Tony Popović is set to become the next coach of the Socceroos, with Football Australia moving quickly to replace Graham Arnold following his shock resignation last Friday.
It was reported on Sunday that Popović had been tapped to take over as the next coach of Australia’s men and multiple sources have since confirmed it to The Guardian. Having relocated to Europe following his exit as coach of Melbourne Victory after the 2023-24 A-League Men season, it’s believed the 51-year-old flew back to Australia soon after Arnold’s departure was made official on Friday. The unveiling of the Sydney-born Popović is set to take place as soon as Monday and discussions are under way surrounding staff he wants in the national setup.
Capped 58 times by the Socceroos across his 19-year playing career, Popović will become the first member of the ‘golden generation’ – players that qualified for the 2006 World Cup – to coach Australia. He looks set to sign a deal that will take him through to the end of the 2026 World Cup cycle and will be in the dugout for next month’s qualifiers against China in Adelaide and Japan in Saitama.
There will be little scope for a bedding-in period. The deadline for submitting the squad list for those fixtures is rapidly approaching and the China fixture, in particular, is shaping as a must-win game after Arnold presided over a defeat against Bahrain and a draw with Indonesia in the opening games of the third-phase of Asian qualification.
Football Australia has declined to comment on the reported appointment of Popović.
Though linked with a move to Hajduk Split in May, Popović has been a free agent since departing Victory after the last A-League Men season, where they were defeated 3-1 by the Central Coast Mariners in the grand final after finishing the regular season in third place.
It was this availability that saw him quickly emerge as the favourite to replace Arnold, beating out a field that had been speculated to include figures such as Western United boss John Aloisi, Frenchman Hervé Renard, former Mariner boss and current Tottenham assistant Nick Montgomery, and FC Tokyo gaffer Peter Cklamovski.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that former Iran and Qatar boss Carlos Queiroz threw his hat into the ring but did so too late to be seriously considered.
The Australia post will be the first international post held by Popović since he moved into coaching in 2008, beginning with stints as an assistant at his former clubs Sydney FC and Crystal Palace before being named as the inaugural coach of Western Sydney in 2012.
Popović famously won the A-League Men premiership in his first year with the Wanderers before registering his signature coaching achievement in 2014 as he led them to an Asian Champions League crown – the only Australian side to ever achieve the feat.
Leaving the Wanderers on the eve of the 2017-18 season to pursue what ended up being a short, ill-fated stint with Turkish side Karabükspor, he returned to Australia in 2018 with the Glory, whom he led to their lone piece of silverware in the A-League era by securing the 2018–19 premiership.
After another ill-omened period abroad, this time with Greek side Xanthi, he was named the coach of Victory in 2021, leading them to an Australia Cup triumph that same year and being credited for helping to rid the club’s football department of the complacent rot that had set in at the club in the preceding years.
A former centreback by trade and one of the most defensively-sound coaches ever produced by Australia, Popović will likely have little trouble in maintaining the defensive foundation left by Arnold, which has seen the side concede just once in this phase of qualification.
However, while he helped reinvigorate the careers of Nick D’Agostino, Bruno Fornaroli and Daniel Arzani during his time at the club, he also drew the increasing ire of the Victory fanbase during his tenure for what was often a blunt attacking approach – something that has also haunted the Socceroos under Arnold’s tenure.
Tony Popovic is set to become the next Socceroos manager as Football Australia closes in on finalising Graham Arnold’s replacement.
Popovic, who won 58 caps for the Socceroos as a centre-back, is expected to arrive in Australia on Sunday with a view to FA unveiling him as coach as early as Monday.
Bookmakers suspended betting on the identity of the next Socceroos coach on Sunday, two days after Arnold opted to step aside.
FA declined to comment when contacted by AAP, but it is expected that Popovic’s contract will run until the end of the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.
FA chief executive James Johnson indicated on Friday that his organisation would move quickly to finalise Arnold’s replacement, and Popovic’s experience and availability made him the leading contender from the outset.
The 51-year-old has been out of work since leaving Melbourne Victory following their A-League Men grand final loss to the Central Coast Mariners.
The former defender has been living in Croatia since he opted against renewing his contract with Victory, and it remains unclear how much time he will split between his family in Europe and coaching duties in Australia.
He was arguably the best-credentialled candidate available to FA given he has worked as an assistant at Crystal Palace and taken charge of clubs in Turkey and Greece.
Popovic has enjoyed most success as a head coach in Australia, guiding the Western Sydney Wanderers to Asian Champions League glory in 2014, lifting the ALM premiership with Perth Glory, and the Australia Cup with Victory.
He had previously been in the running for the Socceroos job in 2013, receiving a ringing endorsement from Tim Cahill before losing out to Ange Postecoglou.
Arnold ended his six-year tenure with a 1-0 loss at home to Bahrain and a 0-0 draw away to Indonesia, leaving his successor facing an uphill task to qualify automatically.
Should the Socceroos fail to finish in the top two spots in Group C, there are two further rounds of matches that can help stamp their ticket to the 2026 World Cup.
Popovic is expected to take control of his first match against China in Adelaide on October 10, before an away trip to face unbeaten group leader Japan five days later.
He will have a little over a week to finalise a squad of players for October’s matches and must quickly figure out a way to break down stoic Asian defences that proved to be Arnold’s undoing in the final matches of his tenure.
Source: AAP
