Pot watch won't govern Popovic's thinking in Venezuela and Colombia friendlies
Socceroos coach Tony Popovic says he won’t allow a potential place in pot two of the FIFA World Cup draw to affect how he coaches in upcoming friendlies against Venezuela and Colombia.
Socceroos coach Tony Popovic says he won’t allow a potential place in pot two of the FIFA World Cup draw to affect how he coaches in upcoming friendlies against Venezuela and Colombia, adamant that he’ll trust any player he calls up to perform.
Currently ranked 25th in FIFA’s world rankings, Australia finds itself on the outside looking in at pot two of the FIFA World Cup draw – the seeding for which will be locked in following the November international window, ahead of the draw’s staging in Washington DC on December 5.
Ostensibly, vaulting into a higher seeding would provide the Socceroos with an easier path out of the group stages; avoiding being drawn against the likes of Croatia, Morocco, or Denmark (again) and, instead, opening the door for games against what the rankings say should be simpler opposition such as South Africa or Costa Rica.
Facing world number 50 Venezuela in Houston on November 14 before shifting to New York to face 13th-ranked Colombia on November 18, the Socceroos hold 1584.02 ranking points heading into November, picking up +0.53 after their win over Canada and loss to the United States last month and trail 24th-ranked Austria’s 1586.98.
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Austria, which lost 14.88 ranking points after a shock loss to Romania last month, will face Cyprus and Bosnia and Herzegovina in European qualifiers next month. 23rd-ranked Ecuador, who hold 1589.72 points, will face Canada and New Zealand and 22nd-ranked South Korea, on 1593.92 points, will host Bolivia and Ghana.
The Austrians being overhauled by Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group H of European qualifying – the Bosnians are currently two points of Das Team and will travel to Vienna’s Ernst-Happel-Stadion for the final game of the round – would also offer an, albeit unlikely, lifeline for the Socceroos.
Under such a scenario, the 75th-ranked Bosnians would automatically qualify for the World Cup, while the Austrians would move into a playoff round of qualifiers – the slots for which will be automatically assigned as pot four by FIFA.
Of course, the Socceroos would need to get results over their South American opponents to move into a higher pot in most of the scenarios in play.
But while the benefits of a higher seeding are obvious – even if you might still end up with a playoff-bound Italy or Nigeria in your group as a pot four side – Popovic won’t suddenly start changing how he’s approaching the task at hand if Australia is locked at 0-0 heading into the final ten minutes of the Colombia game.
“It’s a conversation about pot two and pot three that we’ve brought about due to our form,” said the coach. “Before June, I don’t think there were any conversations about pot two or pot three, but then when you win two big games against Japan and Saudi Arabia, you jump on the verge of pot two and it becomes a discussion.
“I understand why we discuss it. But to suggest I play differently or different players due to pot two or three would suggest that I don’t trust some players. And I don’t think that will happen.
“I think regardless of pot two and pot three – yeah, it would be great to get into pot two – but I’ll trust the players the same in both games, regardless of that situation.”
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This newfangled Australian fascination with pot two against pot three has only come about as a result of FIFA’s expansion of the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 – swelling the group stages to 12 groups of four and adding a further four second seeds.
This supersizing of the tournament could also extend to squad sizes, with varying reports and rumours suggesting that qualified nations could bring anywhere from between 23 to 30 players.
World Cup squad sizes were set at 22 from 1930 to 1998, grew to 23 players for the 2022 tournament and, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift of the tournament in Qatar to a summer staging, grew to 26 for the 2026 tournament.
And with nothing officially delivered yet, that 26-player number is the one Popovic and his staff are planning for.
“Nothing concrete on that,” he said when asked about squad sizes this week. “We’re planning towards having 26. If that changes, we’ll have to deal with it. So that’s a number we’re thinking about at the moment, and if we’re told differently, then we’ll adjust accordingly.”
Header Image: Socceroos