The Subway Young Socceroos are on the cusp of history at the AFC U20 Asian Cup in China, where Australia have broken droughts en route to the final thanks to a host of A-Leagues talents. The Under-20 national team is benefiting from regular minutes at professional level as the numbers show.
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After conquering rivals Japan en route to Saturday’s decider, Australia’s Under-20 team are through to their first AFC U20 Asian Cup final since 2010, having also qualified for the FIFA U20 World Cup for the first time in 12 years.
Of the squad who have created that history, 17 of 23 are currently playing their club football in the A-Leagues. All 23 have spent some time on the books of an A-Leagues club.
How to watch the Under-20 Asian Cup Final
Young Socceroos v Saudi Arabia
Date: Saturday, March 1 2025
Venue: Baoan Sports Centre Stadium – Shenzhen, China
Kick-off: 10.30pm (AEDT)
Broadcast: LIVE and FREE on 10 BOLD
There are layers to this memorable run, though. The manner in which Trevor Morgan’s side have progressed in Shenzhen, where they have won all five of their fixtures so far, but also the fact this achievement has been built around a special cohort who have benefited from a significant amount of professional minutes at a young age.
This Young Socceroos squad have tallied more than 12,200 professional match minutes in over 250 games across senior level heading into the 2025 tournament.
| Young Socceroos Asian Cup Squad | Match Minutes in the Isuzu UTE A-League at time of tournament | Starts in the Isuzu UTE A-League at time of tournament | Result at AFC U20 Asian Cup |
| 2025 | 12,136 | 127 | Finalists* |
| 2023 | 11,110 | 104 | Quarter-finals |
| 2018 | 2,755 | 27 | Quarter-finals |
| 2016 | 5,379 | 61 | Group Stage |
| 2014 | 7,858 | 77 | Group Stage |
| 2012 | 6,399 | 71 | Semi-finals |
| 2010 | 6,655 | 72 | Runners-Up |
Of those stats, 12,136 minutes have come in the Isuzu UTE A-League from 127 starts. Australian national teams – from the triumphant Joeys at the Hattrick U17 International Tournament in the United Arab Emirates to the Young Socceroos are clearly benefiting from an investment in and focus on youth.
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To put that into context, the 2023 Young Socceroos amassed 11,110 match minutes in the Isuzu UTE A-League from 104 starts.
When the Young Socceroos reached the 2010 Asian Cup final before losing to North Korea, players had tallied just over 8,000 senior match minutes in either the Isuzu UTE A-League or abroad prior the tournament.
It further highlights opportunities given by A-Leagues clubs, and the proof is in the numbers.
The Isuzu UTE A-League ranks second globally behind only the Serbian SuperLiga for percentage of match minutes given to players born in or after 2004, according to CIES Football Observatory based on current or last completed seasons in top 50 divisions worldwide.
“I think if you look at this Young Socceroos team, the reason that everybody’s so excited, obviously now they’re qualified, but also going forward, is because you look at the squad and all these players have already made their mark on the A-League in some capacity,” retired Socceroo and former A-Leagues star Tommy Oar said on Total A-Leagues this week.
“When I was coming through, I hadn’t even made an A-League appearance when I went to my first World Cup and played. So it’s very much at a different stage of their career.
“If you look at the Young Socceroos now, and that’s been a testament to the A-League and what the clubs have done and kind of blooded the younger players and give them an opportunity.
“So far, they’ve passed with flying colours. It’s going to be interesting to see as well when it does get closer to that World Cup.
“I’m sure there is every possibility for players to perform well in that tournament and to earn kind of good transfer fees for their A-League club. So I think that it’s exciting all around well.”
2010 AFC U19 Championship squad
Coach: Jan Versleijen
Result: Runners-up
Pro match minutes leading into tournament: 8,159 (estimated)
Mark Birighitti (Adelaide United)
Dylan McGowan (Hearts, Scotland)
Brendan Hamill (Melbourne City)
Sam Gallagher (Central Coast Mariners)
Jason Davidson (Pacos de Ferreira)
Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle Jets)
Kofi Danning (Sydney FC)
Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC)
Eli Babalj (Melbourne City)
Kerem Bulut (Mlada Boleslav, Czechia)
Tommy Oar (FC Utrecht, Netherlands)
Mathew Leckie (Adelaide)
Terry Antonis (Sydney FC)
Daniel Bowles (Brisbane Roar)
Ryan Edwards (AIS)
Matthew Fletcher (Sunderland, England)
Matt Acton (Brisbane Roar)
Mustafa Amini (Central Mariners)
Nikola Stanojevic (Central Mariners)
Steven Lustica (Gold Coast United)
Marc Warren (Central Mariners)
Dimitri Petratos (Sydney FC)
Alex Pearson (Perth Glory)
2012 U19 Championship squad
Coach: Paul Okon
Result: Semi-finals (4th)
Pro match minutes leading into tournament: 7,032 (estimated)
Paul Izzo (Adelaide United)
Josh Brillante (Newcastle Jets)
Connor Chapman (Newcastle Jets)
Curtis Good (Newcastle United, England)
Corey Brown (Brisbane Roar)
Reece Caira (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Corey Gameiro (FC Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Terry Antonis (Sydney FC)
Adam Taggart (Newcastle Jets)
Jamie Maclaren (Blackburn Rovers, England)
Ryan Edwards (Reading, England)
Liam Jacob (Oldham, England)
Tom King (Bristol City, England)
Ryan Williams (Fulham, England)
Jason Geria (Brisbane Roar)
Jackson Irvine (Celtic, Scotland)
Hayden Morton (Central Coast Mariners)
Jack Duncan (Newcastle Jets)
Ben Garuccio (Melbourne City)
Mustafa Amini (Borussia Dortmund, Germany)
Mitchell Oxborrow (Newcastle Jets)
David Vrankovic (Melbourne City)
Travis Cooper (VVV-Venlo, Netherlands)
2014 AFC U19 Championship squad
Coach: Paul Okon
Result: Group stage (9th)
Pro match minutes leading into tournament: 8,218 (estimated)
Anthony Bouzanis (Sydney FC)
Paul Izzo (Adelaide United)
Jordan Thurtell (Perth Glory)
Daniel Alessi (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Shayne D’Cunha (Blacktown City, NSW)
Scott Galloway (Melbourne Victory)
Dylan Murnane (Melbourne Victory)
Ben Warland (Adelaide United)
Riley Woodcock (Perth Glory)
Mark Ochieng (Adelaide United)
Cameron Burgess (Fulham, England) 360
Shannon Brady (Brisbane Roar)
Jordan Brown (Melbourne Victory)
Daniel De Silva (Perth Glory)
Hagi Gligor (Sydney FC)
Chris Ikonomidis (Lazio, Italy)
Stefan Mauk (Melbourne City)
Chris Naumoff (Sydney FC)
Brandon Borrello (Brisbane Roar)
Awer Mabil (Adelaide United)
Liam Rose (Central Coast Mariners)
Peter Skapetis (Stoke City, England)
Jaushua Sotirio (Western Sydney Wanderers)
2016 AFC U19 Championship squad
Coach: Ufuk Talay
Result: Group stage (11th)
Pro match minutes leading into tournament: 6,079 (estimated)
Daniel Margush (Adelaide United)
Tom Glover (Tottenham, England)
Jasko Keranovic (WBA, England)
Jordan Holmes (Bournemouth, England)
William Mutch (Sydney FC)
Thomas Deng (Jong PSV, Netherland)
Jackson Bandiera (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Connor O’Toole (Brisbane Roar)
Patrick Flottmann (Sydney FC)
George Timotheou (Sydney FC)
Liam Rose (Central Coast Mariners)
Anthony Kalik (Hajduk Split, Croatia) 700
Tariq Maia (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Josh Hope (Melbourne Victory)
Jake Brimmer (Liverpool, England)
Keanu Baccus (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Liam Youlley (Western Sydney Wanderers)
George Mells (Adelaide United)
Lachlan Scott (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Reno Piscopo (Inter, Italy)
Mario Shabow (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Jayden Prasad (Brisbane Roar)
George Blackwood (Sydney FC)
Joseph Champness (Brisbane Roar)
Steve Kuzmanovski (Melbourne City)
2018 AFC U19 Championship squad
Coach: Ante Milicic
Result: Quarter-finals (6th)
Pro match minutes leading into tournament: 3,059 (estimated)
James Delianov (Melbourne City)
Macklin Freke (Brisbane Roar)
Djuro Dragicevic (Sydney FC)
Nathaniel Atkinson (Melbourne City)
Tass Mourdoukoutas (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Con Ouzounidis (Everton, England)
Dylan Pierias (Melbourne City)
Walter Scott (Perth Glory)
Dylan Ryan (Willem II, Netherlands)
Mathieu Cordier (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Tate Russell (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Sebastian Pasquali (Ajax, Netherlands)
Ramy Najjarine (Melbourne City)
Connor Metcalfe (Melbourne City)
Christian Theoharous (Borussia Monchengladbach, Germany) 127
Angus Thurgate (Newcastle Jets)
Joshua Cavallo (Melbourne City)
Moudi Najjar (Melbourne City)
John Iredale (Heerenveen, Netherlands)
Ben Folami (Ipswich Town, England) 177
Oliver Puflett (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos (Adelaide United)
John Roberts (Western Sydney Wanderers)
2023 AFC U20 Asian Cup squad (2020 tournament cancelled due to COVID-19)
Coach: Trevor Morgan
Result: Quarter-finals (5th)
Pro match minutes leading into tournament: 12,669 (estimated)
Jack Warshawsky (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Joshua Rawlins (Utrecht, Netherlands) 1229
Nectarios Triantis (Central Coast Mariners)
Chris Donnell (Perth Glory)
Matt Dench (Charlton, England)
Rhys Boznivovski (Western United)
Bernardo Oliveira (Adelaide United)
Alessandro Lopane (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Gabriel Popovic (Rudes, Croatia) 330
Adrian Segecic (Sydney FC)
Raphael Rodrigues (Melbourne City)
James Nieuwenhuizen (Melbourne City)
Panashe Madanha (Adelaide United)
Kaelan Majekodunmi (Perth Glory)
Joseph Forde (Perth Glory)
Jake Girdwood-Reich (Sydney)
Aidan Simmons (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Alex Robinson (Macarthur Bulls)
Archie Godwin (Newcastle Jets)
Badolato (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Jed Drew (Macarthur Bulls)
Jing Reec (AGF, Denmark)
Jonny Yull (Adelaide United)
*2025 AFC U20 Asian Cup squad
Coach: Trevor Morgan
Result: TBC
Pro match minutes leading into tournament: 12,804 (estimated)
Steven Hall (Brighton and Hove Albion, England)
Luka Jovanovic (Adelaide United)
Panagiotis Kikianis (Adelaide United)
Fabian Talladira (Adelaide United)
Jonny Yull (Adelaide United)
Sebastian Esposito (Lecce, Italy)
Lucas Herrington (Brisbane Roar)
Paul Okon-Engstler (Benfica, Portugal)
Daniel Bennie (QPR, England)
Dean Bosnjak (Macarthur Bulls)
Frans Deli (Macarthur Bulls)
Oliver Randazzo (Macarthur Bulls)
Alexander Robinson (Macarthur Bulls)
Medin Memeti (Melbourne City)
Joshua Inserra (Melbourne Victory)
Musa Toure (Randers, Denmark)
Jaylan Pearman (Perth Glory)
Adam Bugarija (Perth Glory)
Zach Lisolajski (Perth Glory)
Louis Agosti (Perugia, Italy)
Tiago Quintal (Sydney FC)
Gus Hoefsloot (Sydney FC)
Alexander Badolato (Melbourne Victory, on loan from Western Sydney Wanderers)
