As recently as last month, Tony Popovic thought Socceroos star Jackson Irvine wouldn’t be available to play the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But with the midfielder back and playing regularly in the Bundesliga, Australia’s head coach is hopeful that he’ll have the St. Pauli talisman at his disposal in June, even if his troublesome foot will require management every step of the way until then.
One of the Socceroos’ most important players as they turned their World Cup qualification campaign around following Popovic’s appointment, a stress reaction in his foot requiring surgery caused Irvine to miss wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia that secured Australia’s progression to the global showpiece.
Irvine returned to the squad for friendlies against Venezuela and Colombia last November, but a recurrence of the foot injury in January saw St. Pauli declare that the 33-year-old would be out “until further notice.” Further notice, however, ended up being all of two games, with Irvine returning off the bench in the Hamburg Derby on Jan. 23 and featuring in every game as Die Kiezkicker’s moved out of the German top flight’s relegation zone.
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“He’s managing it,” Popovic said of Irvine’s foot. “He’s playing and playing well. And [St Pauli] have been on a wonderful run since he’s been back in the team. It will be an ongoing issue, the foot, that he’ll have to manage in the short term. And we’ll have to see whether that can be managed all the way through to the World Cup.
“Obviously, selfishly for us, we hope he can. He’s a wonderful player and leader, which he’s showing for his club side at the moment. We’d love to have him with the World Cup. But we also know that with that injury, it can turn quickly. He’s experienced, so he knows how to manage his body, and he’s doing a really good job at that.
“Basically, with him, it’s day by day, week by week. In January, I thought he was out of the World Cup. Last month, I still felt the same. And now we’re at this stage, we’re getting to March, and he’s still fit, healthy, playing really well. Hopefully, that can continue.”
Another injury headache for the Socceroos coach is Harry Souttar, who hasn’t played a competitive fixture since rupturing his Achilles tendon in late 2024, with a knee injury suffered in January requiring minor surgery and adding to his woes.
But with the towering defender — who is now back in full training with Leicester City as the Foxes slip into a relegation battle in the Championship — a regular starter when he was healthy for Popovic, the coach wouldn’t close the door on his return to the Socceroos, be it in the coming window or before the squad is named in May.
“Harry had a knee injury … so that was a bit of a setback for him, because he was progressing well,” said Popovic. “He’s back training with the team now. I believe it’s his second week that is full contact, full training. How that looks for him at Leicester, I don’t know. In terms of his coach [Gary Rowett], does he feel that he’s ready to step in, in the situation that Leicester is in? We hope he does, because we want him to play. I’m sure [Rowett] can see that he’s a quality footballer. I’ve got no doubt he can see that. It’s just whether he believes that he’s ready to help the team now, or whether he needs to wait.
“Of course, we’d love [Souttar] to play some games for his own confidence, for his own well-being, to feel like ‘I’ve been out for over 15 months and I’m back playing at this level.’
“[It] can only help us, the Socceroos, coming into that main training camp.”
