Socceroos coach Tony Popovic and midfielder Jackson Irvine react to Australia’s FIFA World Cup 2026 exit.
Australia head coach Tony Popvic said he hadn’t even thought about what he would say to Harry Souttar and Lucas Herrington about their missed penalties as the Socceroos were knocked out by Egypt.
After fighting back from a 12th-minute deficit to earn a 1-1 draw, Australia lost 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out with first-taker Souttar and fourth-taker Herrington unsuccessful from the spot.
Match report: Australia 1-1 Egypt, penalty pain for Socceroos
“It’s not a moment to think about that now,” Popovic said on SBS after the match.
“That will come I’m sure. I’m extremely proud of them.
“I haven’t even thought about the players that missed the penalties. Unfortunately we go home and the World Cup ends for us.”
Popovic said he substituted off starting goalkeeper Patrick Beach for veteran captain Maty Ryan near the end of extra time because the option was available to him.
“I think that was always an option for us with his experience,” Popovic said.
“Then you’ve got to see how the game plays out, sometimes in extra time players go down and you need to make changes and you don’t have the sub available.
“But we still had one available with a couple of minutes to go and we put Maty on.”
Later, in his post-match press conference, Povic would elaborate further when pressed.
“If you look at (Ryan’s) record saving penalties, Patrick is, new, as a goalkeeper, not just in the national team but even in club football. We felt that Maty’s experience was the difference. In the end it didn’t work out that way but not because of Maty’s poor judgement or lack of ability. They (Egypt) took really good penalties.”
On the tournament exit, the Socceroos boss said he was devastated.
“I’ve always maintained it’s a wonderful group, they showed how good they are tonight,” Popovic said.
“At this moment right now everything is a little bit tough to take but I’m sure every Australian is proud of what they did throughout the tournament. Their families and friends and everyone who has watched will be very proud tonight.”
Veteran midfielder Jackson Irvine said penalties were a cruel way to lose.
“We’ve said from the beginning that we’re a champion team, the strength is in the team, it’s not about any player, we’re a unit, we do everything together, we win together, we lose together,” Irvine said.
“It’s just the beginning for a lot of these guys.
“To finish second, an honest second as well, playing exciting, attacking football. We have a big Asian Cup coming up in six months time and we’ll pick ourselves up and try to get back to being competitive on the highest level which is where we want to be.”
Match report: Australia 1-1 Egypt, penalty pain for Socceroos
