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MELBOURNE, Australia — There isn’t much ambiguity in the slogan that accompanied the launch of Australia’s kits for the FIFA World Cup: come June, the Socceroos on a “mission to wreck” expectations in a Group D featuring United States, Türkiye, and Paraguay.
In their final two matches on home soil before they’ll head to the United States, the Socceroos defeated Cameroon 1-0 in Sydney last week, before riding a 17-minute, four-goal explosion to defeat Curaçao 5-1 in Melbourne.
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The results snapped a three-game losing from the tail-end of 2025, with bolters Jacob Italiano and Lucas Herrington amongst those putting their best foot forward against the Cameroonians, while the side’s core of young attacking talent made its mark against Curaçao.
“I feel like we have one goal, which is to achieve something great,” Nestory Irankunda, who reiterated his status as one of the World Cup’s brightest young talents with a brace against Curaçao, said after the win over the Caribbean nation.
“[We want to] achieve something that’s never been achieved before. We want to be that group that goes all the way and, you know, potentially wins the World Cup.
“No one has the belief in us, obviously, but we have the belief in ourselves to go do something great.”
While Australia has always been a nation — in soccer and otherwise — that thrives in the underdog role, much of the inspiration behind the Socceroos’ tagline for the World Cup is likely drawn from the initial reaction to their placement in Group D.
Videos of American pundits dismissing Australia as easy opponents were widespread after the draw, with one clip that’s proven to have significant staying power describing Tony Popovic’s side as a “lay-up”.
The Socceroos and USMNT already engaged in an at-times fiery contest last October, one in which the Americans secured a 2-1 win after Haji Wright’s brace cancelled out Jordan Bos’ opener.
Christian Pulisic was forced off in that contest after a crunching challenge, while defender Chris Richards bombastically said, “[Australia were] lucky it was a friendly. I was ready to go. And if [the referee] didn’t give me a s— yellow in the corner, I probably would’ve killed somebody.”
Socceroos players, for their part, aren’t in a hurry to give bulletin board material to a USMNT team that lost 5-2 to Belgium and 2-0 to Portugal in their March friendlies. But in the build-up to the World Cup, there remains a commitment to fostering an aggressive approach.
Having played out a feisty friendly encounter last October, Australia and United States will face off once again in June with much higher stakes on the line — at the FIFA World Cup. Andrew Wevers/USSF/Getty Images
“Obviously, there’s been a lot of talk on the U.S. side, and it’s hard not to see it, because it gets shoved in the face on social media and stuff like that,” defender Cameron Burgess, who clashed with Richards during the last friendly, told ESPN.
“But we’re excited by it. We’re a nation that tries to let our football do the talking.
“We’ve grown into a more aggressive approach in terms of our play style, which is something we’re gonna look to hopefully improve on again and keep that high.
“We’re all there together, and we’re all on the same page, and a Socceroos team that’s got its front foot forward playing the aggressive style of football is at its best.
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“The aggressive side of things that doesn’t come from a place of ‘we’re the underdog’, it comes from a place of that being our style of football, and that’s how we want to bring that approach to every game, no matter who we’re playing against.”
This aggressiveness isn’t simply fight for fight’s sake, though. Instead, Burgess says, it’s a mindset, regardless of whether the side has the ball or not, centred on commitment and refusing to take a backwards step in the face of the opposition.
“It’s something that the boss and coaching staff have implemented in us, making sure that everything’s front-footed, every decision is made with confidence and ready to take that next step forward,” said Burgess. “Bringing that against everyone we played against.
“No backing down is something that’s probably instilled in our culture. It’s something that the coaches believe in. It’s something that we believe in as players, and hopefully we’ll be able to show that over the next little while and can keep making strides forward.”
