Synopsis
The Australian national soccer team nicknamed Socceroos is controlled by Football Federation Australia, the governing body for Australia. The team represents Australia in international men’s soccer. FIFA has ranked the country in 39th position, as of November 2017.
Australia is the only national team to have been two times confederations champion, having won the OFC Nations Cup four times. The team also won the AFC Asian Cup at the 2015 event on home soil.
Mark Schwarzer is the most capped player with 109 caps, and Tim Cahill is the top scorer with 50 goals. The national team has also represented Australia at four FIFA Confederations Cups.
Bert van Marwijk, The Coach
Australian football manager, Bert van Marwijk currently coaches the national team. He played for several teams, like Go Ahead Eagles, AZ, MVV, and Fortuna Sittard, amongst other clubs.
CAPTION: Bert van Marwijk, The Coach SOURCE: Fox Sports Marwijk won UEFA Cup in 2002, with the Dutch professional football club, Feyenoord. He has significant experience of managing the Netherlands national team leading them to the 2010 World Cup final. He managed the team from 2008-2012.
Marwijk was qualified as the coach of the Australian national team in November 2017. He also helped Saudi Arabia reach Russia 2018 ending their 12-year World Cup drought.
Van Marwijk won the UEFA Cup (now called the Europa League) with Feyenoord in 2002.
Honors
As a Player
AZ
- KNVB Cup: 1977–78
- MVV Maastricht
- Eerste Divisie: 1983–84
Manager
Feyenoord
- KNVB Cup: 2007–08
- UEFA Cup: 2001–02
Netherlands
- FIFA World Cup Runner-up: 2010
Individual
- Knight of the Order of Orange-Na s sau (2010)
- World Champion klaverjas (1975).
Mile Jedinak
Mile Jedinak is the captain and plays as a defensive midfielder for the national team. He also plays for the Aston Villa. He was appointed as captain of the national team on May 21, 2014, by Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou.
CAPTION: Mile Jedinak SOURCE: 90 min Jedinak scored a hat-trick against Honduras qualifying Australia to the 2018 World Cup.
Honors
Club
Sydney United
- NSW Premier League: 2006
- Central Coast Mariners
- A-League Premiership: 2007–08
Crystal Palace
- EFL Championship play-offs: 2013
International
Australia
- AFC Asian Cup: 2015
Individual
- Mariners Medal: 2007–08
- PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2008–09
- Crystal Palace Player of the Year: 2012–13
- FFA Male footballer of the Year: 2013, 2014
- Asian International Footballer of the Year: 2014
- PFA Footballer of the Year: 2013–14
Tim Cahill
Tim Cahill is a professional footballer, plays for Millwall and Australian national team. He was the first Australian to score at a FIFA World Cup and became one of the highest profile footballers in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), earning over 100 caps for his country.
CAPTION: Tim Cahill SOURCE: Herald Sun Club
Millwall
- Football League Trophy Runner-up: 1998–99
- Football League Second Division: 2000–01
- FA Cup Runner-up: 2003–04
Everton
- FA Cup Runner-up: 2008–09
New York Red Bulls
- MLS Supporter's Shield: 2013
Shanghai Shenhua
- Chinese FA Cup Runner-up: 2015
Melbourne City FC
- FFA Cup: 2016
International
Australia
- AFC Asian Cup: 2015
- OFC Nations Cup: 2004
Individual
- Oceania Footballer of the Year: 2004
- Australian Professional Football Association Player of the Year: 2008–09
- PFA First Division Team of the Year: 2003–04
- Everton Player of the Season: 2004–05
- Everton Players' Player of the Season: 2004–05
- MLS Best XI: 2013
- AFC Asian Cup Dream Team: 2015
- A-League Goal of the Year: 2016–17
Achievements
- First Australian to score at the World Cup Finals
- First Australian to score at the Asian Cup Finals
- Most Goals by an Australian at the World Cup Finals (see List of FIFA World Cup Goalscorers)
- First Everton player since Dixie Dean in 1931 to score in three separate Merseyside derbies at Anfield
- Most Goals for the Socceroos – when he scored his 30th international goal in a friendly against Ecuador at The Den on 5 March 2014. He subsequently scored his 31st later in the match. Currently has the record at 50 goals.
- Has scored more post-war league goals against Liverpool than any other Everton player
- Cahill scored within the first 7 seconds of the game against Houston Dynamo on 20 October 2013 holding the fastest goal in MLS history.
Here's the list of Australia's 23-man squad heading to World Cup 2018, Russia.
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Brad Jones (Feyenoord), Mat Ryan (Brighton), Danny Vukovic (Genk) | Aziz Behich (Bursaspor), Milos Degenek (Yokohama F. Marinos), Matthew Jurman (Suwon Samsung Blue Wings), James Meredith (Millwall), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney), Trent Sainsbury (Gra s shopper Zurich) | Jackson Irvine (Hull City), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa), Robbie Kruse (VfL Bochum), Ma s simo Luongo (QPR), Mark Milligan (Al-Ahli), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield), Tom Rogic (Celtic), Tim Cahill (Millwall) | Daniel Arzani (Melbourne City), Tomi Juric (Luzern), Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin), Andrew Nabbout (Urawa Red Diamonds), Dimitri Petratos (Newcastle Jets), Jamie Maclaren (Hibernian) |
World Cup 2018
Australia has made 4 FIFA appearances to date. The team secured their place in World Cup 2018 defeating Honduras in their intercontinental play-off following the Socceroos finishing as Asia’s best third-place side after a play-off with Syria.
Australia will be playing against France, Denmark, and Peru at the group stage match, 2018. Also, have a look at this World Cup schedule for more details regarding matches.
