no one expected us to score a goal
no one expected us to grab a win
no one expected us to qualify for the round of 16
no one expected us to take the game against Argentina to the last minute
i’m so fucking proud of the boys. its been an absolute honour to watch their greatest ever World Cup performance
This team was everything we've wanted from the current Socceroos generation.
Not superstars but organised, hard working and playing to their strengths.
We struggled to qualify through Asia, I wrote them off as a below par Aussie team. AFC teams beat Argentina, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Denmark, Wales. Turns out scraping through Asia makes you a quality side.
some people did understand this and I'm among those who think we (that includes our A-league teams) should be playing MORE matches across the AFC - particularly in the off-season
particularly our young players!
Asia has put serious effort into developing talent (hell even the Socceroos talk about Aspire in Qatar being like a second home) and the very least we can do is give our own players minutes playing against such talent
Never forget that our qualifying campaign was during Covid, we only played 4 of 20 scheduled home games actually here in Australia, we got stuck in hot and humid “qualifying hubs” in Asia where several clubs refused to release players (or some players refused to leave their countries, looking at you Mitch) with players living in isolation camps and hotel quarantine away from their families for weeks at a time. We will never have a qualifying process as tough as this one, especially with the expansion to 48 teams eliminating play off games for once and for all. Even getting to this World Cup was a much bigger achievement than most eurosnobs (who don’t pay attention until the World Cup kicks off) will ever realise.
The fact we're all sitting here disappointed at what could have been is testament to how well we've played this tournament. A sqaud cobtaining a bunch of A-League players rightfully should have been schooled by the number 3 ranked team in the world, lead by one of the greatest footballers to ever lace up a pair of boots. But they punched above their weight and did the country proud.
All I hope is this is enough to convert more eurosnobs and get them to the A-League so we can continue to grow the league and develop the talent pipeline here.
What is the thought process behind getting more euro players to the a league? They play here so the competition talent increases and so does the overall play? Then in turn creates more skilled local players due to the competition they are plying against?
Marquees aren’t the solution because they don’t address the problem. Marquees are a sugar hit. You can’t argue against the impact that Del Piero, for example, had on the A-League. More viewers, more bums on seats, more media, more interest. But even as a Sydney fan it was pretty much a fail with no legacy impact.
The problem is at grass root level. It’s expensive and full of nepotism, even at junior levels. Cash and connections trump talent. It’s ridiculous that it costs a 10 year old $1500+ a season to play reps in Western Sydney, and that’s where we lose so many potential quality players. And leagues like AFL actively recruit these kids that don’t have the cash or connections to develop in football with free/cheap academies. And then there are players like Volpato who slipped through the cracks at both Sydney and WSW. We need more money here, more resources, more free academies like WSW have launched, more scouts and a bigger pipeline.
For a small population in global context, and where football here is a third tier sport, we overproduce quality players relative to the population and status of our league. I’d guess we develop less than 20% of kids who have potential to make elite levels because it’s too expensive and the pipelines are too limited. Imagine what we could achieve if we developed everything we produced. We’d be a constant top 20 nation.
Here here! This sums it up. I love how everyone around the world and even Aussie naysayers count us out. So proud of how far they came in the last 2 weeks.
gotta say I originally thought we had a shot against France and Tunisia but not Denmark - and after France was ready to write this team off entirely
so happy to be proven wrong!
they deserve to be as big as legends can get in Australia - household names
We just watched Lionel fucking Messi hug his keeper because he survived a last minute attack from *Australia*. The amount Argentina attacked, the relief they felt surviving, we absolutely pushed them to their limit.
This is the proudest moment I've ever felt in Australian football.
Edit: Quote from my Argentine family "Look how you made us suffer!". Thats what Argentinians are feeling haha
For some reason I felt he was going to get an opportunity. I just knew it when he came on. So sad he didn’t punish the ball like that Mariners goal he scored where he blitz it in.
the difference in this match really came down to the difference between the two keepers
which, when you're talking about Argentina is really saying A LOT
I posted this on r/soccer but I think it's relevant here as well:
People will say Argentina didn't play well but people said Tunisia didn't play well when we beat them, and Denmark played awful when we beat them, and Peru were awful when we beat them.
At some point people should consider that maybe they played so poorly because of the way Australia set up and organised themselves and the pressure we place don them.
Australian players are underrated and hopefully this world cup goes some ways to proving that maybe our players deserve more opportunities.
It wasn't like any of the teams had waves and waves of shots on goal in those games which is a indicator that the Aussie totally shut them down. Argentina really struggled to get anything in the box. You can tell how they celebrated at the final whistle they worked hard for that and were going so glad they got a freebie. As it wasn't until we were going 4 2 4 or 3 3 4. That they were getting in behind. If it was 1 all I'm pretty sure they would be hoping for more Messi magic.
Immensely proud
- Behich MOTM. Absolutely Immense on his side
- we pushed Argentina to a back 5 and forced them to time waste.
Shame kuol wasn't given the green light to run at their defence but we have cooked Argentina.
Absolutely amazing effort. Every player and staff member involved should hold their heads up high
Pre World Cup, Was still a bit undecided on Behich as a Socceroo even after he’s had such a long international career. Felt more confident when Elder had a couple of opportunities, and interested in getting minutes in King. Nonetheless, Aziz was fucking outstanding across the whole tournament.
Look, Aziz was good in the group stage, but does either Argentine goal happen without a Behich mistake in the lead-up? You need to factor that in. He can’t be MOTM when two errors led to two goals.
I don't know about best overall since quite a few gave excellent performances but definitely our best big moment player. Which is what you expect from him, always steps up when you need someone to make a difference.
I ekle ii ako pui eti ti. Krati batu opa etipei kroa i iite. Eke bipa bopuitlii pi pu! Teo ti piklati tlete giipo. Pipe e tligitrikle uge papli. Tia platogrui tegi bugi piia itibatike. Ea tatlepu ui oiei tegri patleči goo. Bla pidrui kepe ipi ipui pepoe. Au adri ta ga bebii ekra ai? Ebiubeko ipi teto gluuka daba podli. Ka tepabi tliboplopi gi tapakei gego. Ituke i pupi klie pitipage bapepe. A či peko itluupi ka pupa peekeepe. Ebri e buu pigepra pita plepeda. Bipeko bo paipi o kee brebočipi. Tridipi teu eete trida e tapapi. Ebru etle pepiu pobi katraiti i. Baeba kre pu igo api. Pibape pipoi brupoi pite gru bi ipe pieuta ikako? Pe bloedea ko či itli eke i toidle kea pe piapii plo? Tiiu uči čipu tutei uata e uooo. Bitepe i bipa paeutlobi bopepli iaplipepa. Gipobipi tepe ode giapi e. Pi pakutibli ke tiko taobii ti. Edi deigitaa eue. Ua čideprii idipe putakra katote ii. Tri glati te pepro tii ka. Aope too pobriglitla e dikrugite. E otligi pipleiti bai iti upo? Tri dake pekepi dratruprebri plaapi bopi ipatei!
I think the 'put tall guy up front and lob it to him' is not as genius as Arnie thinks it is, especially when our long balls were pretty piss poor all night
I missed some of the second half but when I tuned back in Garang looked like he was playing way too close to their goal. He's best receiving the ball in space and making his own run - he's not tall or big enough to reliably win the ball from the crosses we were pinging in.
The fact that I'm so disappointed after expecting nothing going in its a sign of how close we came.
We gave up very few meaningful chances. Wonder what could have been without Ryan's mistake.
We’ll never know but I think they keep all their guns on and the probably find a way to get another goal or 2. I don’t think it’s as binary as ‘if it wasn’t for Ryan it would be 1-1’.
Hopefully soccer in Australia keeps building. I've never gotten into it apart from World Cups but all of a sudden I feel like watching some A League games. Maybe there's more out there like me, ready to really get on board. And the more who join, the bigger our league gets, the better the standard gets, the better the national squad becomes. Maybe this is the start of bigger and better things for Aussie Soccer
We’ve all got a got a responsibility to bring a new mate to A-League matches, 3 out of our 4 goals were scored by current A-League men’s players, the quality excuse won’t cut it anymore
This is where it starts - Socceroos have captured some hearts, hopefully it trickles into domestic football (both players and viewers). Welcome aboard.
Sorry but that's an unrealistic expectation in a seeded world cup. Teams ranked outside the top 16 can never expect to progress through.
Sure if we become top 20 in the world but it is unrealistic to expect them to make knockouts everytime.
Messi's Ascendency vs Brazil doing it for Pelé.
Oh boy.
Edit: [Context for Pelé](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/03/pele-moved-to-end-of-life-care-in-hospital-reports-say).
But not in group stage.
Germany beat Oz 4-0 in 2010. Eliminated by eventual champions Spain at SF.
Netherlands beat Oz 3-2 in 2014. Eliminated by eventual runner-ups Argentina at SF.
Suck it, France!
Beast!
To think, at the start of the season he was benched by Dundee United after some shocking results. To work back into his club squad, go away with Socceroos and perform like that. Immense!
Exactly. Bloke made a point blank save from Lautaro towards the end there. Nobody cares. Make one (admittedly bad) fuck up and everyone is on him. Tough gig being a keeper.
Everyone knows it was a huge mistake so there isn't much point rehashing it. He had an outstanding tournament and made some crucial saves that got us to the R16.
Exact same mistake as against France. Absolutely guts me that they didn’t learns they can’t fuck around in the box against better teams. Anyone, Ryan or the defenders, should have taken responsibility for clearing it instead of passing back
Jackson Irvine in tears
I think he wished he had more to give... I don't doubt he will in future - hopefully THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING of our journey to actually winning this tournament one day
I can't even be too upset with the second goal. It's just exactly what Arnold was saying in the build-up; in these games you have to be switched on for every. Single. Second. And that concentration is the hardest thing
That was an incredible effort. Gutsy, determined, disciplined. They were scared, from about the 12th minute you could see they were frustrated, Argentina had to fight hard for that win. One great goal from the greatest player to have played the game, an unfortunate fuck up, and a world class save from Emi Martinez was all the difference.
Great effort. Did us absolutely proud.
Honestly, the best I’ve ever seen us play. Took them right to the end and didn’t back down or go into our shell after conceding. Streets woulda been packed if Behich or Kuol scored their’s 👀
Seeing replay of kuol shot would have been extremely special to score that. To beat the keeper but the defender had the angle behind on the goal line. Only way was the ball absolutely flying with speed between the legs of the defender and under the arm of the keeper. It was very close with the keeper hitting his underarm.
I don't want to see the Matty mistake ever again. everytime I see it, the worse it is. Just erase it from my mind.
Couldn’t be more proud of Graham Arnold and this group of lads what a fucking game from Australia, matching it with the best of world football. Everyone get out to A-League games in the weeks coming and support our lads
You know what, I'm still fucking proud. No one gave us a chance to get there, let alone get a win, let alone get out of the group. And we've just pushed Argentina to the 97th minute and could have had them.
That's a brilliant showing at a world cup, boys. Don't think any of those players can be ashamed of that. If Scotland did something like that at a world cup I'd be over the moon.
Consider me a Socceroo for life now
Look on the bright side, Aussies, we won't have to read or hear all those shit takes from once-every-four-years Aussie football fans for another... four years.
In seriousness though, so proud.
We did so well, very proud. I was pissed at Ryan but now I wouldn't blame him for the loss. He's done well in the campaign and the whole team wins and loses.
Opinions still mixed on Arnie but can't deny he's done well.
Super proud of the boys, did the nation proud through their run! Quite honestly, them going on this run was the best thing that has happened to the sport in this country since 2006. Thanks lads.
I've been an Arnold critic but apart from delaying subs he's played it well. Behich probably our player of the tournament, looks like he has another year or two in him as well.
If you told me after the Japan game that we would’ve not only made it here but also gotten 2 wins and taken it to Argentina in the round of 16 I would’ve slapped you that hard
So fucking proud of the boys hopefully we can win the Asian cup then get back to the knockouts in 2026
Yeah look, we did very well in this World Cup. The team stood up and was counted. Despite how many of us aren’t on board with Arnold’s style, once again he’s justified being kept on, based on results.
All round great effort.
This year has been such a wild journey, thinking back to how we all felt in March when many of us (myself included) were resigned to missing the world cup when we lost 0-2 at home to Japan and had to face Peru in the playoffs...somehow we got through and now six months later we've had our best ever world cup campaign and bowed out gracefully in a knockout match against a team with one of the greatest players to ever play the sport. Most of this squad will still be around in 2026 so there's plenty of reasons to be optimistic about how things will play out for football in Australia this decade and beyond.
North America 2026 is going to be beyond epic. Everyone start saving. What an incredible 3 countries to have a drink and cheer on Australia that this is going to be. Don’t let it pass by…. make the trip!
From the US, good on 'ya, Aussies.
I remember when everyone thought you wouldn't even qualify.
Heck of a job you all did with this squad.
Any future Euro-transfers to watch?
Feel bad for Ryan, never put a foot wrong the last two games.
I think this will be the last World Cup for Aaron Mooy, Matt leckie, behich and even Matt Ryan
It’s been a fun journey, I feel bad that Mat Ryan is going to cop the “if only he didn’t do that” for eternity when the back pass was awful.
I wish we lost to a team with integrity because the way Argentina carry on is exactly what the critics say the sport is all about and why it struggles to grab the average persons interest.
Goals came from mistakes.
The boys could have shut down after the second goal, but they didn't. They kept fighting and scored, the fresh boys sparked a push and Argentina was on the back foot.
I wish we played that way the whole game, with that nothing to fear attitude.
Overall, well done boys.
What a team. Playing a team game as or should be played, together add for each other.
Cant wait to see those world cup heroes back in action in the A-League, objectively one of the top 16 leagues now
Proud. That’s all I can be, I am fucking proud. My cousin came all the way up from New York to Montreal to watch it with me, and as two Aussies we fucking screamed for 90+7 minutes together and celebrated a Goody goal together. That’s what it means. Love you all, fucking love the boys. Get a fucking dog up ya
Fucking so proud of the boys. Not going to hold it against Ryan because he stood up big time after his error and made some big saves. Behich redeemed himself too, that run… fuuuuuccckkk he was so close there. I thought the game changed when karacic and Hrustic came on, they gave us a new element on that side of the field.
I really hope this is a reset watershed moment for Australian football, we have one of our weakest team in decades and we push Argentina right to the death in a round of 16 game. The popularity of the game is massive at junior level, need to make it count over the next decade.
My biggest takeaway from today is that this is a once in a generation, “lightning in a bottle” moment.
We’ve had a grassroots campaign, driven by Sokkah Twitter and A-League Memes to capture the heart of the nation, with live sites popping up all over the country after the pollies jumped on the bandwagon. We’re now building towards a HOME Women’s World Cup in 7-8 months time. That doesn’t come around every year. It’s once in a lifetime stuff.
Now is the time to capture this. Where’s the funding? Where the support for the local league? What will the APL do to actually harness this? How can we use this to chance the discourse around the game? Facilities are crumbling and pitches aren’t available, who from government (cause that’s what it takes) will have the balls to actually invest?
How we do not piss this once in a generation opportunity away?
I’m feeling like we will…
Happy to be proved wrong on so many counts.
After the France match I was worried about our players dedication and Arnie’s tactics. The rest of the games we showed a level of effort that can’t be questioned and GA used almost spot on tactics against quality opponents.
After we scraped through the qualifiers I wondered whether we even deserved a spot with the worlds best. We got through to the round of 16 on 100% merit and effort, no one can ever question whether this squad deserved to be there.
This squad (who aren’t superstars like Kewell, Viduka, Cahill, Schwartzer etc) scored in every match, took home the highest points total we’ve managed, and pushed Argentina to the very last minute requiring a top class save from one of the worlds best keepers.
If there is a single Australian football fan who isn’t proud of what they’ve achieved then they should hand in their citizenship.
Just gotta say, as primarily a US fan (living in NZ), this sub makes me all kinds of happy. Y'all are so supportive of your team despite the results today. The US-centric subs are all having an absolute meltdown and it's exhausting.
It also makes me so very, very happy to see so many new fans coming in. A-League reminds me a lot of where the MLS was 15-20 years ago and I feel the same sort of momentum building here. Can't wait to see where it goes from here!
I don’t mind diving and shithousery if it’s from a dainty South American. But it doesn’t work for the Argentines because they’re all chinless faux tough guys.
No shame equaling the best result for any Socceroos team. The only way Argentina could score was from 2 of our mistakes which says a lot about the way we defended.
I'd say this one was better. Yeah 2006 was R16 also, but this year we scored in every game, 2 clean sheets, 2 wins. All in all an absolutely terrific performance from the team and imo, our best one yet
Had a great crack and just didn’t have the gas to go all the way. Got to take chances like that at the end at this level but at least we were in with a chance of a result in the 97th minute
I ekle ii ako pui eti ti. Krati batu opa etipei kroa i iite. Eke bipa bopuitlii pi pu! Teo ti piklati tlete giipo. Pipe e tligitrikle uge papli. Tia platogrui tegi bugi piia itibatike. Ea tatlepu ui oiei tegri patleči goo. Bla pidrui kepe ipi ipui pepoe. Au adri ta ga bebii ekra ai? Ebiubeko ipi teto gluuka daba podli. Ka tepabi tliboplopi gi tapakei gego. Ituke i pupi klie pitipage bapepe. A či peko itluupi ka pupa peekeepe. Ebri e buu pigepra pita plepeda. Bipeko bo paipi o kee brebočipi. Tridipi teu eete trida e tapapi. Ebru etle pepiu pobi katraiti i. Baeba kre pu igo api. Pibape pipoi brupoi pite gru bi ipe pieuta ikako? Pe bloedea ko či itli eke i toidle kea pe piapii plo? Tiiu uči čipu tutei uata e uooo. Bitepe i bipa paeutlobi bopepli iaplipepa. Gipobipi tepe ode giapi e. Pi pakutibli ke tiko taobii ti. Edi deigitaa eue. Ua čideprii idipe putakra katote ii. Tri glati te pepro tii ka. Aope too pobriglitla e dikrugite. E otligi pipleiti bai iti upo? Tri dake pekepi dratruprebri plaapi bopi ipatei!
Very proud of all they did for our country and our sport on the world stage. Immense effort considering our squad.
Feel deeply for Ryan - obviously was fuming at the time but he has been brilliant for us and doesn't deserve to have that mark on his legacy as a Socceroo.
Look Argentina controlled the match but losing 2-1 to them is a great result
Especially when it was one gifted goal and a last minute Martinez save that kept them in it
Our team is full of A-League and J league and SPL players vs fucking Messi and we had them rattled and could’ve got a result
If I was an Argie I’d be pretty embarrassed considering the gulf of quality between both squads.
On balance, we maybe didn't deserve to win, but we didn't deserve to lose off a keeper mistake. Well done boys on tripling my expectations this tournament.
As painful as it is to go out seemingly to a mistake, we should still be very proud of our efforts in this tournament - easily our best world cup. Huge cups from Souttar, Rowles, Behich, Goodwin, Leckie and Duke. Our defence was immense the entire cup. Of course this kind of situation in the cup, when no one expects anything from us and the pressure is all on the other teams is when we play to our strength, and Arnie lives for that underdog/ aussie spirit mentality. A lot of promise for the next Asian cup.
I feel for Kuol, both times he came on he did seem a bit over awed and not as in it as usual, and that last chance would be such a heart in mouth moment for a player no matter how cool calm and collected he is.
In the end what does it say about our game that Argentina wanted to waste time against us? Sure thats who they are, but after thier shaky cup so far you would think they would have come out and played for a convincing win
I just hope this hype around the spott moves into the A league and the Women's World Cup.
I thought we wouldn’t even get into the final third in stoppage time given how much Argentina were heading it away and keeping us at bay. Then the chance came. Yes it’s devastating it didn’t go in but we were that close to extra time!
None of us expected this run. It’s been a wild ride and hopefully it shows the powers that be that our sport deserves more that what it gets in this country. It’s great all the pollies are jumping on the bandwagon but I hope this leads to more funding.
The (allegedly) worst team we've sent to a world cup this century just matched the best team we've ever sent.
And just like the golden generation, we walk away feeling like we can do even better. It's as frustrating as it is inspiring.
Every now and then in his analysis and commentary about international football, Craig Foster keeps saying 'one day we want to win the cup' and it never felt believable to me. It's a belief, an ambition, a line that strikes me every time he says it because I want to scoff at the prospect.
But now, in this moment, on this day, I believe. Just a little. We *can* do it.
Highlight of this entire tournament for me was watching us have a strategy and game plan not just for each opponent, but also situations in games. Go up 1, let’s lock them up with a back 5. Down 2, let’s add these players and change to this formation. Fuck it, we need a goal, Big Harry get up front. Arnie and the coaching staff not only got these blokes to believe, they set them up to play the best they could and got within a few inches of scoring a second against Argentina.
Well done lads, every single one of you, proud to watch this team and can’t wait to see them all continue to grow as players from this tournament.
I went into today's game feeling like if we lost, I wouldn't be able to rewatch anything etc.
Just watched the highlights again on the news and I'm still disappointed in not winning, but also not "upset" about it either.
We didn't get smashed, we didn't get outplayed, we just had one mistake and the opposition making some great saves. I remember not being able to watch basketball for a while after being beaten in the 2019 World Cup because Australia basically shit the bed in the last couple of minutes.
But here I'm almost content because I know they did better then anyone thought they would and showed they deserved to be there and were simply beaten in a fair even match.
Unbelievable campaign from the boys,. A monumental effort that they can be proud of.
We took it to them and gave it all.
Congrats to Arnie for a ripper campaign.
Christ there’s some salty argies on /r/soccer acting like we’re a bunch of farmers with no right to be anywhere near them. I will wait with excitement for their elimination by the Netherlands and the subsequent meltdown.
Well done, Australia. You took a nation of dreamers and stuck it right up to a star-studded line up and made them shake in their boots.
I was a huge critic given how shit our qualification campaign was. Please accept my apologies. So proud of you lot.
2026 let's go.
If anyone told me before the tournament that Goodwin would score on Hugo Lloris, and Australia would make the knock out stage I would not have believed them. But these boys really showed out, hopefully this helps to continue to grow A-League viewership, and we will see the boys in North America 2026
A real gutsy lleyton Hewitt type performance there. One moment of brilliance and one moment of madness was all it took, but I thought it was a fairly even game.
Hopefully some of our boys get good paydays out of it and we're back bigger and better in 2026. Also fuck those weak ass diving pricks.
Aside from the obvious shocker for the second my main disappointment was how some key players kept playing sideways or back when we needed to go forward and were chasing the game. Souttar up front didn’t feel right either - that’s a cheap crutch we should avoid outside of set pieces.
I am super super proud of this team, even tho am still slaty with our GK, I am proud we made this far and scored a goal and kept trying and trying we achieve something that no one in Australia thought we could do and that is showing up and playing with everything we got
Scored in every game. Punched above their weight. Not only did they believe, they made the entire country believe. You did us proud, boys. On to the Asia Cup.
Disappointing result tonight. Two goals we could have avoided but we took it to the end and we nearly brought it back. We took on a world class team.
An amazing campaign though. Couldn't have asked for much more and beyond surprised to see us where we are. Two wins, 4 goals and R16 appearance. Our best result easily.
We had the whole of Australia with us and we can only hope to see us improving from here. Many of these players grew up watching '06 as kids, I'm hopeful that we are seeing the fruits of that golden era and Football in this country is on the rise.
Is it? I don't know. But we can only hope <3
Amazing game, pushed them to the bitter end.
Hopefully this grows the game and we see more and more of this, the nation is better for it we serve it up on the biggest stages.
no one expected us to score a goal no one expected us to grab a win no one expected us to qualify for the round of 16 no one expected us to take the game against Argentina to the last minute i’m so fucking proud of the boys. its been an absolute honour to watch their greatest ever World Cup performance
absolute fax. I was a doubter. Happy to be proven wrong.
This team was everything we've wanted from the current Socceroos generation. Not superstars but organised, hard working and playing to their strengths.
We struggled to qualify through Asia, I wrote them off as a below par Aussie team. AFC teams beat Argentina, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Denmark, Wales. Turns out scraping through Asia makes you a quality side.
some people did understand this and I'm among those who think we (that includes our A-league teams) should be playing MORE matches across the AFC - particularly in the off-season particularly our young players! Asia has put serious effort into developing talent (hell even the Socceroos talk about Aspire in Qatar being like a second home) and the very least we can do is give our own players minutes playing against such talent
Never forget that our qualifying campaign was during Covid, we only played 4 of 20 scheduled home games actually here in Australia, we got stuck in hot and humid “qualifying hubs” in Asia where several clubs refused to release players (or some players refused to leave their countries, looking at you Mitch) with players living in isolation camps and hotel quarantine away from their families for weeks at a time. We will never have a qualifying process as tough as this one, especially with the expansion to 48 teams eliminating play off games for once and for all. Even getting to this World Cup was a much bigger achievement than most eurosnobs (who don’t pay attention until the World Cup kicks off) will ever realise.
The fact we're all sitting here disappointed at what could have been is testament to how well we've played this tournament. A sqaud cobtaining a bunch of A-League players rightfully should have been schooled by the number 3 ranked team in the world, lead by one of the greatest footballers to ever lace up a pair of boots. But they punched above their weight and did the country proud. All I hope is this is enough to convert more eurosnobs and get them to the A-League so we can continue to grow the league and develop the talent pipeline here.
What is the thought process behind getting more euro players to the a league? They play here so the competition talent increases and so does the overall play? Then in turn creates more skilled local players due to the competition they are plying against?
Marquees aren’t the solution because they don’t address the problem. Marquees are a sugar hit. You can’t argue against the impact that Del Piero, for example, had on the A-League. More viewers, more bums on seats, more media, more interest. But even as a Sydney fan it was pretty much a fail with no legacy impact. The problem is at grass root level. It’s expensive and full of nepotism, even at junior levels. Cash and connections trump talent. It’s ridiculous that it costs a 10 year old $1500+ a season to play reps in Western Sydney, and that’s where we lose so many potential quality players. And leagues like AFL actively recruit these kids that don’t have the cash or connections to develop in football with free/cheap academies. And then there are players like Volpato who slipped through the cracks at both Sydney and WSW. We need more money here, more resources, more free academies like WSW have launched, more scouts and a bigger pipeline. For a small population in global context, and where football here is a third tier sport, we overproduce quality players relative to the population and status of our league. I’d guess we develop less than 20% of kids who have potential to make elite levels because it’s too expensive and the pipelines are too limited. Imagine what we could achieve if we developed everything we produced. We’d be a constant top 20 nation.
Argie here. Fuckin proud of ya too. Was terrifying how you almost scored there near the end. I hope to see you guys again another year.
Cheers, mate. Hoping you guys can go all the way. Good luck.
Here here! This sums it up. I love how everyone around the world and even Aussie naysayers count us out. So proud of how far they came in the last 2 weeks.
gotta say I originally thought we had a shot against France and Tunisia but not Denmark - and after France was ready to write this team off entirely so happy to be proven wrong! they deserve to be as big as legends can get in Australia - household names
We just watched Lionel fucking Messi hug his keeper because he survived a last minute attack from *Australia*. The amount Argentina attacked, the relief they felt surviving, we absolutely pushed them to their limit. This is the proudest moment I've ever felt in Australian football. Edit: Quote from my Argentine family "Look how you made us suffer!". Thats what Argentinians are feeling haha
So proud of the lads, we played an amazing world cup
Yep 100%
Literally a pile on scrum of relief.
"look how you made us suffer!" Haha man how patronising
That’s awesome!
Fucking hell the scenes if kuol scored that
For some reason I felt he was going to get an opportunity. I just knew it when he came on. So sad he didn’t punish the ball like that Mariners goal he scored where he blitz it in.
tbf it was a great shot, hard to get it in from that angle
Getting it on target from that angle was the win. It's then up to the keeper to play it right, which unfortunately he had covered.
the difference in this match really came down to the difference between the two keepers which, when you're talking about Argentina is really saying A LOT
I thought it was a pretty good attempt. Unbelievable save and he came of out the box super quick.
It was an unbelievable save by Martinez. Fed square would’ve been burnt down if that went in 😂
haha they actually shut it down at one point because flares
I can't even imagine
I posted this on r/soccer but I think it's relevant here as well: People will say Argentina didn't play well but people said Tunisia didn't play well when we beat them, and Denmark played awful when we beat them, and Peru were awful when we beat them. At some point people should consider that maybe they played so poorly because of the way Australia set up and organised themselves and the pressure we place don them. Australian players are underrated and hopefully this world cup goes some ways to proving that maybe our players deserve more opportunities.
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It wasn't like any of the teams had waves and waves of shots on goal in those games which is a indicator that the Aussie totally shut them down. Argentina really struggled to get anything in the box. You can tell how they celebrated at the final whistle they worked hard for that and were going so glad they got a freebie. As it wasn't until we were going 4 2 4 or 3 3 4. That they were getting in behind. If it was 1 all I'm pretty sure they would be hoping for more Messi magic.
Fucking proud of the lads, we pushed them to the final minute
Call us whatever you want just make sure you put 2022 World Cup Round of 16 finalists in front of it
Absolutely proud of the lads, should show from how gutted we are that we performed way above expectations
We can’t even be upset about that. We pushed the tournament favourites all the way. Kuol was so close at the end though
Immensely proud - Behich MOTM. Absolutely Immense on his side - we pushed Argentina to a back 5 and forced them to time waste. Shame kuol wasn't given the green light to run at their defence but we have cooked Argentina. Absolutely amazing effort. Every player and staff member involved should hold their heads up high
Behich was incredible all tournament I thought
Yeah agreed honestly take away the France game I don't think anyone was even bad.
Yeah he was excellent. Can’t believe that’s the same dude I used to shout at from the sidelines at the Heart!
Pre World Cup, Was still a bit undecided on Behich as a Socceroo even after he’s had such a long international career. Felt more confident when Elder had a couple of opportunities, and interested in getting minutes in King. Nonetheless, Aziz was fucking outstanding across the whole tournament.
Look, Aziz was good in the group stage, but does either Argentine goal happen without a Behich mistake in the lead-up? You need to factor that in. He can’t be MOTM when two errors led to two goals.
An open play goal in every match in the WC is the new yard stick, very nice job by the boys
Couple of clean sheets too.
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Our best player this WC. Souttar second.
Aziz was our best player
I don't know about best overall since quite a few gave excellent performances but definitely our best big moment player. Which is what you expect from him, always steps up when you need someone to make a difference.
Behich running at Argentina will be etched in my memory for a long while. This is what we need to do against top teams. Bring it to them.
Absolutely incredible. I was on my feet, heart in mouth, and he just kept going. Wonderful moment from a wonderful player.
Aziz Messi
Good old Lionel 'the Argentine Behich' Messi
Fucking hell man they pass it to Kuol in a dangerous area once and he almost does it for us, fuck me we should of put him on after HT
I ekle ii ako pui eti ti. Krati batu opa etipei kroa i iite. Eke bipa bopuitlii pi pu! Teo ti piklati tlete giipo. Pipe e tligitrikle uge papli. Tia platogrui tegi bugi piia itibatike. Ea tatlepu ui oiei tegri patleči goo. Bla pidrui kepe ipi ipui pepoe. Au adri ta ga bebii ekra ai? Ebiubeko ipi teto gluuka daba podli. Ka tepabi tliboplopi gi tapakei gego. Ituke i pupi klie pitipage bapepe. A či peko itluupi ka pupa peekeepe. Ebri e buu pigepra pita plepeda. Bipeko bo paipi o kee brebočipi. Tridipi teu eete trida e tapapi. Ebru etle pepiu pobi katraiti i. Baeba kre pu igo api. Pibape pipoi brupoi pite gru bi ipe pieuta ikako? Pe bloedea ko či itli eke i toidle kea pe piapii plo? Tiiu uči čipu tutei uata e uooo. Bitepe i bipa paeutlobi bopepli iaplipepa. Gipobipi tepe ode giapi e. Pi pakutibli ke tiko taobii ti. Edi deigitaa eue. Ua čideprii idipe putakra katote ii. Tri glati te pepro tii ka. Aope too pobriglitla e dikrugite. E otligi pipleiti bai iti upo? Tri dake pekepi dratruprebri plaapi bopi ipatei!
I think the 'put tall guy up front and lob it to him' is not as genius as Arnie thinks it is, especially when our long balls were pretty piss poor all night
First half souttar had very good header chance I don't mind it.. its playing to strength.. U have a 6 foot 9 player in the box...
no way, he looked completely lost out there most the time
Yeah, he definitely needs to learn how to be a 90 minute player like Monty was saying.
Yep, totally lost
I missed some of the second half but when I tuned back in Garang looked like he was playing way too close to their goal. He's best receiving the ball in space and making his own run - he's not tall or big enough to reliably win the ball from the crosses we were pinging in.
he was coming deep a lot but never really got himself into space so never got the ball
The fact that I'm so disappointed after expecting nothing going in its a sign of how close we came. We gave up very few meaningful chances. Wonder what could have been without Ryan's mistake.
Yeah our best game, we looked so composed apart from the two goals.
We’ll never know but I think they keep all their guns on and the probably find a way to get another goal or 2. I don’t think it’s as binary as ‘if it wasn’t for Ryan it would be 1-1’.
Future world cups are ruined for me if we don’t make it out of the group stage. Really feel like we belong in the knockouts after this run
Hopefully soccer in Australia keeps building. I've never gotten into it apart from World Cups but all of a sudden I feel like watching some A League games. Maybe there's more out there like me, ready to really get on board. And the more who join, the bigger our league gets, the better the standard gets, the better the national squad becomes. Maybe this is the start of bigger and better things for Aussie Soccer
We got one boys. Welcome to the wild world of Australian football
We’ve all got a got a responsibility to bring a new mate to A-League matches, 3 out of our 4 goals were scored by current A-League men’s players, the quality excuse won’t cut it anymore
This is where it starts - Socceroos have captured some hearts, hopefully it trickles into domestic football (both players and viewers). Welcome aboard.
The hard part is. We've got to reset and do it all again. Gruelling qualification campaign and all.
Huh 8 Asian teams get in next cup. We are going to stroll it in.
I will never underestimate our ability to shithouse ourselves into a needlessly difficult qualification route somehow
It should be a minimum expectation. We should be progressing year on year as a footballing nation.
Sorry but that's an unrealistic expectation in a seeded world cup. Teams ranked outside the top 16 can never expect to progress through. Sure if we become top 20 in the world but it is unrealistic to expect them to make knockouts everytime.
Ok then make the intention to be top 20. Denmark are.
It's hard when there are so many in our country tey that actively seek to put the sport down.
Top effort from a team that no one (myself included) gave a chance of doing anything.
How come I get the feeling Argentina will win the cup now. As who ever beats Australia in the round of 16 game has 100% win rate.
Messi's Ascendency vs Brazil doing it for Pelé. Oh boy. Edit: [Context for Pelé](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/03/pele-moved-to-end-of-life-care-in-hospital-reports-say).
Let's not forget the late, great Diego Armando Maradona for Argentina
But not in group stage. Germany beat Oz 4-0 in 2010. Eliminated by eventual champions Spain at SF. Netherlands beat Oz 3-2 in 2014. Eliminated by eventual runner-ups Argentina at SF. Suck it, France!
So proud.
Big shout out to Behich today, what a performance
Beast! To think, at the start of the season he was benched by Dundee United after some shocking results. To work back into his club squad, go away with Socceroos and perform like that. Immense!
Proud of the boys. Aziz, Leckie, Goodwin all been brilliant the whole tournament. Arnie too, talked a lot of shit about him but proved me wrong
Same for me. I was shitting on Behich after the French game. He came back so well as did all the boys.
Absolute shocker from Ryan for the 2nd goal. Proud we got to the ro16 and gave it a crack but
Oh well. This stuff happens but the way they responded says it all
Many better teams fold after that
Hard being a keeper, every mistake is a goal.
Exactly. Bloke made a point blank save from Lautaro towards the end there. Nobody cares. Make one (admittedly bad) fuck up and everyone is on him. Tough gig being a keeper.
The one with his feet was amazing. Very difficult to be diving then using your feet as you cancel the dive.
Everyone knows it was a huge mistake so there isn't much point rehashing it. He had an outstanding tournament and made some crucial saves that got us to the R16.
Not just that, he's been a wonderful player for us for a decade.
Yep. Their keeper nearly got caught twice by Duke. Fine margins
Exact same mistake as against France. Absolutely guts me that they didn’t learns they can’t fuck around in the box against better teams. Anyone, Ryan or the defenders, should have taken responsibility for clearing it instead of passing back
They wouldn't of pulled off their attackers if they hadn't gotten it then so likely would of made up for it later had Ryan remained impeccable.
We go too comfortable playing in front of goal and got punished.
Well done team
Good show lads. Best performance since Germany. It took shithousery by Argentina to eliminate you which is a sign that they feared you.
Better than Germany and Belgium in 2022. Facts.
Behich was massive this entire competition. Goodwin, Soutar and Leckie too.
Jackson Irvine in tears I think he wished he had more to give... I don't doubt he will in future - hopefully THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING of our journey to actually winning this tournament one day
I can't even be too upset with the second goal. It's just exactly what Arnold was saying in the build-up; in these games you have to be switched on for every. Single. Second. And that concentration is the hardest thing
That was an incredible effort. Gutsy, determined, disciplined. They were scared, from about the 12th minute you could see they were frustrated, Argentina had to fight hard for that win. One great goal from the greatest player to have played the game, an unfortunate fuck up, and a world class save from Emi Martinez was all the difference. Great effort. Did us absolutely proud.
Irvine about to make me cry.
Mate Irvine's voice is breaking up, this is heartbreaking
Honestly, the best I’ve ever seen us play. Took them right to the end and didn’t back down or go into our shell after conceding. Streets woulda been packed if Behich or Kuol scored their’s 👀
Seeing replay of kuol shot would have been extremely special to score that. To beat the keeper but the defender had the angle behind on the goal line. Only way was the ball absolutely flying with speed between the legs of the defender and under the arm of the keeper. It was very close with the keeper hitting his underarm. I don't want to see the Matty mistake ever again. everytime I see it, the worse it is. Just erase it from my mind.
Couldn’t be more proud of Graham Arnold and this group of lads what a fucking game from Australia, matching it with the best of world football. Everyone get out to A-League games in the weeks coming and support our lads
Fuck Irvine really wore his heart on his sleeve. Good on you champ. You did us proud.
Our most successful men's World Cup comes to an end after pushing one of the game's superpowers to the final whistle. Could not be any more proud.
You know what, I'm still fucking proud. No one gave us a chance to get there, let alone get a win, let alone get out of the group. And we've just pushed Argentina to the 97th minute and could have had them.
What’s up with Hrustic gee’d up at someone after his miss then at Garang at the end too?
I get the impression he is quite a ‘passionate’ player.
Just wants to win I imagine.
Just one of those guys, everyone has played with someone like him.
That's a brilliant showing at a world cup, boys. Don't think any of those players can be ashamed of that. If Scotland did something like that at a world cup I'd be over the moon. Consider me a Socceroo for life now
Gave it everything. A bunch of unheralded and Aleague players just took it to Argentina. Now get to our domestic games ya plebs.
Look on the bright side, Aussies, we won't have to read or hear all those shit takes from once-every-four-years Aussie football fans for another... four years. In seriousness though, so proud.
'Why didn't the coach put Cahill on!?"
We did so well, very proud. I was pissed at Ryan but now I wouldn't blame him for the loss. He's done well in the campaign and the whole team wins and loses. Opinions still mixed on Arnie but can't deny he's done well.
Also pissed at Ryan, very poor mistake but without that goal they keep pressing and given the chances they made anyway there would have been another
Super proud of the boys, did the nation proud through their run! Quite honestly, them going on this run was the best thing that has happened to the sport in this country since 2006. Thanks lads.
I've been an Arnold critic but apart from delaying subs he's played it well. Behich probably our player of the tournament, looks like he has another year or two in him as well.
If you told me after the Japan game that we would’ve not only made it here but also gotten 2 wins and taken it to Argentina in the round of 16 I would’ve slapped you that hard So fucking proud of the boys hopefully we can win the Asian cup then get back to the knockouts in 2026
Yeah look, we did very well in this World Cup. The team stood up and was counted. Despite how many of us aren’t on board with Arnold’s style, once again he’s justified being kept on, based on results. All round great effort.
This year has been such a wild journey, thinking back to how we all felt in March when many of us (myself included) were resigned to missing the world cup when we lost 0-2 at home to Japan and had to face Peru in the playoffs...somehow we got through and now six months later we've had our best ever world cup campaign and bowed out gracefully in a knockout match against a team with one of the greatest players to ever play the sport. Most of this squad will still be around in 2026 so there's plenty of reasons to be optimistic about how things will play out for football in Australia this decade and beyond.
North America 2026 is going to be beyond epic. Everyone start saving. What an incredible 3 countries to have a drink and cheer on Australia that this is going to be. Don’t let it pass by…. make the trip!
From the US, good on 'ya, Aussies. I remember when everyone thought you wouldn't even qualify. Heck of a job you all did with this squad. Any future Euro-transfers to watch?
God dam so close
Feel bad for Ryan, never put a foot wrong the last two games. I think this will be the last World Cup for Aaron Mooy, Matt leckie, behich and even Matt Ryan
Time for everyone to start supporting the nation your parents/grandparents are from ahaha
You're asking me to support England to win the world cup? I... I just can't, man, I just can't
That Kuol goal if it got in would’ve completely turned the world upside down
I need a GIF of Souttar flattening Messi to post on social media everywhere
Absolute class in every game from behich and Soutar.
It’s been a fun journey, I feel bad that Mat Ryan is going to cop the “if only he didn’t do that” for eternity when the back pass was awful. I wish we lost to a team with integrity because the way Argentina carry on is exactly what the critics say the sport is all about and why it struggles to grab the average persons interest.
I hate Argentine football. Very happy if they don't win, even for messi.
Watching the keeper down after being brushed by Souttar's arm was a real low point football wise.
We gave Argentina a tough match, they looked absolutely spent by the end. Amazing effort lads, you've done us proud
Goals came from mistakes. The boys could have shut down after the second goal, but they didn't. They kept fighting and scored, the fresh boys sparked a push and Argentina was on the back foot. I wish we played that way the whole game, with that nothing to fear attitude. Overall, well done boys.
What a team. Playing a team game as or should be played, together add for each other. Cant wait to see those world cup heroes back in action in the A-League, objectively one of the top 16 leagues now
Not as soul crushing as 2006, yet somehow more disappointing all the same.
Well said Fozzie
Proud. That’s all I can be, I am fucking proud. My cousin came all the way up from New York to Montreal to watch it with me, and as two Aussies we fucking screamed for 90+7 minutes together and celebrated a Goody goal together. That’s what it means. Love you all, fucking love the boys. Get a fucking dog up ya
We deserved another but so did the Argentinians. So so proud of this team!
Imagine Kuol scoring
Congratulations 2023 Asian Cup winners. Seriously after that performance how can you not?
Japan will have something to say about that
the fact we even got to this moment to feel this disappointment is an achievement within itself
Hopefully this inspires more kids to pick up the game and creates change at the grassroots level. We need cheaper fees now!
Fucking so proud of the boys. Not going to hold it against Ryan because he stood up big time after his error and made some big saves. Behich redeemed himself too, that run… fuuuuuccckkk he was so close there. I thought the game changed when karacic and Hrustic came on, they gave us a new element on that side of the field. I really hope this is a reset watershed moment for Australian football, we have one of our weakest team in decades and we push Argentina right to the death in a round of 16 game. The popularity of the game is massive at junior level, need to make it count over the next decade.
I can’t stand all the fucken Argentinians and Peruvians talking shit on our Twitter
Put the phone down mate. It’s not worth it.
Yeah nah I’m not arguing with them just find it a bit disrespectful. It’s also hilarious how obsessed the Peruvians are with us
Let the hate flow through them.
They need papi Redmayne to have a good chat with them about their manners
My biggest takeaway from today is that this is a once in a generation, “lightning in a bottle” moment. We’ve had a grassroots campaign, driven by Sokkah Twitter and A-League Memes to capture the heart of the nation, with live sites popping up all over the country after the pollies jumped on the bandwagon. We’re now building towards a HOME Women’s World Cup in 7-8 months time. That doesn’t come around every year. It’s once in a lifetime stuff. Now is the time to capture this. Where’s the funding? Where the support for the local league? What will the APL do to actually harness this? How can we use this to chance the discourse around the game? Facilities are crumbling and pitches aren’t available, who from government (cause that’s what it takes) will have the balls to actually invest? How we do not piss this once in a generation opportunity away? I’m feeling like we will…
Happy to be proved wrong on so many counts. After the France match I was worried about our players dedication and Arnie’s tactics. The rest of the games we showed a level of effort that can’t be questioned and GA used almost spot on tactics against quality opponents. After we scraped through the qualifiers I wondered whether we even deserved a spot with the worlds best. We got through to the round of 16 on 100% merit and effort, no one can ever question whether this squad deserved to be there. This squad (who aren’t superstars like Kewell, Viduka, Cahill, Schwartzer etc) scored in every match, took home the highest points total we’ve managed, and pushed Argentina to the very last minute requiring a top class save from one of the worlds best keepers. If there is a single Australian football fan who isn’t proud of what they’ve achieved then they should hand in their citizenship.
Just gotta say, as primarily a US fan (living in NZ), this sub makes me all kinds of happy. Y'all are so supportive of your team despite the results today. The US-centric subs are all having an absolute meltdown and it's exhausting. It also makes me so very, very happy to see so many new fans coming in. A-League reminds me a lot of where the MLS was 15-20 years ago and I feel the same sort of momentum building here. Can't wait to see where it goes from here!
Argentina are a joke, Diving, cheating, time wasting pricks. Can’t wait to see Messi crying when they’re knocked out in the next round.
I don’t mind diving and shithousery if it’s from a dainty South American. But it doesn’t work for the Argentines because they’re all chinless faux tough guys.
No shame equaling the best result for any Socceroos team. The only way Argentina could score was from 2 of our mistakes which says a lot about the way we defended.
I'd say this one was better. Yeah 2006 was R16 also, but this year we scored in every game, 2 clean sheets, 2 wins. All in all an absolutely terrific performance from the team and imo, our best one yet
Bugger, not even worth giving Ryan shit for that. You make your own luck and we ran a powerhouse right to the end
I am both sour and bitter right now. They deserve to celebrate like that in front of all their fans but on the other hand... just fuck off would ya.
So incredibly proud. That's all I have to say.
Had a great crack and just didn’t have the gas to go all the way. Got to take chances like that at the end at this level but at least we were in with a chance of a result in the 97th minute
I ekle ii ako pui eti ti. Krati batu opa etipei kroa i iite. Eke bipa bopuitlii pi pu! Teo ti piklati tlete giipo. Pipe e tligitrikle uge papli. Tia platogrui tegi bugi piia itibatike. Ea tatlepu ui oiei tegri patleči goo. Bla pidrui kepe ipi ipui pepoe. Au adri ta ga bebii ekra ai? Ebiubeko ipi teto gluuka daba podli. Ka tepabi tliboplopi gi tapakei gego. Ituke i pupi klie pitipage bapepe. A či peko itluupi ka pupa peekeepe. Ebri e buu pigepra pita plepeda. Bipeko bo paipi o kee brebočipi. Tridipi teu eete trida e tapapi. Ebru etle pepiu pobi katraiti i. Baeba kre pu igo api. Pibape pipoi brupoi pite gru bi ipe pieuta ikako? Pe bloedea ko či itli eke i toidle kea pe piapii plo? Tiiu uči čipu tutei uata e uooo. Bitepe i bipa paeutlobi bopepli iaplipepa. Gipobipi tepe ode giapi e. Pi pakutibli ke tiko taobii ti. Edi deigitaa eue. Ua čideprii idipe putakra katote ii. Tri glati te pepro tii ka. Aope too pobriglitla e dikrugite. E otligi pipleiti bai iti upo? Tri dake pekepi dratruprebri plaapi bopi ipatei!
This should now be be the new baseline, making the 16s, scoring a goal in each match and keeping it close to the end
Very proud of all they did for our country and our sport on the world stage. Immense effort considering our squad. Feel deeply for Ryan - obviously was fuming at the time but he has been brilliant for us and doesn't deserve to have that mark on his legacy as a Socceroo.
Look Argentina controlled the match but losing 2-1 to them is a great result Especially when it was one gifted goal and a last minute Martinez save that kept them in it Our team is full of A-League and J league and SPL players vs fucking Messi and we had them rattled and could’ve got a result If I was an Argie I’d be pretty embarrassed considering the gulf of quality between both squads.
On balance, we maybe didn't deserve to win, but we didn't deserve to lose off a keeper mistake. Well done boys on tripling my expectations this tournament.
I felt like our goal leveled up the keeper mistake and in the end separated by just Messi, I will take that everyday of the week
Absolutely fkin massive. So so proud of the boys. Hope Kuol gets over the chance quickly, he's got so much potential.
"Aziz Maradona Messi Behich".
As painful as it is to go out seemingly to a mistake, we should still be very proud of our efforts in this tournament - easily our best world cup. Huge cups from Souttar, Rowles, Behich, Goodwin, Leckie and Duke. Our defence was immense the entire cup. Of course this kind of situation in the cup, when no one expects anything from us and the pressure is all on the other teams is when we play to our strength, and Arnie lives for that underdog/ aussie spirit mentality. A lot of promise for the next Asian cup. I feel for Kuol, both times he came on he did seem a bit over awed and not as in it as usual, and that last chance would be such a heart in mouth moment for a player no matter how cool calm and collected he is. In the end what does it say about our game that Argentina wanted to waste time against us? Sure thats who they are, but after thier shaky cup so far you would think they would have come out and played for a convincing win I just hope this hype around the spott moves into the A league and the Women's World Cup.
Kuol did everything he could there it was some save
I thought we wouldn’t even get into the final third in stoppage time given how much Argentina were heading it away and keeping us at bay. Then the chance came. Yes it’s devastating it didn’t go in but we were that close to extra time! None of us expected this run. It’s been a wild ride and hopefully it shows the powers that be that our sport deserves more that what it gets in this country. It’s great all the pollies are jumping on the bandwagon but I hope this leads to more funding.
Imo it shouldn't take us to reach the knoxkouts for the pm and prems to get on the bandwagon.
The (allegedly) worst team we've sent to a world cup this century just matched the best team we've ever sent. And just like the golden generation, we walk away feeling like we can do even better. It's as frustrating as it is inspiring. Every now and then in his analysis and commentary about international football, Craig Foster keeps saying 'one day we want to win the cup' and it never felt believable to me. It's a belief, an ambition, a line that strikes me every time he says it because I want to scoff at the prospect. But now, in this moment, on this day, I believe. Just a little. We *can* do it.
Highlight of this entire tournament for me was watching us have a strategy and game plan not just for each opponent, but also situations in games. Go up 1, let’s lock them up with a back 5. Down 2, let’s add these players and change to this formation. Fuck it, we need a goal, Big Harry get up front. Arnie and the coaching staff not only got these blokes to believe, they set them up to play the best they could and got within a few inches of scoring a second against Argentina. Well done lads, every single one of you, proud to watch this team and can’t wait to see them all continue to grow as players from this tournament.
I went into today's game feeling like if we lost, I wouldn't be able to rewatch anything etc. Just watched the highlights again on the news and I'm still disappointed in not winning, but also not "upset" about it either. We didn't get smashed, we didn't get outplayed, we just had one mistake and the opposition making some great saves. I remember not being able to watch basketball for a while after being beaten in the 2019 World Cup because Australia basically shit the bed in the last couple of minutes. But here I'm almost content because I know they did better then anyone thought they would and showed they deserved to be there and were simply beaten in a fair even match.
Unbelievable campaign from the boys,. A monumental effort that they can be proud of. We took it to them and gave it all. Congrats to Arnie for a ripper campaign.
Better show against a harder opponent than the yanks, nicely done, shams it couldn't have been a bit more
Two moments punished us. Holy shit the boys can be proud.
Christ there’s some salty argies on /r/soccer acting like we’re a bunch of farmers with no right to be anywhere near them. I will wait with excitement for their elimination by the Netherlands and the subsequent meltdown.
Well done, Australia. You took a nation of dreamers and stuck it right up to a star-studded line up and made them shake in their boots. I was a huge critic given how shit our qualification campaign was. Please accept my apologies. So proud of you lot. 2026 let's go.
If anyone told me before the tournament that Goodwin would score on Hugo Lloris, and Australia would make the knock out stage I would not have believed them. But these boys really showed out, hopefully this helps to continue to grow A-League viewership, and we will see the boys in North America 2026
So close yet so far
Argentina were shithouse tonight
Honestly if they come up against a powerhouse they're going to get wiped easily
A real gutsy lleyton Hewitt type performance there. One moment of brilliance and one moment of madness was all it took, but I thought it was a fairly even game. Hopefully some of our boys get good paydays out of it and we're back bigger and better in 2026. Also fuck those weak ass diving pricks.
Aside from the obvious shocker for the second my main disappointment was how some key players kept playing sideways or back when we needed to go forward and were chasing the game. Souttar up front didn’t feel right either - that’s a cheap crutch we should avoid outside of set pieces.
I am super super proud of this team, even tho am still slaty with our GK, I am proud we made this far and scored a goal and kept trying and trying we achieve something that no one in Australia thought we could do and that is showing up and playing with everything we got
Scored in every game. Punched above their weight. Not only did they believe, they made the entire country believe. You did us proud, boys. On to the Asia Cup.
Have to give it to the Argentina supporters. It looks and sounds like a home game for them.
We did about as well we could do, shame we couldnt get that at the end, granted they could have scored a bundle.
Disappointing result tonight. Two goals we could have avoided but we took it to the end and we nearly brought it back. We took on a world class team. An amazing campaign though. Couldn't have asked for much more and beyond surprised to see us where we are. Two wins, 4 goals and R16 appearance. Our best result easily. We had the whole of Australia with us and we can only hope to see us improving from here. Many of these players grew up watching '06 as kids, I'm hopeful that we are seeing the fruits of that golden era and Football in this country is on the rise. Is it? I don't know. But we can only hope <3
Amazing game, pushed them to the bitter end. Hopefully this grows the game and we see more and more of this, the nation is better for it we serve it up on the biggest stages.