Australia… The Socceroos are making it to the World Cup for the 5th time. Their best performance on a World Cup was reaching the Round of 16 but they hope a tournament on the other side of the hemisphere may play in their favor.

The Australians played 22 games in qualifying, including an Asian playoff against Syria and culminating with a playoff win over Honduras. That made them the next-to-last team to clinch a spot at the World Cup 2108 edition.

The nucleus of the young squad that went to Brazil four years ago has remained, helping the country win its first Asian Cup title in 2015 and develop an attacking style it touts as the Australian way.

 

First game: Australia vs France (16/06).

 

Star: Even though Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield) and Mathew Ryan (Brighton) are the only ones playing at a top-flight European competition, the spotlight is headed to Tim Cahil. The evergreen Australian forward is seemingly getting better with age, having netted 11 goals on the road to Russia, including several trademark headers. Scorer of one of the most spectacular goals of Brazil 2014, Cahill could become one of the few players to score at four World Cups.

 

Coach: Bert van Marwijk was appointed Australia coach in January, having assumed the reins from Ange Postecoglou who resigned after the Socceroos qualified in November 2017. The 65-year-old Van Marwijk has significant experience, most notably leading his native Netherlands to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final. He also helped Saudi Arabia reach Russia 2018 ending their 12-year World Cup drought.

 

Group: Australia, France, Denmark and Peru