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The Live Sport Bible is here!Volpato reveals reason behind alligence switch
Nicholas Quinlan • June 6th, 2026 9:32 pm
New Socceroo Cristian Volpato has spoken for the first time following his decision to switch his international allegiances.
It’s been a whirlwind week for the Italian youth representative, born in Camperdown, NSW after he made the bombshell decision to change his allegiances to the Socceroos on the eve of the FIFA World Cup™.
It’s not the first time that the attacking midfielder from Serie A side U.S. Sassuolo has been attempted to be recruited by the Socceroos having initially rejecting Graham Arnold’s pitch ahead of the 2022 edition while representing AS Roma.
Having now joined Tony Popovic’s base camp for the 48-team tournament in Oakland, California, the 22-year-old said he was scared to make the switch to Australia.
But he admitted it was time to come home.
"Obviously, playing in a World Cup for your nation is something unreal," he explained.
"Playing for Italy was also good and amazing. But maybe when I was 18, maybe I was a bit too young, and maybe I was a bit too scared to make the change straight away, so maybe I was in my comfort zone a bit, playing for Italy.
"Something, I don't know, in my heart just said, 'I think it's time to come home'."
With Volpato’s Italian heritage coming on both sides of the family, he notes the decision was not easy to come to.
“Everyone knows I’m Italian and I’m Australian,” Volpato added.
“So, it’s actually been a big decision that’s always been on my head 24/7 for quite a while.
“It’s really hard because people want you to choose one or the other.
“But at the end of the day, like a lot of Australians were brought up being both, being something else and Australian.
“You don’t want to choose one or the other. It’s been hard, and obviously, I do feel Australian.
“So, it felt really good coming here and being bought in by the boys.”
The Socceroos have one final friendly against Switzerland on Sunday morning (AEST time) in San Diego before they begin their FIFA World Cup™ campaign.
Their first game in the tournament will be against Türkiye on June 14 in Vancouver from 2pm AEST.
And you won’t miss a moment of the match with SEN, the official radio broadcaster of the 2026 FIFA World Cup™.
