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The moment Tony Popovic eventually assembled his maiden Socceroos squad, the fresh coach presented a range of standards. The majority were straightforward and concise – ideal given the disruption following his abrupt appointment, in the wake of Graham Arnold’s exit, and with less than three weeks to make arrangements for crucial 2026 World Cup fixtures against China and Japan.

Popovic insisted that any player who aspired to pull on a Socceroos shirt would need to embrace an “top-tier” mentality to deserve, or keep that distinction. But there was another message. Not so much an order and an invitation to excel – and one that has been brought clearer into perspective with each step taken on the road towards the World Cup in North America.

“My expectations were to do something special, in my first talk to the players,” Popovic says. “That hasn’t changed.”

Approximately a year on from that team talk in an Adelaide hotel, many of other things have shifted, even if Popovic’s expectations stay the same. The coach, for one, appears really at home as Socceroos manager. The 52-year-old’s reputation for austerity stands in stark contrast with the open and at times light-hearted figure speaking freely for over an hour in what have become periodic interviews with football media. Likewise have the results of his team improved, with thoughts of a setback to Bahrain and draw with Indonesia appearing quite distant after victories over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June secured the Socceroos’ berth in next year’s worldwide tournament.

Those wins came as part of an 11-game undefeated streak under Popovic, one that was only ended away by the United States earlier this month. It’s form that has taken the Socceroos to the unlikely edge of breaking into pot two in the World Cup draw. The outcomes of November exhibition games against Venezuela, at the moment ranked 50th in the world, and 13th-ranked Colombia – as well as Ecuador’s games against Canada and New Zealand, and the remaining games of European qualifying – carry weight in this respect.

Although Popovic admits that he started in the job thinking to only be able to depend on a main squad of players, he now feels the pool he can rely on has grown. This isn’t just through the breakthrough of talented youth such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as real international players. There are also the cases of Miloš Degenek’s comeback from the obscurity and Paul Izzo’s development into a bona fide Socceroos keeper with the potential to compete with Maty Ryan.

“The squad has totally changed in my mind – of what’s attainable with players that have come in,” Popovic says. “I first thought, ‘OK, this is my group; I don’t really have much outside of this. Just get by and make them better.’ Now, I feel like there are 15, 20 players that have come into that, and I’m sure there are others to come that I feel can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This unexpected emergence of talent, and the change in thinking it has inspired in Popovic, has opened the door for players on the edges of the squad. Even those not yet viewed among those group can keep faith that, in June next year, they could be on the flight. A player like Adrian Segečić might be about to sit out a month of playing due to an ankle injury, but if he – or any other player – keeps to deliver regularly, then the coach is making clear they’re in with a shot of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a cap or a halt on that – to reveal in March that this is our squad, and there may be one or two more inclusions,” Popovic says. “No, I want every player to feel that they have an chance. Why can’t there be another player that steps up in June?”

But this growth, in a way, brings us back to Popovic’s first talk as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to exceed expectations him, to do something outstanding and rise above the predictions others have for them, he wants his team to have the same philosophy.

“Saying I want to do something special is just ‘we don’t want to have limits’,” Popovic says. “We don’t want to confine ourselves into ‘let’s be contenders at the World Cup, and let’s go home and pat each other on the back for being there’.

“I repeat it to the group: one day, Australia will go a long way in the World Cup. And why not this group? Why do we have to wait two or three World Cups, when I’m sitting back and praising something special from the Socceroos? Why should we have restrictions? Why not do it now?”