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The moment Tony Popovic at last assembled his initial Socceroos squad, the recently appointed coach outlined a range of requirements. Most were unambiguous and to the point – perfect considering the disruption surrounding his sudden arrival, after Graham Arnold’s exit, and with fewer than three weeks to prepare for vital 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against China and Japan.

Popovic asserted that any player who aspired to wear a Socceroos shirt would need to embrace an “elite” mentality to earn, or maintain that honour. But there was an additional message. Not so much an order and a call to greatness – and one that has been thrown clearer into focus with any step taken on the journey towards the World Cup in North America.

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

A little more than a year on from that meeting in an Adelaide hotel, many of other things have evolved, even if Popovic’s ambitions are the same. The coach, for one, appears truly at home as Socceroos manager. The 52-year-old’s reputation for austerity sharply contrasts with the expansive and at times cheerful figure holding court for over an hour in what have become frequent sit-downs with football media. So too have the results of his team changed, with thoughts of a loss to Bahrain and stalemate with Indonesia feeling rather distant after victories over Japan and Saudi Arabia in June secured the Socceroos’ berth in next year’s international tournament.

Those victories 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 performance that has taken the Socceroos to the unexpected brink of entering pot two in the World Cup draw. The performances of November exhibition games 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 last games of European qualifying – loom large in this context.

Even though Popovic admits that he arrived in the job thinking to only be able to count on a core group of players, he now believes the selection he can rely on has expanded. This is not only through the breakthrough of talented youth such as Nestory Irankunda, Max Balard, or Mohamed Touré as authentic international players. There are also the cases of Miloš Degenek’s return from the wilderness and Paul Izzo’s blossoming into a bona fide Socceroos keeper with the capability to push Maty Ryan.

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

This surprising appearance of talent, and the shift in outlook it has inspired in Popovic, has paved the way for players on the edges of the squad. Even those not yet considered among those circle can hold out hope that, by 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 – persists to deliver regularly, then the coach is making clear they’re every chance of being part of his plans.

“I don’t want to put a restriction or a stop 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 know that they have an opportunity. Why can’t there be an additional player that steps up in June?”

But this expansion, in a way, brings us back to Popovic’s first talk as Socceroos head coach. For just as much as he wants players to surprise him, to do something remarkable and go beyond 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 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 celebrate for being there’.

“I emphasize 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 restrictions? Why not do it now?”