In brief
- Goalkeeper Patrick Beach and his other team mates were surprised by his substitution just before the penalty shootouts.
- Egypt converted all four penalties to eliminate Australia from the World Cup.
In the 119th minute of Australia's World Cup clash with Egypt, Tony Popovic made a stunning call — he replaced young goalkeeper Patrick Beach with experienced Mathew Ryan, who hadn't played a single minute in the tournament.
The gamble did not pay off.
Egypt converted all four penalties to eliminate Australia from the World Cup after a 1–1 draw following extra time, prompting criticism of the head coach.
Benching Beach, who had an impressive tournament, caught many by surprise — including himself.
"I didn't know [about the substitution], I found out at the same time you guys did. I just saw, obviously, my name came up, and just jugged off," he told SBS.
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"[I] knew that it was obviously a plan behind something there, and I was just happy I did my part for the team when I was on the field."
"Every goalkeeper wants to go the whole way and be the man there and try and do their best whether it's myself ot Matty [Ryan] ... We both know that the only important thing is that the team wins".
"There was a decision made that they thought was best, and we just acted on it."
The 22-year-old Melbourne City goalkeeper made the headlines when he started in Australia's first match against Türkiye and was in the lineup for all other matches, while many expected him to be Popovic's third-choice keeper.
Some other players, such as Jackson Irvine and Harry Souttar, said they were also unaware of the decision.
"Probably just before half-time of extra time, I got told that if we weren’t going to make any more subs, right at the end they were going to put me in there," he said.
"I prepared as if I was going to play before the game or be in that scenario as I always do … Hurting at the moment because I wasn’t able to produce for myself, for my teammates and for the country."
It is not the first time a manager has decided to change their goalkeeper during a World Cup knockout match just before a penalty shootout.
In the 2014 World Cup quarterfinal, Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal substituted his keeper Jasper Cillessen with Tim Krul, who saved two of the penalties against Costa Rica.
But the risk didn't pay dividends for the Socceroos this time.
Popovich has defended his decision, saying the team "felt that Maty’s experience would be the difference".
"In the end, it didn’t, it didn’t work out that way, but not because of Maty’s poor judgment or lack of ability; they took critical penalties," he said.
You can watch all 104 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ live, free and exclusive on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
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