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The Live Sport Bible is here!Promising Socceroos hold Swiss to stalemate in final friendly
Jaiden Sciberras • June 7th, 2026 11:48 am
The Socceroos will take plenty of confidence from their final pre-FIFA World Cup friendly, holding Switzerland to a well-deserved 1-1 draw in San Diego.
With all but three of Australia's 23 selected outfield players featuring in the friendly, the Socceroos put their hard work to the test against an incredibly strong Swiss side.
Here's everything you might have missed from Sunday morning's fixture.
Starting XI
Head coach Tony Popovic opted to move the magnets ahead of this morning's contest, making seven changes to the 11 that fell to Mexico last weekend.
Resting keeper Maty Ryan, Melbourne City's Patrick Beach was given his opportunity in net, while opting to maintain what is expected to be a first-choice defensive trio of Lucas Herrington, Harry Souttar and Alessandro Circati.
Aziz Behich and Kai Trewin manned the wings, with Paul Okon-Englster starting alongside Aiden O'Neill in the centre of midfield.
The fixture also saw an incredibly exciting front three, with Nestory Irankunda and Cristian Volpato sitting behind debutant striker Tete Yengi.
As for Switzerland, they went in with a full strength starting XI, with captain Granit Xhaka leading the way.
State of play
As has become a trend under Popovic, the Socceroos were very slow to start.
Outside of an incredibly early chance for Tete Yengi, the Swiss dominated the play early, holding a majority of possession and threatening Australia's goal.
In fact, just 14 minutes into the contest, Switzerland would break through, with captain Xhaka threading the needle to winger Dan Ndoye who finished past Beach to make it 1-0.
And despite going down, Australia couldn't wrestle back control in the first half.
In what was a positive sign, the Socceroos were very threatening on the counter; with both Irankunda and Volpato picking up the ball deep in midfield and driving at the Swiss' defence, both Manuel Akanji and Granit Xhaka were forced into first half bookings in order to halt the fast-paced attack.
Just two shots and a 1-0 deficit at the half, the play flipped on its head after the break, hardly deviating from the usual script.
Substitute Connor Metcalfe entered the game and impacted immediately, receiving a peach of a long ball from Aziz Behich, beating the Swiss' defensive line before squaring it to Tete Yengi for his first goal as a Socceroo.
An even three shots apiece in the second half, neither side could break the deadlock, with a much-improved performance seeing through a strong 1-1 draw ahead of the World Cup.
Tony Popovic post-game
"I think it's nice that we got a result in the end," he told Paramount.
"We're playing a very, very strong nation, so I'm pleased about that.
"Good response in the second half. A lot of different faces on the field, and the young boys acquitted themselves well."
Tete Yengi with a goal on debut, you must be delighted!
"Yeah, he found it a bit difficult in the first half.
"Our front three - first time playing together, it was a little bit disjointed, not really quite sure what to do with and without the ball.
"But they settled in the second half, Nestor got better, Tete got better and Connor did really well when he came on.
"That helped us build the play a bit better and make better decisions."
Did you get what you needed out of the game?
"Without a doubt.
"Conditions were warm, it's sticky, the pitch, so it's a good experience for us.
"A wonderful opponent. When you look in the first XI and you look at where they are all playing before the game.
"We just had to get through that first part, fortunately we didn't concede another goal.
"Second half we had a good passage of play there where we looked quite good for 20 minutes."
Have you settled on your starting XI?
"This all plays a part - experience for the players.
"It's nice to not have any injuries after this game, that's the most important part.
"Being competitive - we were competitive and we scored a really nice goal.
"I'm happy and looking forward to next week."
World Cup expectations
With two friendlies to look into prior to the start of the World Cup next week, what can we expect from this Socceroos' side?
Predicted XI
Popovic will emply his typical 5-2-3 formation, with Maty Ryan in net and Jordan Bos and Jacob Italiano set to line up as wing backs.
From left to right, Lucas Herrington, Harry Souttar and Alessandro Circati will likely make up the three central defensive positions. As it stands, 18-year-old Herrington will edge out Cam Burgess after starting in both friendly matches.
Aiden O'Neill is likely to line up alongside Captain Jackson Irvine in midfield, while our starting attack is yet to be settled.
Mo Toure appears the most likely number nine to start, although Tete Yengi's promising performance could see him in contention.
Nestory Irankunda, Connor Metcalfe, Cristian Volpato and Matthew Leckie will battle it out for the two wing positions.
Style of play
The script writes itself.
Tony Popovic likes to sit deep early, and attack late. Expect a deep unit in the first half, absorbing pressure and counter attacking when opportunities present.
Second half, different game. Defensive line steps up, creativity on the ball, fresh legs.
This Socceroos side is as fit as any entering this tournament, so our second halves and late-game scenarios will likely present our best opportunities.
How far can we go?
It goes without saying that Australia are far from the favourites, but we certainly have the talent to shake things up.
Advancing from the group stages should be our bare minimum expectation, with a win and a draw from three games likely to be enough to advance from the top three places.
A third place finish in the group could see our tournament end at the Round of 32, with Germany expected to top Group E and face whichever Group D side that advances from third (if third advances).
However, a Round of 16 appearance would be an almighty success for the Socceroos this year.
The FIFA World Cup kicks off on Friday morning, with hosts Mexico kicking off proceedings against South Africa at 5am AEST.
Australia commences their campaign next Sunday, taking on Turkiye on Sunday at 2pm.
