World Cup Qualification Thread for 2026 - Socceroos/Asia

[patjennings]

There are some selections where the hype plays a part. Tommy Oar when fans were desperate for any young player. Fornaroli at the Asian cup after he went on that run of goals.
Some players seem to get hyped up while others don't. Everyone wanted Nisbet picked by Arnold, but very little noise about Ballard, who has now progressed further. Botic but not Goodwin who also scored the same number of goals.
James Holland played for years at Austria Wien, won a title, barely anyone cares. Botic will go there, if he plays regularly, will be a must pick.
Kuol and Irankunda are just the most recent over hyped kids with talent. I get the excitement as well. But football is brutal, and eventually you are sorted into your level. Fans only remember when they were right about the hype.

Ballard and Nisbet are the perfect foils for each other. As for James Holland he was picked as a DM, ignored the role over a few games as he wanted to be the AM and we struggled to win this games as others had to scramble to cover him. He could do either role - nut he wouldn't listen to the manager and was eased out.

 

[JS96]

James Holland was a horrible footballer for Australia. Massive error prone rogue.

 

[onedaywinners...]

Funnily enough he always had decent attributes on Football Manager but played terribly and got atrocious ratings....jeez I miss that game

 

[huddo]

There are some selections where the hype plays a part. Tommy Oar when fans were desperate for any young player. Fornaroli at the Asian cup after he went on that run of goals.
Some players seem to get hyped up while others don't. Everyone wanted Nisbet picked by Arnold, but very little noise about Ballard, who has now progressed further. Botic but not Goodwin who also scored the same number of goals.
James Holland played for years at Austria Wien, won a title, barely anyone cares. Botic will go there, if he plays regularly, will be a must pick.
Kuol and Irankunda are just the most recent over hyped kids with talent. I get the excitement as well. But football is brutal, and eventually you are sorted into your level. Fans only remember when they were right about the hype.

Most Mariners fans knew Maxi was going to go far, too smart not to. Just saw a lot more versatility from Nizzy.

 

[grazorblade]

James Holland was a horrible footballer for Australia. Massive error prone rogue.

He was a decent player, just in a position where we have even better players

We have never been in a position where fans will clamour for a midfielder getting game time in the austrian bundesliga

Any other position and its another matter, particularly striker

These days even if oli jones carves up the danish league as a youngish player it will barely register unless their is an injury crisis

 

[JS96]

He was a decent player, just in a position where we have even better players

We have never been in a position where fans will clamour for a midfielder getting game time in the austrian bundesliga

Any other position and its another matter, particularly striker

These days even if oli jones carves up the danish league as a youngish player it will barely register unless their is an injury crisis

He carved out a decent club career. Thankfully we did have better players. That first half against Oman was atrocious but Holger was part of the issue too.

We've had a long list of brief call ins and they've gotten a lot of press but wouldn't play. If they did they generally looked good. Jones is not even short listed but he'd probably come in and do a professional job like Rowles, Thwaite and others did on debut.

 

[JS96]

Just watched the Saudi game again. Didn't realise how hyped the team embraced after the penalty save. How can you not love Degenek clapping and laughing.

78min saw nice quick play with a good McGree long ball and that Toure heel to Tilio was something else.

 

[verrelli]

Draw for next round of World Cup qualifying has been announced. Arnie's Iraq up against Saudi and Indonesia:

Qatar and Saudi Arabia find out AFC qualifying fate for 2026 FIFA World Cup

The draw for the fourth round of AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been made in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Quicky]

Draw for next round of World Cup qualifying has been announced. Arnie's Iraq up against Saudi and Indonesia:

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/20...p-qatar-saudi-arabia-afc-qualifiers- revealed

Draw for next round of World Cup qualifying has been announced. Arnie's Iraq up against Saudi and Indonesia:

Qatar and Saudi Arabia find out AFC qualifying fate for 2026 FIFA World Cup

The draw for the fourth round of AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been made in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

www.aljazeera.com

Iraq could make it through.