Tony Popovic's Socceroos' squad will face Egypt for their Round of 32 at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ at Arlington, Texas, at 4am on 4th July AEST. Didier Deschamps' France sent another warning to the rest of the tournament with a dominant 4-1 win over Norway. Ousmane Dembélé scored a hat-trick, while Kylian Mbappé continued his electric form. Why was Norway’s Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard on the bench today? Senegal has made World Cup history after the African side’s 5-nil win against Australia's Graham Arnold's Iraq team. Historic moment for Cape Verde as they proceed to the knockout stage of the World Cup, following their nil-all draw against Saudi Arabia. Álex Baena gave Spain a 1-nil win against Uruguay. Belgium are off and running to the knockout stage, after a strong 5-1 win against New Zealand, and Egypt drew with Iran 1-all. Join your host Haylena Krishnamoorthy for this episode of World Cup Daily | The 90+ Podcast, as she discusses Australia’s final group stage match with former Socceroo legend and SBS’ pundit, Harry Kewell. How far can the Socceroos’ go at this World Cup?
The Socceroos wrap up their group stage with another solid defensive performance.
But who will they face in the Round of 32?
A hat-trick for one of the best teams on the global stage.
Historic milestone for an African nation in a men's FIFA World Cup match.
And..has Cape Verde made its mark in World Cup history?
This is SBS News’ World Cup Daily: The 90+ Podcast, where we bring you the stories from on and beyond the pitch. I’m your host, Haylena Krishnamoorthy.
"The squad that he picked for Türkiye was was the right call. I felt the squad that he picked for the USA was the right call. So there was a lot of lot of questions being asked, or what type of squad he was going to pick for the Paraguay game, and he got a spot on. Now, when I say spot on, I say the players that came in did an excellent job. (Lucas) Harrington was fantastic, especially at the back, you know, Aziz (Behich) and (Jordy) Bos swapping side well as he's coming in and boss trading the left side for the right side. I thought he was excellent. Volpato done well, him and his connection with boss was excellent, but for me the big one was Jackson Irvine."
That's football legend, former Socceroo and SBS' pundit, Harry Kewell.
I caught up with him, after Australia finished the group stage with a hard-fought nil-nil draw against Paraguay, yesterday.
Tony Popovic freshened up his starting eleven, giving several players a chance to stake their claim ahead of the knockout rounds.
Kewell tells me the changes showed this squad has real adaptability, and that Popovic isn't afraid to trust players who haven't featured heavily so far.
But as he pointed out, one player stood above the rest - Jackson Irvine.
He says Irvine controlled the tempo, stayed composed in possession and was the best player on the pitch.
"I thought him coming in, he was disciplined, he was organised, he showed that composure, he got on the ball, he wasn't afraid to play forward, he gets in the box, he, he was for me the best player on the pitch. I mean, I know Metcalf come in as well, which was excellent, but for me Jason Irvine was probably the outstanding player for me."
The biggest question, though, remains Australia's attack.
There's been plenty of discussion around Nestory Irankunda's positional play.
Does he play up front? Does he play in behind? Does he play out wide?
This is what Kewell - who sits as the only Australian-born player to win the UEFA Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 - has to say about it.
"Look, that's for Popovic to decide, but we will judge like anyone. We have an opinion when we see him play up top, is that his correct position? I thought first half he wasn't really in the game, he was kind of lost between the three central defenders, and when I think it was Volpato or Bos crossed the ball, can't remember which one. Right, to be a striker, to lead the line, you've got to be in there to take them chances. And he wasn't there. Second half, he did a lot better. He was a lot more mobile, he was aggressive, he was trying to get on the ball, which was excellent. He was playing one, two touches, moving the ball."
He also commends Jordy Bos - saying his second-half performance was outstanding.
"Jordy Bos, for me, ran the show in the second half with the runs that he was doing down the right-hand side, cutting inside, he was essing, getting shots off."
But Kewell's biggest concern is Australia's finishing.
"Our goal scoring, we need to be able to get more attempts on goal, but score goals, we can't go into a World Cup just holding off, maybe looking for a set piece or a counter attacking. I think we need to be able to create more chances, and chances come with playing a little bit more free, letting the shackles off, which I felt we did. You know, in two thirds of the pitch, it's just the final third. We lack that cutting edge, and if we can get that cutting edge in the next game, this young squad, which everyone's talking about, can maybe surprise (some teams)."
So - I asked him - how far can Australia go past the knockout stage.
Since I spoke to Kewell, we now know that Australia will face Egypt for the first time at the World Cup in their round of 32.
The match will be held at Arlington, Texas, at 4am on the 4th of July AEST.
This is what he had to say about their possibilities earlier.
"We have to wait to see who we play. That's a big thing. The possibilities are obviously with the four: Egypt, New Zealand, Iran, or Belgium. I think the ones that you really want to try and avoid is Egypt and maybe Belgium, but they look like the ones that could possibly go through, like that group's all open. It'd be fantastic to draw New Zealand, that would be a great, great game to watch, but look, whoever we face, it's always going to be a difficult game, you know? Once you get through the group stages, which they successfully navigated through, it's all about now. Of knockout stages, so this is where you have to play your best football. This is where you have to strike when your chances are low, you've got to be able to be clinical, and hopefully we can do that and progress one step further."
Elsewhere at the World Cup, (coach) Didier Deschamps' France sent another warning to the rest of the tournament with a dominant 4-1 win over Norway.
Ousmane Dembélé scored a hat-trick, while Kylian Mbappé continued his electric form.
Kewell says France look almost impossible to stop when they hit top gear.
"Going forward they look unstoppable. (Ousmane) Dembélé obviously scored a hat trick today, and (Kylian) Mbappé is on fire. At least he's like incredible. He's the most hot topic at the moment. (Désiré) Doué a is excellent. They at any moment in the game today, they looked like they could have destroyed Norway. They took the foot off the pedal and allowed Norway to get a goal, and then kind of come back into the game, but at any moment they could just up the gears. Now that's going to be a difficult team to beat."
Despite the defeat, Norway will still advance in the knockout stage.
Beyond the match itself, the football world is still left wondering why Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard were on the bench.
Meanwhile, Senegal has made World Cup history.
They are now the first African side to record a 5-nil win at the tournament, after a dominant performance against Australia's Graham Arnold's Iraq team in Toronto.
Ismaila Sarr doubled Senegal's lead early in the second half, before Pape Gueye wrapped up the scoring with the fifth goal.
Iraq finished the match with 10 men after defender Rebin Sulaka was sent off for a foul on Senegal star Sadio Mané, who plays for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr.
Here's Graham Arnold after the match.
"Everyone in Iraq should be proud of the fact that we made it here, and we performed very well out of the three games, and for me today it was all about the red card that cost us."
The result puts Senegal in a strong position to reach the knockout stage, as one of the tournament's eight best third-placed teams.
Elsewhere, Cape Verde will now make it to the knockout stage of the World Cup, after it's nil-all draw against Saudi Arabia.
"They have stood firm against Uruguay, and now they have finished the job. The men from the tiny island, in the Atlantic, are through the knockout phase, of the FIFA World Cup, on their World Cup debut."
This marks a historic moment for the third smallest nation - with more than 500,000 people - playing at the global stage for their first time.
The team's goalkeeper - 40 year-old Vozinha - has made headlines, and amassed close to 17 million followers as of today on Instagram.
His following came after his historic performance and remarkable saves against one of the best teams, Spain [[16 June match.
And today, Álex Baena gave Spain a 1-nil win against Uruguay a shocking exit for Uruguay.
And Egypt played Iran today and drew 1-all.
Meanwhile, Belgium are off and running to the knockout stage, after a strong 5-1 win against New Zealand.
Looking ahead to the teams capable of winning it all, Kewell says England are right in the mix despite criticism of Thomas Tuchel's squad selection.
And then there's the usual heavyweights.
Argentina have started strongly, Portugal continue to build, Brazil are always dangerous, and France may well be the team everyone has to beat.
Kewell believes the favourites are simply building through the group stage before the round of 32 begins.
"I think England's got a good chance. I think the squad that I know there's a lot of people finger pointing at Thomas Tuchel about the squad that he picked, but I think his squad's excellent. I think it complements each player. Argentina, obviously, Messi got off to a flying start. Portugal are no slouches, they can obviously turn up the heat. Brazil is Brazil, so you're going to have all these top teams. I think they're just navigating themselves through the group stages, first get through the next round, and then I think you're going to really see the top teams really put the medal to the pedal and progress further down the line."
And to catch up on all of the highlights you can head on to SBS ON Demand.
For the last day before the knockouts tomorrow, we have Panama up against England, Croatia vs Ghana, Colombia faces Portugal,..DR Congo against Uzbekistan, Algeria facing Austria and Jordan up against Argentina.
Stay tuned for the latest at the World Cup Daily | The 90+ Podcast.
And to get the latest World Cup news, check out SBS News Headlines, wherever you get your podcasts.
