Australia will enter the 2026 tournament aiming to build on its 2022 quarterfinal run. Under new head coach Tony Popovic, who took over in September 2024, the team has retained its core lineup. The match against the U.S. will be a significant test of strength.

Coach Tony Popovic named three goalkeepers to the Socceroos roster: Mathew Ryan, Paul Izzo, and Patrick Beach. Australia is participating in the World Cup for the seventh time and will face Turkey, the U.S., and Paraguay in Group B. Ryan is the captain and, with 103 international appearances, the most experienced player on the entire 26-man roster. The trio has three very different backgrounds—the captain who has played all over Europe, the longtime A-League journeyman in Denmark, and the 22-year-old talent who made his debut just months before the tournament.

Ryan is 34 years old and is playing in his fourth World Cup—an Australian record, tying him with Tim Cahill and Mark Milligan. His career path is one of the most international in goalkeeping history: Central Coast Mariners, Club Brugge, Valencia, Brighton & Hove Albion—where he played four Premier League seasons as the starting goalkeeper—then Arsenal on loan, Real Sociedad, FC Copenhagen, AZ Alkmaar, AS Roma, RC Lens, and, since August 2025, Levante in La Liga. There, he helped the club avoid relegation on the final matchday—a moment that once again underscored his mental toughness.

On June 10, 2025, he made his 100th international appearance in a qualifying match against Saudi Arabia, securing Australia’s World Cup qualification in the process. Ryan is not only the starting goalkeeper but also the team’s leader—the player everyone else looks to when the going gets tough in a tournament.

Izzo is 31 years old and the goalkeeper with the most remarkable background of the trio. For more than a decade, he played as a journeyman in the A-League: Adelaide United, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory—with stints in Greece (Xanthi) and Ireland (Dundalk) in between. In August 2021, he received his first senior squad call-up, though he did not play. During the 2022–23 season, he was part of the squad under Graham Arnold but did not see any action. It wasn’t until the summer of 2024 that he transferred to Randers FC in the Danish Superliga—where he began the most consistent stretch of his professional career. He made his official international debut on September 5, 2025, against New Zealand in the Soccer Ashes match. With four international appearances, he is Popovic’s reliable second option—a goalkeeper who waited years for his chance and made the most of it.

Beach is 22 years old and was born in Sydney. His rise to prominence was meteoric: Marconi Academy, Central Coast Mariners youth team, loan stints in Ireland and England, then Melbourne City in 2023, where he initially served as a backup. In October 2024, he secured a starting spot, made his debut with a shutout, and won the A-League championship at age 21 in his first full season. That season, he led Melbourne City through the AFC Champions League elite. On November 14, 2025, he made his debut for the Socceroos against Venezuela and was named Player of the Match. He has played only four international matches so far; the World Cup is his first—and biggest—appearance to date.