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The moment Tony Popovic at last brought together his first Socceroos squad, the new coach outlined a set of requirements. Most were straightforward and concise – perfect considering the upheaval surrounding his sudden appointment, after Graham Arnold’s resignation, and with fewer than three weeks to get ready for critical 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan.

Popovic maintained that any player who aimed to wear a Socceroos shirt would need to adopt an “premier” mindset to secure, or maintain that honour. But there was an additional theme. Not so much an order and more an evocation – and one that has been cast clearer into focus with any step taken on the road towards the World Cup in North America.

“My expectations were to do something remarkable, in my first talk to the players,” Popovic says. “That remains the same.”

A little more than a year on from that team talk in an Adelaide hotel, plenty of other things have shifted, even if Popovic’s ambitions are the same. The coach, for one, looks genuinely settled as Socceroos boss. The 52-year-old’s reputation for austerity sharply contrasts with the open and at times light-hearted figure engaging openly for over an hour in what have become periodic interviews with football media. So too have the fortunes of his team improved, with memories of a defeat to Bahrain and stalemate with Indonesia appearing rather remote after wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June secured the Socceroos’ place in next year’s international tournament.

Those victories came as part of an 11-game winning streak under Popovic, one that was only broken away by the United States earlier this month. It’s performance that has taken the Socceroos to the unexpected edge of entering pot two in the World Cup draw. The performances of November friendlies against Venezuela, at the moment placed 50th in the world, and 13th-ranked Colombia – as well as Ecuador’s games against Canada and New Zealand, and the final games of European qualifying – loom large in this regard.

Even though Popovic acknowledges that he started in the job assuming to only be able to depend on a key players of players, he now thinks the pool he can call upon has swelled. This doesn't only come through the breakthrough of talented youth such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as real international players. There are also the examples of Miloš Degenek’s return from the obscurity and Paul Izzo’s development into a true Socceroos keeper with the potential to challenge Maty Ryan.

“The squad has entirely changed in my mind – of what’s achievable with players that have come in,” Popovic says. “I first thought, ‘OK, this is my group; I don’t fully have much apart from this. Just manage and make them better.’ Now, I feel like there are 15, 20 players that have entered that, and I’m convinced there are others to come that I trust can help make us better as a squad at the World Cup.”

This surprising emergence of talent, and the change in outlook it has sparked in Popovic, has paved the way for players on the periphery of the squad. Even those not yet considered within those ranks can keep faith that, by June next year, they could be on the flight. A player like Adrian Segečić might be about to be absent for a month of playing due to an ankle injury, but if he – or any other player – keeps to deliver steadily, then the coach is making clear they’re highly likely of being part of his plans.

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

But this expansion, in a way, leads back to Popovic’s initial talk as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to exceed expectations him, to do something remarkable and rise above the predictions others have for them, he wants his team to have the same mindset.

“Saying I want to do something unique is just ‘we don’t want to have boundaries’,” Popovic says. “We don’t want to box ourselves into ‘let’s be participants 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 deep 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 boundaries? Why not do it now?”