Socceroos Coach Sees Bright Future for Young Players

Socceroos coach Tony Popovic believes the A-League's financial changes will benefit young Australian players and boost the national team's chances.

Socceroos coach Tony Popovic believes the A-League's financial challenges could benefit Australia's young players. With clubs cutting costs, talented youngsters may get opportunities to shine and push for national team selection.

A-League's Financial Overhaul

The A-League's 20th season has been marked by cost-cutting measures, including a significant reduction in annual distributions to clubs from $2 million to $530,000, as administrators aim to curb recent losses.

Opportunity for Young Players

Socceroos coach Tony Popovic believes the A-League's financial changes will benefit young Australian players. “If you're a good young player in Australia at the moment, you should be really happy,” he said. “The bosses of the clubs and people putting money into the game, they're doing it very hard.”

Popovic noted that young players are already thriving in the league. “From a playing side, the young players are really flourishing at the moment. With the cuts for the salary cap you can only envisage that getting even stronger,” he added. “From a playing point of view and Socceroos coach, I'm delighted to see all the youngsters playing. That obviously helps us and helps the under-20s, under-23s.”

A-League players comprised a significant portion of the Socceroos squad in the last World Cup qualifying window, and coach Tony Popovic is likely to include many more local players in the upcoming matches against Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Australia, currently second in Group C behind Japan, faces a crucial challenge in securing an automatic ticket to the 2026 World Cup, to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Socceroos have an impressive record under Popovic, with no losses in qualifiers since he took over, and they held Japan to a 1-1 draw in Saitama last October. Their next match against Japan is on June 5 in Perth.

🚨 The A-League's financial woes may be tough on clubs but the situation provides a huge opportunity for Australia's young talent to push for international selection, according to Socceroos coach Tony Popovic. pic.twitter.com/gS1DII1Q2b

— Sports Reels TV (@sportsreelstv) May 5, 2025

“We know we're in a good position but we're playing the best team in Asia now,” he said of the Japan test.

“The challenge is, can we put on a better performance now than we did in Japan? We know we got a great result (there). Can we play better?

“That's what I'd love to see happen to show our growth since that match.”