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

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.

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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

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.

Australia have been drawn in Group I alongside Palestine, Lebanon and the winner of Maldives and Bangladesh.

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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.

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.