Key events
31 Mins: Metcalfe slips a ball through to Bos on an overlapping run down the left. He slides a pass across the turf looking to place it into the path of Boyle but it’s cleared away before it can reach the attacker.
28 Mins: The game’s rhythm at this point can be basically summed up as New Zealand has more of the ball without creating much and the Australians really only look dangerous whenever Bos goes on a run.
24 Mins: A mixup from the Australians almost sees Thomas pounce on a ball loose in the penalty area but the hosts are just able to recover and clear in time.
22 Mins: Life from the Australians! And its delivered by easily their best player tonight in Bos!
The Feyenoord flanker goes on a run down the left that eventually sees weave around multiple Kiwi defenders and get to the top of the penalty area, from where he blasts a shot over the bar.
21 Mins: The Kiwis have taken control of the game at this point, with the hosts struggling to string much in teh way of passes together and mostly being forced to defend.
18 Mins: A big save from Izzo on Wood! The Kiwi captain bursts in behind the Socceroo lines after a superb pass from Singh and is one-on-one with the debutant. The keeper, however, is quick to come out to close off the angles and force a shot from range, which he subsequently gets down low to his right to keep out.
15 Mins: More Kiwi build-up. It’s all been rather tepid thus far, with moments that would quicken the pulse struggling he break through the generally laborious periods of possession from both sides.
14 Mins: Another extended period of Kiwi possession – they’re seeing a lot of the ball in these last few exchanges – ends with Tim Payne whipping in a cross that’s cleared away for a corner.
11 Mins: A dangerous looking effort from Singh! The midfielder finds a yard of space atop the box and flashes an effort on goal, sending Izzo diving to his left as it sails just wide of the post.
10 Mins: Degenek plays the ball back to Izzo, who promptly hears the footsteps of Wood. Rather than panic, however, the on-debut keeper drags the ball back and sends the Kiwi captain to the shops.
9 Mins: A long throw in from De Vries is headed away by Circati but the Australians are unable to clear their lines and their Kiwi opponents resume possession.
8 Mins: An extended period of possession for the Kiwis takes place but they can’t find a way through Australia’s organised shape and their eventual long, speculative ball forward for Francis De Vries is cleaned up by Silvera.
5 Mins: Bos again gets down the left but pulls up when he reaches the opposition penalty area and plays a pass backwards, which allows the defence to get back into position and forces the Socceroos to reset.
4 Mins: Oof. Metcalfe feeds Bos into space and he bursts all the way down the left and into the Kiwi box, before his attempted squaring ball deflects off a defender, hits the post and goes out of play. The All Whites clear the resulting corner.
3 Mins: The first shot of the game goes the way of the Kiwis, who are pressing high early, but it’s tepid and well over the bar.
2 Min: Izzo goes long looking for Boyle, who has started as the nine as anticipated, but it’s comfortably cleared away by Joe Bell.
1 Min: New Zealand quickly work the ball forward from kickoff but after some scrambling defending the ball gets knocked free and Izzo comes out to claim.
Kick Off
We are underway at Bruce Stadium!
Australia will be wearing their green and gold kits, dark green shorts, and white socks in this contest. As you might expect from a team called the All Whites, the Kiwis are wearing a retro-inspired all-white kit.
At least someone is warm… it’s freezing up here in the grandstand.
Teams are out on the pitch and the anthems are being sung. Kickoff is moments away here in the Australian capital.
Now, the question most of you are probably asking. When do we get to see the kids?
For a start, anyone hoping to see Noah Botić is going to have to wait until at least the return leg in Auckland, with the former Western United stiker joining Anthony Kalik in missing out on the 23-player squad for tonight’s game.
When it comes to attacking options off the bench, Popovic isn’t exactly shy of options with Touré, Milanović, Irankunda and Segečić all sitting behind him in the dugout. But it’s also difficult to see him introducing all four of them into the one game tonight. Instead, he’s likely earmarked some players for use in New Zealand on Tuesday, while others will play tonight.
With Teague and O’Neill starting in the midfield, Balard will have to make his international debut off the bench tonight but given his consistent form and work to improve since he was in a pre-June window training camp he has to be close to getting that cap at this point.
It’ll be an incredibly proud moment for Degenek tonight, who has been given the honour of wearing the armband for the Socceroos for the first time.
Settling in Sydney as a refugee after escaping conflict in the Balkans as young child, Degenek often speaks for the deep love and appreciation he has for the Socceroos and what it means to him to get to represent his country on the international stage.
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Amid injuries and an absence from the Crvena zvezda team sheet, he had found himself in the international wilderness in recent times – his absence from the Socceroos squad at the last Asian Cup, where he likely would have been introduced to see off South Korea in the quarterfinals, still burns – but after making the move to TSC he’s been brought back into the fold by Popovic.
An exceptional professional, resolute defender, dressing room tone-setter, and now international captain, he’s a great asset to Australia heading towards a World Cup.
It’s somewhat flown underneath the radar amidst all the excitement about the youngsters but Silvera’s return to the starting XI continues a remarkable few months for the former Mariner.
Last picked for the national team for their 0-0 draw with Indonesia in Jakarta – back when Graham Arnold was coach – Silvera had a couple of unspectacular stints on loan at Portsmouth and Blackpool during the offseason and was expected to be shown the door at parent club Middlesbrough during the offseason.
The 24-year-old, however, has reinvented himself as a wing-back for new Boro boss Rob Edwards and went from unwanted to a constant presence at the Riverside: starting every game amidst an undefeated start to the season that sees Boro sitting top of the Championship.
All Whites XI
The starting team to take on the Socceroos in Canberra 🇳🇿⚔️🇦🇺
🏆 Soccer Ashes 2025 – Match 1/2
🇳🇿 All Whites v Socceroos 🇦🇺
🏟️ GIO Stadium, Canberra
🕰️ 7:45pm local / 9:45pm NZT
🎥 Watch live and free on FIFA+ and TVNZ
👕 Get your retro kit from https://t.co/96XJC7W0Cu pic.twitter.com/8sMEFj5NXv— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) September 5, 2025
New Zealand secured their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup back in March, beating New Caledonia 3-0 to claim Oceania’s lone place at the newly expanded, 48-team tournament and an argument can be made that, even with a couple of notable absences tonight, Darren Bazeley will have one of the most talented Kiwi sides ever at his disposal at next year’s tournament.
The star of the show and leading the line tonight is Chris Wood, the Nottingham Forest striker – the lone Premier League player on the park tonight – who is poised to overtake Mark Viduka as Oceania’s greatest-ever goal scorer in the top-flight.
Marko Stamenić and Liberato Cacace have both been forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury but the Kiwis still have the likes of Sarpreet Singh, a teammate of Degenek at Serbian side TSC Bačka Topola and PEC Zwolle’s Ryan Thomas, making his return to international football for the first time since 2019 after a horror injury run, to call upon.
Socceroos XI
For all the talk of young blood, Popovic will deploy an XI mostly filled with tried and tested players for tonight’s fixture – which while not as exciting as a widely experimental lineup makes sense from a World Cup preparation standpoint.
Martin Boyle looks set to lead the line, the centre forward role not something Socceroo fans are used to seeing him do but one that he has often filled for club side Hibernian. He’ll be flanked by Connor Metcalfe, who scored his maiden international goal in Australia’s win over Saudi Arabia back in June, and Ajdin Hrustić.
Aiden O’Neill and Ryan Teague will fill the double pivot at the base of the midfield while Jordy Bos and Sammy Silvera will flank a back three of Cameron Burgess, Miloš Degenek, and Alessandro Circati.
We do, however, have a debut between the posts, with Paul Izzo’s regular and strong performances with Danish side Randers rewarded with a first-ever international start.
Lewis Miller takes a spot on the bench for the first time in the Popovic era, as do youngsters Max Balard, Segečić, Irankunda, Nicolas Milanović and Mo Touré.
Preamble
Joey Lynch
Howdy all, Joey Lynch here, and welcome to a new chapter in the Tony Popovic era of the Socceroos: their first game following their qualification for the 2026 World Cup, with focus now well and truly shifting towards preparations for the global showpiece.
Aptly, it will come against an opponent that has also already punched their ticket to North America, too, in the form of New Zealand, with tonight’s fixture and the return leg in Auckland next Tuesday also marking the resumption of the Soccer Ashes rivalry between the two sides.
From an Australian perspective, much of the build-up for this game has centred on the young and uncapped players that have been selected in Popovic’s squad – chief amongst them star boy Nestory Irankunda and rising Portsmouth dynamo Adrian Segečić.
While the coach has preferred continuity and experience throughout qualifying, with World Cup qualification secured, the A-League was still in its offseason, and several key contributors either injured or just resolving their club situation, there are seven uncapped players in the 25-player squad that has been selected for this window, and a further eight possess fewer than ten international appearances.
We’ll be back with lineups shortly.
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