Early years The first Australia national team was constituted in 1922 for a tour of New Zealand, which included two defeats and a draw. For the next 36 years, Australia,
New Zealand and
South Africa became regular opponents in tour (
exhibition) matches. During that period, Australia also competed against
Canada and
India during their tours of Australia in 1924 and 1938 respectively. Australia recorded their worst ever defeat on 30 June 1951 as they lost 17–0 in a match to a touring
England side. The country had a rare opportunity to compete on the world's stage during the team's first major international tournament as hosts of the
1956 Melbourne Olympics. However, an inexperienced squad proved to be reason for the team's disappointing performance, including a 4–2 loss to India in the quarterfinals. With the advent of cheap air travel, Australia began to diversify its range of opponents, After failing to qualify for the
FIFA World Cup in
1966 and
1970, losing in play-offs to
North Korea and
Israel respectively, Australia finally appeared at their first World Cup in
West Germany in
1974. After managing only a draw from
Chile and losses from
East Germany and
West Germany, the team, which was made up of mostly amateur players, was eliminated at the end of the
first round, finishing last in their group without scoring a goal. It would prove to be the only appearance for the Australian team until the World Cup returned to Germany more than three decades later in
2006. In 1997, Australia drew with reigning world champions
Brazil 0–0 in the group stage and then defeated Uruguay 1–0 in the semi-finals to reach the
1997 FIFA Confederations Cup final. In 2001, after a victory against reigning world champions
France in the group stage, Australia finished the
2001 FIFA Confederations Cup in third place after defeating Brazil 1–0 in the third-place match. Australia defeated England 3–1 at
West Ham United's
Boleyn Ground in 2003 as
Wayne Rooney made his international debut. In early 2005, it was reported that
Football Australia had entered into discussions to join the
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and end an almost 40-year association with the
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). Many commentators and fans, including soccer broadcaster and former Australian captain
Johnny Warren (deceased in 2004), felt that the only way for Australia to progress was to abandon Oceania. On 13 March, the AFC executive committee made a unanimous decision to invite Australia to join the AFC. After the OFC executive committee unanimously endorsed Australia's proposed move, FIFA approved the move on 30 June 2005. After coach
Frank Farina stood down from the position after Australia's dismal performance at the
2005 FIFA Confederations Cup,
Guus Hiddink was announced as the new national coach. the first leg of the
play-off tournament was lost (1–0), with the return leg still to be played in Australia four days later in Sydney on 16 November 2005. at
Stadium Australia to determine the last qualifying spot for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The second leg of the qualifying play-off was played in front of a crowd of 82,698 at
Stadium Australia. Australia led Uruguay 1–0 after 90 minutes following a goal by
Mark Bresciano in the first half. The aggregate was tied, and extra time was played. Neither team scored after two periods of extra time, bringing the game to a penalty shootout. Australia won the penalty shootout 4–2, making Australia the first ever team to qualify for a World Cup via a penalty shootout. Australian goalkeeper
Mark Schwarzer made two saves, with
John Aloisi scoring the winning penalty for a place in the World Cup, Australia's first qualification in 32 years. for the 2006 World Cup, Australia was placed into
Group F, along with
Japan,
Croatia and defending champions Brazil. In their opening group game, Australia defeated Japan 3–1, with
Tim Cahill scoring two goals (84', 89') and
John Aloisi scoring one (90+2') in the last eight minutes. The goals were the first ever scored by Australia's men's soccer team in a World Cup and it was also the first victory of an Oceanian team in the tournament's history, as well as all three goals being scored in the last seven minutes of the game, which was never before done in a World Cup match. Australia met Brazil in their second group game, which Australia lost to Brazil 2–0. The Socceroos faced Croatia in their third match. The final score (2–2) was enough to see Australia proceed to the
round of 16, where they were eliminated from the competition after a 1–0 defeat by the eventual champions
Italy after conceding a controversial penalty in the 93rd minute. The loss marked the official end of Hiddink's tenure as Australia's national coach. The success achieved at the 2006 World Cup later saw
the team named
AFC National Team of the Year, as well as being dubbed the "
golden generation" in the history of the Socceroos.
Later success Led by coach
Graham Arnold, Australia went to their first
AFC Asian Cup in 2007, sending a strong squad which included 15 players from the
previous year's World Cup team. In
Group A they played against
Oman (a 1–1 draw),
Thailand (a 4–0 win) and eventual champions
Iraq (a 3–1 loss), assuring Australia's progression to the quarter-final stage of the tournament. After drawing 1–1 with Japan with 120 minutes played, Australia exited the tournament on penalties at the quarter-final stage. An international friendly on 11 September 2007 against Argentina (a 1–0 loss) was Graham Arnold's last game as head coach, with the position eventually being filled by
Pim Verbeek on 6 December 2007. Australia began their
2010 FIFA World Cup campaign in the
third round of qualification, drawn into a group consisting of
Qatar, Iraq and
China PR, in which Australia finished first. Australia eventually saw progression through to the
tournament in South Africa after comfortably winning the
fourth round of qualification in a group consisting of Japan,
Bahrain, Qatar and
Uzbekistan. Australia's qualification was already assured before the final two games, finally topping
its group ahead of Japan by five points. in
Moses Mabhida Stadium, at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Australia was drawn into
Group D in the World Cup, which featured three-time world champion Germany,
Ghana and
Serbia. On 14 June, Australia faced Germany. Pim Verbeek's surprising decision to play without a recognised striker saw Australia comprehensively defeated 4–0. Verbeek received heavy criticism for his tactics, with
SBS (Australia's World Cup broadcaster) chief soccer analyst
Craig Foster calling for his immediate sacking. Australia's second group match against Ghana resulted in a 1–1 draw, and their third and final group match against Serbia resulted in a 2–1 win. Ultimately, Australia were eliminated on goal difference behind Ghana. Pim Verbeek completed his term as Australian coach at the end of the 2010 World Cup and was soon replaced by
Holger Osieck. In 2010, Australia qualified for their second
AFC Asian Cup, topping their
qualification group. A successful campaign at the
2011 Asian Cup saw Australia become runners-up to Japan, after losing in the
Final 1–0 in extra time. In 2012, Australia agreed to compete in the
East Asian Cup. Australia travelled to Hong Kong to compete in a series of qualification matches with the hopes of qualifying for the
2013 East Asian Cup. Despite handing several debuts and fielding an in-experienced squad, Australia was successful, finishing ahead of
Hong Kong, North Korea,
Guam and
Chinese Taipei to progress to the 2013 East Asian Cup, where Australia eventually finished last behind Japan,
South Korea and China PR. On 26 August 2013, Australia became full members of the
ASEAN Football Federation but as part of their entrance agreement with the sub-confederation, their national team is barred from participating in the
AFF Championship due to their perceived wide gap in playing standards between Australia and the rest of the region. in
Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá, at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Australia's
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign began with a series of friendlies against the
United Arab Emirates (0–0), Germany (a 2–1 win), New Zealand (a 3–0 win), Serbia (0–0) and
Wales (a 2–1 win). Australia's World Cup campaign started in the
third round of qualification, with Australia topping
their group to progress to the
fourth round. After winning their last fourth round-game, Australia finished as runners-up in
their group, qualifying for the
finals tournament in Brazil on 18 June 2013. Shortly after achieving qualification to the World Cup, Australia played a series of friendly matches against Brazil and France, suffering consecutive 6–0 defeats. This along with previous poor performances during the 2014 World Cup qualification campaign resulted in manager Holger Osieck's sacking, bringing his three-year tenure as Australia's manager to an end.
New generation: the 2015 AFC Asian Cup triumph in
2015 AFC Asian Cup opening matchAfter a two-week search for a new manager,
Ange Postecoglou was eventually appointed in the position. Postecoglou was tasked with regenerating the Australian national team, which was deemed to have been too reliant on members of their Golden Generation of 2006, subsequently leading to a stagnation of results, culminating in successive 6–0 defeats to Brazil and France. In his first game as Australia's manager, a home friendly match against
Costa Rica, Australia won 1–0 courtesy of a goal from Tim Cahill. At the World Cup, Australia were drawn in
Group B alongside
defending world champions Spain, 2010 runners-up
Netherlands and
Chile. Their first match was off to a lacklustre start, having conceded two goals in the opening 15 minutes from
Alexis Sánchez and
Jorge Valdivia. Despite a goal from Tim Cahill that inspired a late resurgence from Postecoglou's team, they ultimately lost to Chile 3–1. Their second match against the Netherlands was a close one, with the Socceroos giving up a 2–1 lead, eventually resulting in a 3–2 loss, thus earning their early exit along with the Spanish. In the end, Australia finished Group B with a third consecutive defeat to Spain, 3–0. Australia's competitive World Cup performances in a difficult group led to believe that a new Golden Generation was about to begin. In their first international match after the World Cup, Australia played 2014 quarter-finalists
Belgium in
Liège, with Australia going down 2–0. Four days later, Australia achieved their first international win in ten months, and just their second win under Ange Postecoglou, with a 3–2 victory over
Saudi Arabia in
London. After drawing against the United Arab Emirates, and suffering successive losses against Qatar and Japan, combined with previous poor results earlier in the year, Australia slipped to 94 and 102 in the
FIFA World Rankings, their lowest-ever ranking. where they would go on to lift the cup after defeating
South Korea 2–1 in extra time The new year saw Australia host the
2015 AFC Asian Cup, with the team making their third consecutive appearance in the tournament. Australia won their first two
group matches against
Kuwait and Oman comfortably, with scorelines of 4–1 and 4–0 respectively. This guaranteed their qualification for the knockout stage, despite losing their final group match against South Korea in Brisbane 1–0. They faced China PR in the quarter-finals and won 2–0, courtesy of a second-half brace from Tim Cahill. In the semi-finals, Australia won 2–0 over the United Arab Emirates and advanced to the
final for the second time in a row. They faced South Korea in the final on 31 January at
Stadium Australia, winning 2–1 after extra time to claim their first Asian title and qualify for the
2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. After Australia qualified for the
2018 FIFA World Cup in November 2017,
Ange Postecoglou resigned from his position as coach; and former manager of the Netherlands national team,
Bert van Marwijk, was subsequently appointed as his replacement. On 8 March 2018, after van Marwijk's first squad announcement, the FFA announced that
Graham Arnold will take the coaching role from after the 2018 World Cup until the
2022 World Cup. With van Marwijk, Australia was
grouped with
Denmark,
France and
Peru. The Socceroos' first group match against eventual
world champions France was praised by a valiant effort, in which Australia only lost 1–2 by a virtual own goal from
Aziz Behich. After the defeat to France, Australia produced another outstanding performance, drawing Denmark 1–1. However, in the crucial match against already eliminated Peru, Australia lost 0–2 and crashed out from the World Cup with only a point, becoming the only team from the AFC to be winless in the 2018 World Cup. Subsequently, van Marwijk left his post and Arnold replaced him as the new coach of the Socceroos. Under
Graham Arnold, Australia started their
2019 AFC Asian Cup in hope of defending the title, being
grouped with
Jordan, Syria and Palestine, but their hope was shattered by a shocking 0–1 defeat to Jordan. Australia soon returned to the race by beating Palestine 3–0 before winning an important encounter with a hard-fought 3–2 win over Syria, eliminating both Palestine and Syria in the process. The win gave Australia to qualify for the round of sixteen, where they overcame
Uzbekistan after winning on penalties 4–2, having drawn 0–0 for 120 minutes. In the quarter-finals, however, in the
Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, where Australia had lost their opening match against Jordan, Australia once again failed to register a win in the same ground, losing to the host United Arab Emirates 0–1 due to a mistake from
Miloš Degenek, eventually failing to defend the title.
2022 FIFA World Cup resurgence Australia took part in the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, which they entered in the
second round, in which they faced
Kuwait, Jordan,
Nepal and
Chinese Taipei. Australia dominated the group with eight wins out of eight to reach the
third round, where it faced
Saudi Arabia,
Japan,
China,
Oman and
Vietnam. After a start with three straight wins over China, Vietnam and Oman, Australia then won only one game, against Vietnam, in their final seven matches, being held thrice and losing three more, finishing third in the group. It then had to rely on
fourth round playoffs. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, all of Australia's playoffs were centralised in
Doha. The Socceroos began their quest with a 2–1 win over the
United Arab Emirates, to face fifth place
CONMEBOL qualification finisher
Peru, a rematch of the
2018 FIFA World Cup. This time around, Australia held Peru goalless, before winning on penalties to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Australia was drawn in
group D along with
France,
Denmark and
Tunisia. Australia's qualification also meant that the
Asian confederation had the largest number of teams in their FIFA World Cup history, with six countries qualifying. in the
2022 FIFA World Cup opening match As preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Australia played two friendlies against neighbouring
New Zealand, winning both games. It began its World Cup quest on 23 November against France, losing 4–1 after initially taking the lead with goal from
Craig Goodwin. Three days later Australia registered its first World Cup win since
2010, overcoming Tunisia with a header from
Mitchell Duke to seal a 1–0 win, sending Australia from bottom to second place. Four days later, against
UEFA Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark, Australia won 1–0, thanks to a
Mathew Leckie goal. Australia finished the group stage in second place behind France on goal difference, making Australia the first Asian representative to reach the
knockout stage in Qatar 2022. Australia's resurgence in the group stage was widely watched and followed by Australian supporters. Mass celebrations occurred after the upsets over Tunisia and Denmark, and Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese called the achievement "magnificent". In the round of 16, Australia lost 2–1 to
Argentina, with
Lionel Messi opening the scoring and
Julián Álvarez getting the second after dispossessing
Mathew Ryan. Australia pulled one back when Goodwin's shot deflected into goal off
Enzo Fernández and
Garang Kuol almost scored the equaliser in injury time, but his shot was smothered by Argentinian goalkeeper
Emiliano Martínez.
2026 World Cup qualification On 20 September 2024, Graham Arnold announced he was stepping down as head coach, two games into the third round of
2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying. The Socceroos had only picked up one point from two matches. On 23 September 2024,
James Johnson announced that
Football Australia had appointed
Tony Popovic as head coach. Popovic led the Socceroos to wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia, and Australia eventually ensured direct qualification to the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 2014, and their sixth consecutive World Cup appearance. == Team image ==