Socceroos squad: Australia's players to face Bangladesh and Palestine in World Cup qualifiers

Kieran Francis

Socceroos squad: Australia's players to face Bangladesh and Palestine in World Cup qualifiers image

The Socceroos have named an experimental 23-man squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Palestine.

Fourteen players feature in the squad that weren't a part of Australia's Qatar World Cup mission for the matches on November 16 and 22, with two debutants featured.

Western Sydney Wanderers striker Kusini Yengi has received a surprise call-up after scoring five goals in nine matches for League One leaders Portsmouth, while Charlton stopper Ashley Maynard-Brewer is also in as a deputy to Mat Ryan.

MORE: Where are the Socceroos playing Palestine in AFC World Cup qualifier? New venue confirmed

Ipswich duo Massimo Luongo and Cameron Burgess have been rewarded for their form in the Championship, while Craig Goodwin is likely to feature in attack after scoring five goals in seven matches for Saudi Pro League side Al Wehda.

Adelaide United goalkeeper Joe Gauci has also been rewarded for his fine A-League form over the past 18 months.

Harry Souttar was named despite struggling for game time at Leicester City this season, and talented centre-half Alessandro Circati could add to his single green and gold cap.

There was no place in the squad for talented attacking trio Cristian Volpato, Nestory Irankunda and Garang Kuol.

Socceroos 23-man squad vs. Bangladesh and Palestine

Name

Current Club, Country

Keanu BACCUS

St Mirren FC, Scotland

Aziz BEHICH

Melbourne City FC, Australia

Brandon BORRELLO

Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia

Jordy BOS

K.V.C Westerlo, Belgium

Martin BOYLE

Hibernian FC, Scotland

Cameron BURGESS

Ipswich Town FC, England

Alessandro CIRCATI

Parma Calcio 1913, Italy

Mitchell DUKE

FC Machida Zelvia, Japan

Joe GAUCI (Gk)

Adelaide United FC, Australia

Craig GOODWIN

Al Wehda FC, Saudi Arabia

Jackson IRVINE

FC St Pauli, Germany

Massimo LUONGO

Ipswich Town FC, England

Jamie MACLAREN

Melbourne City FC, Australia

Ashley MAYNARD-BREWER (Gk)

Charlton Athletic FC, England

Connor METCALFE

FC St. Pauli, Germany

Lewis MILLER

Hibernian FC, Scotland

Aiden O’NEILL

Standard de Liège, Belgium

Kye ROWLES

Heart of Midlothian FC, Scotland

Mathew RYAN (Gk) (Cpt)

AZ Alkmaar, Netherland

Sam SILVERA

Middlesbrough FC, England

Harry SOUTTAR

Leicester City FC, England

Ryan STRAIN

St Mirren FC, Scotland

Kusini YENGI

Portsmouth FC, England

Socceroos World Cup qualifiers schedule

In November, the Socceroos will begin the long process of attempting to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

In the second round of AFC World Cup qualifying, the Socceroos will play in a round robin format against Lebanon, Palestine and either Maldives or Bangladesh, with the top two teams qualifying for the third round of qualification, as well as qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup.

The qualification campaign will see two games played at the end of 2023, with the rest of the matches in the second round set to begin in March after the 2024 Asian Cup.

Match Date (AEDT)
Australia vs Bangladesh November 16 8pm
Palestine vs Australia November 22 1am
Australia vs Lebanon March 21
Lebanon vs Australia March 26
Bangladesh vs Australia June 6
Australia vs Palestine June 11

Socceroos AFC Asian Cup 2024 schedule

It is important for the Socceroos to be at peak performance by the end of the year, as they will then travel to Qatar to begin 2024 in a quest to regain the Asian Cup.

They were disappointing in their quarterfinal exit in 2019, but the team has come on in leaps and bounds since then and the team will be targeting a return to the final and a second Asian Cup title after their maiden win in 2015.

On paper, they have a straightforward group, taking on India in their opening clash, before facing off against Syria and then Uzbekistan to close out the group stages.

Match Date Time Stadium
Australia vs India January 13 10:30 p.m. AEDT Ahmed bin Ali Stadium
Australia vs Syria January 18 10:30 p.m. AEDT Jassim bin Hammad Stadium
Australia vs Uzbekistan January 22 10:30 p.m. AEDT Abdulla bin Khalifa Stadium

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.