984-03-27) 27 March 1984 (age 40) 58 8 England Aston Villa
3MF Mile Jedinak (1984-08-03) 3 August 1984 (age 39) 37 3 England Crystal Palace
3MF Matt McKay (1983-01-11) 11 January 1983 (age 41) 34 1 China Changchun Yatai
3MF Mark Milligan (1985-08-04) 4 August 1985 (age 38) 19 2 Australia Melbourne Victory
3MF James Holland (1989-05-15) 15 May 1989 (age 35) 9 0 Austria Austria Wien
3MF Tom Rogić (1992-12-16) 16 December 1992 (age 31) 4 0 Scotland Celtic
4FW Archie Thompson (1978-10-23) 23 October 1978 (age 45) 46 28 Australia Melbourne Victory
4FW Robbie Kruse (1988-10-05) 5 October 1988 (age 35) 22 2 Germany Fortuna Düsseldorf
4FW Alex Brosque (1983-10-12) 12 October 1983 (age 40) 20 5 United Arab Emirates Al-Ain
4FW Tommy Oar (1991-12-10) 10 December 1991 (age 32) 6 0 Netherlands Utrecht

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Australia squad within the last twelve months.

Caps and goals as of 6 February 2013.
Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Adam Federici (1985-01-31) 31 January 1985 (age 39) 8 0 England Reading v.  Romania, 6 February 2013
GK Mitchell Langerak (1988-08-22) 22 August 1988 (age 35) 0 0 Germany Borussia Dortmund v.  Iraq, October 16, 2012
GK Brad Jones (1982-03-19) 19 March 1982 (age 42) 3 0 England Liverpool v.  Iraq, October 16, 2012
GK Nathan Coe (1984-06-01) 1 June 1984 (age 40) 3 0 Australia Melbourne Victory v.  Japan, June 12, 2012
DF Lucas Neill (1978-03-09) 9 March 1978 (age 46) 89 0 Australia Sydney FC v.  Romania, 6 February 2013
DF Jason Davidson (1991-06-29) 29 June 1991 (age 33) 1 0 Netherlands Heracles Almelo v.  Romania, 6 February 2013
DF Michael Marrone (1987-01-27) 27 January 1987 (age 37) 1 1 China Shanghai Shenxin 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
DF Aziz Behich (1990-12-16) 16 December 1990 (age 33) 5 2 Turkey Bursaspor 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
DF Ivan Franjic (1987-09-10) 10 September 1987 (age 36) 3 0 Australia Brisbane Roar 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
DF Matt Smith (1982-10-14) 14 October 1982 (age 41) 3 0 Australia Brisbane Roar 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
DF Scott Jamieson (1988-10-13) 13 October 1988 (age 35) 4 0 Australia Perth Glory 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
DF Matthew Špiranović (1988-06-27) 27 June 1988 (age 36) 16 0 Qatar Al-Arabi v.  South Korea, 14 November 2012
DF David Carney (1983-11-30) 30 November 1983 (age 40) 46 6 Unattached v.  Jordan, September 11, 2012
DF Saša Ognenovski (1979-04-03) 3 April 1979 (age 45) 18 1 Qatar Umm-Salal v.  Jordan, September 11, 2012
DF Milan Susak (1984-01-29) 29 January 1984 (age 40) 0 0 Iran Sepahan v.  Japan, 12 June 2012
MF Nikita Rukavytsya (1987-06-22) 22 June 1987 (age 37) 11 1 Germany Mainz 05 v.  Romania, 6 February 2013
MF Brett Emerton (1979-02-22) 22 February 1979 (age 45) 95 20 Australia Sydney FC 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
MF Richard Garcia (1981-09-04) 4 September 1981 (age 42) 18 2 Australia Melbourne Heart 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
MF Aaron Mooy (1990-09-15) 15 September 1990 (age 33) 2 2 Australia Western Sydney Wanderers 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
MF Terry Antonis (1993-11-26) 26 November 1993 (age 30) 3 0 Australia Sydney FC 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
MF Rostyn Griffiths (1988-03-10) 10 March 1988 (age 36) 0 0 China Guangzhou R&F 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup training camp
MF Osama Malik (1990-09-30) 30 September 1990 (age 33) 0 0 Australia Adelaide United 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup training camp
MF Ben Halloran (1992-06-14) 14 June 1992 (age 32) 0 0 Australia Brisbane Roar 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup training camp
MF Dario Vidošić (1987-04-08) 8 April 1987 (age 37) 14 1 Australia Adelaide United 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup training camp
MF Carl Valeri (1984-08-14) 14 August 1984 (age 39) 50 1 Italy Sassuolo v.  South Korea, 14 November 2012
MF Adam Sarota (1988-12-28) 28 December 1988 (age 35) 3 0 Netherlands Utrecht v.  South Korea, 14 November 2012
MF Neil Kilkenny (1985-12-19) 19 December 1985 (age 38) 14 0 England Bristol City v.  Scotland, 15 August 2012
MF Chris Herd (1989-04-04) 4 April 1989 (age 35) 0 0 England Aston Villa v.  Scotland, 15 August 2012
MF Harry Kewell (1978-09-22) 22 September 1978 (age 45) 58 17 Unattached v.  Japan, 12 June 2012
FW Mathew Leckie (1991-02-04) 4 February 1991 (age 33) 2 0 Germany FSV Frankfurt v.  Romania, 6 February 2013
FW Eli Babalj (1992-02-21) 21 February 1992 (age 32) 2 2 Australia Melbourne Heart 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
FW Adam Taggart (1993-06-02) 2 June 1993 (age 31) 3 2 Australia Newcastle Jets 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
FW Scott McDonald (1983-08-21) 21 August 1983 (age 40) 26 0 England Middlesbrough v.  Scotland, 15 August 2012
FW Joshua Kennedy (1982-08-20) 20 August 1982 (age 41) 29 15 Japan Nagoya Grampus v.  Japan, 12 June 2012

Previous squads

Players with most appearances

As of 6 February 2013
Players in bold are still available for selection.
# Name Caps Goals First cap Latest cap
1 Mark Schwarzer 104 0 31 July 1993 6 February 2013
2 Brett Emerton 95 20 7 February 1998 9 December 2012
3 Lucas Neill 89 0 9 October 1996 6 February 2013
4 Alex Tobin 87 2 9 March 1988 6 November 1998
5 Paul Wade 84 10 3 August 1986 1 November 1996
6 Tony Vidmar 76 3 6 February 1991 7 October 2006
7 Luke Wilkshire 74 8 3 September 2005 6 February 2013
8 Scott Chipperfield 68 12 25 September 1998 23 June 2010
9 Mark Bresciano 65 12 1 June 2001 6 February 2013
10 Peter Wilson 64 3 4 November 1970 13 June 1979

Players with most goals

As of 6 February 2013
Players in bold are still available for selection.
# Name Goals Caps Avg. First cap Latest cap
1 Damian Mori 29 45 0.64 4 September 1992 14 July 2002
2 Archie Thompson 28 46 0.61 28 February 2001 9 December 2012
3 John Aloisi 27 55 0.49 12 March 1997 6 February 2008
4 Tim Cahill 26 60 0.43 30 March 2004 16 October 2012
5 John Kosmina 25 60 0.42 18 August 1976 22 September 1988
5 Attila Abonyi 25 61 0.41 4 June 1967 25 November 1977
7 David Zdrilic 20 30 0.67 18 January 1997 29 March 2005
7 Brett Emerton 20 95 0.21 7 February 1998 9 December 2012
9 Graham Arnold 19 56 0.34 23 October 1985 29 November 1997
10 Ray Baartz 18 48 0.38 28 May 1967 27 April 1974

Captains

See also: List of Australian national association football team captains
As of 7 December 2012
Players in bold are still available for selection.
# Name Captaincies Caps Goals First captaincy Latest captaincy
1 Peter Wilson 60 64 3 11 November 1971 13 June 1979
2 Paul Wade 46 84 10 25 August 1990 1 November 1996
3 Lucas Neill (current) 44 89 0 7 October 2006 6 February 2013
4 Alex Tobin 30 87 2 11 February 1995 6 November 1998
Charlie Yankos 30 49 7 25 October 1986 16 April 1989
6 John Kosmina 25 60 25 6 October 1982 9 March 1988
7 Johnny Warren 24 42 6 5 November 1967 1 December 1970
Paul Okon 24 28 0 9 October 1996 7 September 2003
9 Mark Viduka 17 43 11 3 August 2005 21 July 2007
10 Craig Moore 13 51 3 18 February 2004 6 January 2010

Coaching staff

Position Name Notes
Manager Germany Holger Osieck
Assistant Manager Australia Aurelio Vidmar
Assistant Manager Australia Robbie Hooker
Goalkeeping Coach Australia Tony Franken

Managers

As of 26 February 2013
Name Period Matches Wins Draws Losses Pts. per game^ Win % Achievements
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Tiko Jelisavcic 1965 6 3 0 3 1.50 50%
Czechoslovakia Jozef Vengloš 1965–1967 7 4 1 2 1.86 57%
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Joe Vlatsis 1967–1969 23 13 7 3 2.00 57%
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ralé Rasic 1970–1974 31 16 9 6 1.84 52% 1st round at the 1974 FIFA World Cup
England Brian Green 1976 2 2 0 0 3.00 100%
England Jim Shoulder 1976–1978 25 10 7 8 1.48 40%
Germany Rudi Gutendorf 1979–1981 18 3 8 7 0.94 17% Winner of the 1980 OFC Nations Cup
Australia Les Scheinflug 1981–1983 12 8 1 3 2.08 67%
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Frank Arok 1983–1989 46 21 14 11 1.67 46%
Australia Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Frank Arok absence) 1983 4 3 0 1 2.25 75%
Australia Les Scheinflug (caretaker) 1990 1 1 0 0 3.00 100%
Scotland Eddie Thomson 1990–1996 56 26 11 19 1.59 46% Winner of the 1996 OFC Nations Cup
Australia Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence) 1992 3 2 1 0 2.33 67%
Australia Vic Fernandez (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence) 1992 2 1 0 1 1.5 50%
Australia Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence) 1994 1 1 0 0 3.00 100%
Argentina Raul Blanco (caretaker) 1996 2 2 0 0 3.00 100%
England Terry Venables 1997–1998 23 15 3 5 2.09 65% Runner-up of the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup
Argentina Raul Blanco (caretaker) 1998–1999 5 3 1 1 2.00 60% Runner-up of the 1998 OFC Nations Cup
Australia Frank Farina 1999–2005 58 34 9 15 1.91 59% Winner of the 2000 OFC Nations Cup
3rd place at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup
Runner-up of the 2002 OFC Nations Cup
Winner of the 2004 OFC Nations Cup
1st round of the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
Netherlands Guus Hiddink 2005–2006 12 7 2 3 1.92 58% 2nd round at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Australia Graham Arnold (caretaker) 2006–2007 15 6 4 5 1.47 40% Quarter finalists at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup
Netherlands Rob Baan (caretaker) 2007 1 1 0 0 3.00 100%
Netherlands Pim Verbeek 2007–2010 33 18 9 6 1.91 55% 1st round at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
Qualified for 2011 AFC Asian Cup
Netherlands Han Berger (caretaker) 2010 1 0 0 1 0.00 0%
Germany Holger Osieck 2010–present 34 21 7 6 2.06 62% Runner-up of 2011 AFC Asian Cup

^Points per game statistic based on a standard 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

Honours

FIFA World Cup

  • Winners (0):

FIFA Confederations Cup

AFC Asian Cup

OFC Nations Cup

Other titles

East Asian Cup Qualifying Tournament

Sponsors

Sponsorship has generally been hard to find for the Socceroos as until 2005 football (soccer) in Australia was not seen as an attractive investment for companies. After Australia qualified for the 2006 World Cup potential sponsors saw the Socceroos profile rise and jumped on board the so-called 'bandwagon'.

Currently the Socceroos are sponsored by Qantas, the Major Sponsor, and Nike, the Kit Supplier. Other sponsors include Foxtel, Hyundai, NAB, Powerade, Optus & Westfield.

Media coverage

Games are broadcast by SBS and Fox Sports Australia. The 2006 World Cup Qualification game against Uruguay was the highest rating program in SBS history[33] and a 2010 World Cup Qualification game against Japan set a record for the highest subscription television audience according to ASTRA ratings.[34]

In the United States, qualifiers are broadcast by Fox Soccer Channel.

Origin of "Socceroos"

The team's nickname was coined by Sydney journalist, Tony Horstead, in 1967 in his coverage of a "goodwill" tour by the national team to South Vietnam.[35]

Historic win

On 11 April 2001 in a qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Australia beat American Samoa with an extraordinary, unexpected result of 31–0. Archie Thompson, the Australian forward and number 20, scored an amazing 13 goals in Nicky Salapu's goal in the 12th, 23rd, 27th, 29th, 32nd, 37th, 42nd, 45th, 56th, 60th, 65th, 85th and 88th minutes, with unexpected mistakes by Salapu, even though saving many hard shots from the Australian players, some of them from the first 10 minutes of the game.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Aussie footballers smash world record". BBC Sport. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  2. ^ "Team Profile". FIFA. 2001.
  3. ^ "The Socceroos World Cup Qualification".
  4. ^ TheAge – Socceroos win 3–1 against England
  5. ^ "We have a winner". SBS. 16 May 2006. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "G, it's a sellout for World Cup send-off". Herald Sun. 5 April 2006. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Hiddink dismisses dirty Roos claims". ABC. 11 June 2006.
  8. ^ "Key moments of the match". Australian Associated Press. 13 June 2006. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b "Abdul-Fattah: I did not apologize to the Aussies". FilBalad.com. 13 June 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Australia 3–1 Japan". BBC Sport. 12 June 2006.
  11. ^ "Aussies could face betting probe". Sky Sports. 18 June 2006.[dead link]
  12. ^ "AUSSIES GET FIFA BETTING ALL-CLEAR". Sporting Life.com. 18 June 2006.[dead link]
  13. ^ "Ref's retaliation may have saved Kewell". Melbourne: Australian Associated Press. 21 June 2006.
  14. ^ "Croatia 2–2 Australia". BBC Sport. 22 June 2006.
  15. ^ "Croatia v Australia". London: Football Guardian. 22 June 2006.
  16. ^ "Frustrated Emerton denied an explanation". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 June 2006.
  17. ^ "Red card for Poll after clanger". The Daily Telegraph. London. 24 June 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Kewell was out with gout". The Daily Telegraph (Australia). 27 June 2006. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Socceroos snatch farewell victory". ABC news. 24 May 2010.
  20. ^ "Socceroos beat Denmark 1–0 in World Cup friendly in Johannesburg". Daily Telegraph. 1 June 2010.
  21. ^ "Cahill hurt as Socceroos rebound too late against US". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 June 2010.
  22. ^ "Verbeek takes blame for Socceroos defeat". Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 14 June 2010.
  23. ^ Hilferty, Tim (16 June 2010). "Craig Foster – sack Pim Verbeek immediately". The Australian.
  24. ^ "Australia 0–1 Japan (AET)". Daily Telegraph. London. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  25. ^ Davies, Christopher (11 April 2009). "Australia score 31 without loss in record win". The Daily Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  26. ^ "Australia win 32–0 to set new scoring record". The Independent. London: Independent News and Media Limited. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 4 August 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  27. ^ Harris, Nick (10 April 2001). "'Exposed' Tonga lose 22–0". The Independent. London: Independent News and Media Limited. Retrieved 4 August 2009.[dead link]
  28. ^ Lynch, Michael (12 December 2004). "The all-important Cole difference". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  29. ^ "Iran fanatics keep close eye on the Valley". The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. 30 December 2000. Archived from the original on 24 June 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ Rookwood, Dan (11 April 2001). "Aussie Rules as Socceroos smash world record again". The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  31. ^ "Socceroo International Games". Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  32. ^ "Osieck names squad to face Oman". www.footballaustralia.com.au. Football Federation Australia. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  33. ^ ABC – Socceroos score record television audience
  34. ^ [1][dead link] Template:Wayback[dead link]
  35. ^ Cockerill, Michael (1998). Australian Soccer's Long Road to the Top. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Lothian Books. p. 12. ISBN 0-85091-892-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

Preceded by Oceanian Champions
1980 (First title)
1996 (Second title) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Oceanian Champions
2000 (Third title) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Oceanian Champions
2004 (Fourth title)A 		Succeeded by
Preceded by AFC Men's Team of the Year
2006 		Succeeded by
^A Australia is no longer part of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and was not defending its Oceanian title in 2008.

Template:AUS fb natteams

Template:OFC Nations Cup Winners

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