| Nickname(s) | Socceroos Ozzies Green and Gold |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Football Federation Australia (FFA) | ||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Head coach | Holger Osieck | ||
| Captain | Lucas Neill | ||
| Most caps | Mark Schwarzer (94) | ||
| Top scorer | Damian Mori (29) | ||
| Home stadium | ANZ Stadium (Sydney) Sydney Football Stadium Etihad Stadium Melbourne Cricket Ground AAMI Park (Melbourne) Suncorp Stadium (Brisbane) |
||
| FIFA code | AUS | ||
| FIFA ranking | 23 | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 14 (September 2009) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 92 (June 2000) | ||
| Elo ranking | 13 | ||
| Highest Elo ranking | 9 (November 2001) | ||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 75 (November 1965) | ||
|
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| First international | |||
| New Zealand 3–1 Australia (Dunedin, New Zealand; 17 June 1922) |
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| Biggest win | |||
| Australia 31–0 American Samoa (Coffs Harbour, Australia; 11 April 2001) (World Record for international matches) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||
| Australia 0–8 South Africa (Adelaide, Australia; 17 September 1955) |
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| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 3 (First in 1974) | ||
| Best result | Round of 16, 2006 | ||
| Asian Cup | |||
| Appearances | 2 (First in 2007) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up, 2011 | ||
| OFC Nations Cup | |||
| Appearances | 6 (First in 1980) | ||
| Best result | Champions, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004 |
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| Confederations Cup | |||
| Appearances | 3 (First in 1997) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up, 1997 | ||
The Australia 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.
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.
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.
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 Nicky, even though saving many hard shots from the Australian players, some of them from the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Australian national team first played at the World Cup finals in West Germany in 1974[1] 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.[2] 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 half-way 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.
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". 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 in the world at that time.
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.
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.
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.[3]
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.
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. 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.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.[4]
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,[5] 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.
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."[6] 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[7] 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,[8] 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."[8] 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.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11]
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",[12] 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.[13] 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,[14] 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.[15] 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".[16] 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[17] 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.
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. It has been reported that FFA is considering legal action against both person and club. 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.
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.
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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20]
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,[21] with chief SBS Football Analyst Craig Foster calling for his immediate sacking.[22]
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.
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.
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.[23]
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 eek 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.
The AFC Asian Cup in 2015 will take place in Australia. Australia have already qualified as hosts and runner-up of the 2011 series. Iraq, Japan and South Korea have also qualified.
| FIFA World Cup record | FIFA World Cup Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| 1930 | Did Not Enter | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 1934 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 1938 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 1950 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 1954 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 1958 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 1962 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 1966 | Did Not Qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||||||||
| 1970 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 8 | |||||||||
| 1974 | Group Stage | 14th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 10 | |
| 1978 | Did Not Qualify | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 11 | ||||||||
| 1982 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 9 | |||||||||
| 1986 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 4 | |||||||||
| 1990 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | |||||||||
| 1994 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 7 | |||||||||
| 1998 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 5 | |||||||||
| 2002 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 73 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2006 | Round of 16 | 16th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 5 | |
| 2010 | Group Stage | 21st | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 4 | |
| 2014 | To Be Determined | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | |||||||||||||||
| 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Total | Round of 16 | 3/19 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 105 | 60 | 26 | 19 | 286 | 83 | |
| FIFA Confederations Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1992 | No OFC Representative was Invited | |||||||
| 1995 | ||||||||
| 1997 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 1999 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 2001 | Third Place | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 2003 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 2005 | Group Stage | 8th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| 2009 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 2013 | ||||||||
| 2017 | To Be Determined | |||||||
| 2021 | ||||||||
| Total | Runners-up | 3/9 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 20 |
| OFC Nations Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1973 | Did Not Enter | |||||||
| 1980 | Champions | 1st | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
| 1996 | Champions | 1st | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 1998 | Runners-up | 2nd | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 3 |
| 2000 | Champions | 1st | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| 2002 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 2 |
| 2004 | Champions | 1st | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 4 |
| Total | Champions | 6/9 | 28 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 142 | 11 |
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Quarter Final | 7th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 |
| 2011 | Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 2 |
| 2015 | Hosts | |||||||
| Total | Runners-up | 3/16 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 7 |
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.[24][25] 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.[26]
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,[27] and Iranian Karim Bagheri, who also scored seven goals against Maldives in 1997.[28] 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.[29] These matches, although fully recognised by FIFA as official matches, were played by amateur players.
| # | Goals | Player | Score | Opponent | Competition | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Archie Thompson | 31–0 | American Samoa | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | 11 April 2001 |
| 2 | 8 | David Zdrilic | 31–0 | American Samoa | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | 11 April 2001 |
| 3 | 7 | Gary Cole | 10–0 | Fiji | 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification | 14 August 1981 |
| 4 | 6 | John Aloisi | 22–0 | Tonga | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | 9 April 2001 |
| 6 | Frank Parsons | 8–1 | New Zealand | Friendly | 11 September 1948 | |
| 5 | 5 | John Aloisi | 13–0 | Solomon Islands | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 11 June 1997 |
| 5 | Damian Mori | 13–0 | Solomon Islands | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 11 June 1997 | |
| 5 | George Smith | 10–0 | New Zealand | Friendly | 11 July 1936 |
| # | Score | Opponent | Competition | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31–0 | American Samoa | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | 11 April 2001 |
| 2 | 22–0 | Tonga | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | 9 April 2001 |
| 3. | 17–0 | Cook Islands | 2000 OFC Nations Cup | 19 June 2000 |
| 4 | 16–0 | Cook Islands | 1998 OFC Nations Cup | 28 September 1998 |
| 5 | 13–0 | Solomon Islands | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 11 June 1997 |
The following table shows Australia's all-time international record, correct as of 6 August 2011.[30]
| Position | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Manager | Holger Osieck | |
| Assistant Manager | Aurelio Vidmar | |
| Assistant Manager | Robbie Hooker | |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Tony Franken |
For a detailed list of 2011 schedule fixtures and results refer to 2011 Australia national football team season
| Friendly 5 January 2011 | United Arab Emirates | 0 – 0 | Australia | Al Ain, United Arab Emirates | ||
| 18:30 UTC+4 | Summary | Stadium: Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium Attendance: 13,300 Referee: Ali Shaaban |
||||
| 2011 AFC Asian Cup 10 January 2011 | India | 0 – 4 | Australia | Doha, Qatar | ||
| 16:15 UTC+3 | Report | Cahill 11', 65' Kewell 24' Holman 45+1' |
Stadium: Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 11,749 Referee: Ali Al Badwawi |
|||
| 2011 AFC Asian Cup 14 January 2011 | Australia | 1 – 1 | South Korea | Doha, Qatar | ||
| 16:15 UTC+3 | Jedinak 62' | Report | Koo Ja-Cheol 24' | Stadium: Al-Gharafa Stadium Attendance: 15,526 Referee: Abdulrahman Mohammed |
||
| 2011 AFC Asian Cup 18 January 2011 | Australia | 1 – 0 | Bahrain | Doha, Qatar | ||
| 16:15 UTC+3 | Jedinak 37' | Report | Stadium: Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 3,919 Referee: Yuichi Nishimura |
|||
| 2011 AFC Asian Cup 22 January 2011 | Australia | 1 – 0 (a.e.t.) | Iraq | Doha, Qatar | ||
| 16:25 UTC+3 | Kewell 117' | Report | Stadium: Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 7,889 Referee: Abdulrahman Mohammed |
|||
| 2011 AFC Asian Cup 25 January 2011 | Uzbekistan | 0 – 6 | Australia | Doha, Qatar | ||
| 19:25 UTC+3 | Report | Kewell 5' Ognenovski 35' Carney 65' Emerton 74' Valeri 82' Kruse 83' |
Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium Attendance: 24,826 Referee: Ali Al Badwawi |
|||
| 2011 AFC Asian Cup 29 January 2011 | Australia | 0 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Japan | Doha, Qatar | ||
| 18:00 UTC+3 | Report | Lee 109' | Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium, Doha Attendance: 37,174 Referee: Ravshan Irmatov |
|||
| Friendly 29 March 2011 | Germany | 1 – 2 | Australia | Mönchengladbach, Germany | ||
| 20:45 UTC+2 | Gómez 26' | Report Summary |
Carney 61' Wilkshire 64' (pen.) |
Stadium: Borussia-Park Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy |
||
| Friendly 5 June 2011 | Australia | 3 – 0 | New Zealand | Adelaide, Australia | ||
| 17:30 UTC+10 | Kennedy 10', 59' Troisi 90+3' (pen.) |
Report Summary |
Stadium: Adelaide Oval Attendance: 21,281 Referee: Minoru Tōjō |
|||
| Friendly 7 June 2011 | Australia | 0 – 0 | Serbia | Melbourne, Australia | ||
| 19:30 UTC+10 | Report Summary |
Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 28,149 Referee: Minoru Tōjō |
||||
| Friendly 10 August 2011 | Wales | 1 – 2 | Australia | Cardiff, Wales | ||
| 19:45 UTC+1 | Blake 82' | Report Summary |
Cahill 44' Kruse 60' |
Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Kristo Tohver |
||
| 2014 World Cup Qualifier 2 September 2011 | Australia | 2 – 1 | Thailand | Brisbane, Australia[31] | ||
| 20:00 UTC+10 | Kennedy 57' Brosque 86' |
Report Summary |
Dangda 15' | Stadium: Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 24,540 Referee: Abdullah Dor Mohammed Balideh |
||
| 2014 World Cup Qualifier 6 September 2011 | Saudi Arabia | 1 – 3 | Australia | Dammam, Saudi Arabia | ||
| 20:30 UTC+3 | Al-Shamrani 65' | Report | Kennedy 40', 56' Wilkshire 77' (pen.) |
Stadium: Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium Attendance: 26,000 Referee: Yuichi Nishimura |
||
| Friendly 7 October 2011 | Australia | 5 – 0 | Malaysia | Canberra, Australia | ||
| 20:00 UTC+11 | Wilkshire 3' Kennedy 33', 45+1' Brosque 39', 69' |
Report | Stadium: Canberra Stadium Attendance: 14,577 Referee: Valentin Kovalenko |
|||
| 2014 World Cup Qualifier 11 October 2011 | Australia | 3 – 0 | Oman | Sydney, Australia | ||
| 19:30 UTC+11 | Holman 7' Kennedy 65' Jednak 85' |
Summary | Stadium: ANZ Stadium Attendance: 24,372 Referee: Valentin Kovalenko |
|||
| 2014 World Cup Qualifier 11 November 2011 | Oman | 1 – 0 | Australia | Muscat, Oman | ||
| 18.00 UTC+4 | Hosni 18' | Stadium: Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Ali Abdulnabi |
||||
| 2014 World Cup Qualifier 15 November 2011 | Thailand | 0 – 1 | Australia | Bangkok, Thailand | ||
| 18:00 UTC+7 | Holman 78' | Stadium: Rajamangala Stadium Attendance: 19,400 Referee: Saeid Mozaffarizadeh |
||||
}}
| Friendly 29 February 2012 | Australia | v | Saudi Arabia | Melbourne, Australia | ||
| 19:30 UTC+11 | Stadium: AAMI Park |
|||||
The following 23 players were named by Holger Osieck on 2 November 2011 for the World Cup Qualifiers against Oman and Thailand.[32]
The following players have also been called up to the Australia squad within the last twelve months.
|
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| # | Name | Caps | Goals | First cap | Latest cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Schwarzer | 94 | 0 | 31 July 1993 | 15 November 2011 |
| 2 | Brett Emerton | 91 | 18 | 7 February 1998 | 15 November 2011 |
| 3 | Alex Tobin | 87 | 2 | 9 March 1988 | 6 November 1998 |
| 4 | Paul Wade | 84 | 10 | 3 August 1986 | 1 November 1996 |
| 5 | Lucas Neil | 79 | 0 | 9 October 1996 | 15 November 2011 |
| 6 | Tony Vidmar | 76 | 3 | 6 February 1991 | 7 October 2006 |
| 7 | Scott Chipperfield | 68 | 12 | 25 September 1998 | 23 June 2010 |
| 8 | Luke Wilkshire | 65 | 5 | 3 September 2005 | 15 November 2011 |
| 9 | Peter Wilson | 64 | 3 | 4 November 1970 | 13 June 1979 |
| 10 | Attila Abonyi | 61 | 25 | 4 June 1967 | 25 November 1977 |
| # | Name | Goals | Caps | Avg. | First cap | Latest cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damian Mori | 29 | 45 | 0.64 | 4 September 1992 | 14 July 2002 |
| 2 | John Aloisi | 27 | 55 | 0.49 | 12 March 1997 | 6 February 2008 |
| 3 | John Kosmina | 25 | 60 | 0.42 | 18 August 1976 | 22 September 1988 |
| Attila Abonyi | 25 | 61 | 0.41 | 4 June 1967 | 25 November 1977 | |
| 5 | Tim Cahill | 24 | 55 | 0.43 | 28 February 2001 | 6 September 2011 |
| 6 | Archie Thompson | 21 | 33 | 0.64 | 30 March 2004 | 7 September 2010 |
| 7 | David Zdrilic | 20 | 30 | 0.67 | 18 January 1997 | 29 March 2005 |
| 8 | Graham Arnold | 19 | 56 | 0.34 | 23 October 1985 | 29 November 1997 |
| 9 | Ray Baartz | 18 | 48 | 0.38 | 28 May 1967 | 27 April 1974 |
| Brett Emerton | 18 | 82 | 0.22 | 7 February 1998 | 6 September 2011 | |
| 10 | Gary Cole | 17 | 19 | 0.89 | 11 June 1978 | 14 October 1982 |
| Aurelio Vidmar | 17 | 44 | 0.39 | 30 January 1991 | 3 June 2001 |
| # | 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) | 41 | 78 | 0 | 7 October 2006 | 11 November 2011 |
| 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 |
One obstacle for potential Australian soccer players is that some promising players choose other nations. As many Australians have roots in other countries throughout the world, they are eligible to play for non-Australian national teams.
The following is a list of Australian-born players who chose other national teams:
| Name | Nation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Joey Didulica | Croatia | |
| Tony Dorigo | England | |
| Buddy Farah | Lebanon | [33] |
| John Hutchinson | Malta | |
| Saša Ilić | Serbia | |
| Emmanuel Muscat | Malta | [34] |
| Avraam Papadopoulos | Greece | |
| Peter Pullicino | Malta | |
| Michael Reda | Lebanon | [33] |
| Graeme Rutjes | Netherlands | |
| Anthony Šerić | Croatia | |
| Josip Šimunić | Croatia | |
| Joseph Tabone | Malta | |
| Peter Tasevski | Macedonia | |
| Diego Barcena | Uruguay | |
| Pablo Martinez | Venezuela |
The following players were/or are currently playing for other youth national teams, yet were either born or lived a considerable amount of their youth in Australia but are still eligible to play for/or have represented Australia at any level:
The following players, not born in Australia but eligible to play for Australia, chose other national teams:
| Name | Nation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Aleksandar Đurić | Singapore | Born in then-Yugoslavia, relocated to Australia, then moved to Singapore. In 2008 he played against the Socceroos in an international friendly. |
| Ivan Ergić | Serbia | Born in then-Yugoslavia, raised in Australia. |
| Georgios Samaras | Greece | His father was born in Australia.[40] |
| Shane Smeltz | New Zealand | Born in Germany, to New Zealand parents, raised in Australia. |
| Craig Johnston | England | Johnston was born in South Africa to Australian parents and raised in Australia. He played for England at the Under-21 level, but did not earn a senior cap.[41] |
| Christian Vieri | Italy | Born in Italy, raised in Australia. Brother Max Vieri went on to represent Australia at senior level. |
| Name | Period | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Pts. per game^ | Win % | Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiko Jelisavcic | 1965 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1.50 | 50% | |
| Jozef Vengloš | 1965–1967 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1.86 | 57% | |
| Joe Vlatsis | 1967–1969 | 23 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 2.00 | 57% | |
| Ralé Rasic | 1970–1974 | 31 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 1.84 | 52% | 1st round at the 1974 FIFA World Cup |
| Brian Green | 1976 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 100% | |
| Jim Shoulder | 1976–1978 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 1.48 | 40% | |
| Rudi Gutendorf | 1979–1981 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 0.94 | 17% | Winner of the 1980 OFC Nations Cup |
| Les Scheinflug | 1981–1983 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2.08 | 67% | |
| Frank Arok | 1983–1989 | 46 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 1.67 | 46% | |
| Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Frank Arok absence) | 1983 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2.25 | 75% | |
| Les Scheinflug (caretaker) | 1990 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 100% | |
| Eddie Thomson | 1990–1996 | 56 | 26 | 11 | 19 | 1.59 | 46% | Winner of the 1996 OFC Nations Cup |
| Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence) | 1992 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 | 67% | |
| Vic Fernandez (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence) | 1992 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 | 50% | |
| Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence) | 1994 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 100% | |
| Raul Blanco (caretaker) | 1996 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 100% | |
| Terry Venables | 1997–1998 | 23 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 2.09 | 65% | Runner-up of the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| Raul Blanco (caretaker) | 1998–1999 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2.00 | 60% | Runner-up of the 1998 OFC Nations Cup |
| 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 |
| Guus Hiddink | 2005–2006 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1.92 | 58% | 2nd round at the 2006 FIFA World Cup |
| Graham Arnold (caretaker) | 2006–2007 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1.47 | 40% | Quarter finalists at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup |
| Rob Baan (caretaker) | 2007 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 100% | |
| 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 |
| Han Berger (caretaker) | 2010 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0% | |
| Holger Osieck | 2010–present | 20 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 2.22 | 70% | 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.
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.
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[42] and a 2010 World Cup Qualification game against Japan set a record for the highest subscription television audience according to ASTRA ratings.[43]
In the United States, qualifiers are broadcast by Fox Soccer Channel.
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.[44]
| Preceded by 1973 New Zealand |
Oceanian Champions 1980 (First title) 1996 (Second title) |
Succeeded by 1998 New Zealand |
| Preceded by 1998 New Zealand |
Oceanian Champions 2000 (Third title) |
Succeeded by 2002 New Zealand |
| Preceded by 2002 New Zealand |
Oceanian Champions 2004 (Fourth title)A |
Succeeded by 2008 New Zealand |
| Preceded by 2005 Japan |
AFC Men's Team of the Year 2006 |
Succeeded by 2007 Iraq |
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