Four years after declining an invitation to play for Australia, midfielder Cristian Volpato was named to the country’s roster Sunday night for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Volpato, 22, was born in Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia, but is a dual citizen of Australia and Italy. Having played for Italy’s junior national teams since 2022, Volpato changed his national eligibility to Australia on Friday, according to reports. Per FIFA rules, the switch is legal because Volpato has never played a competitive match for Italy’s senior team.
Tony Popovic, head coach of Australia, and assistant Paul Okon visited Volpato’s club team Sassulo in February to discuss the possibility of Volpato representing the Socceroos this summer.
“There were no ultimatums or any pressure. It was a discussion,” Popovic told reporters after the meeting. “And if he wants to play for Australia, whether it’s three months, six months, a year; they’re young men, you have to respect the decisions they have to make.
“He’s a quality young player who has a lot of potential. He hasn’t played a lot of football. But he has potential, and now that he’s indicated he’s open to the idea, the rest is just for him to decide.”
Australia, which is competing in its sixth straight World Cup and reached the Round of 16 in 2022 for the second time in its history, competes in Group D in this summer’s North American World Cup.
Australia opens play Sunday, June 14 against Turkey at BC Place in Vancouver, faces the United States on Friday, June 19 at Lumen Field in Seattle and closes out group play June 25 against Paraguay at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
AUSTRALIA WORLD CUP ROSTER
Goalkeepers: Patrick Beach, Paul Izzo, Maty Ryan
Defenders: Aziz Behich, Jordan Bos, Cameron Burgess, Alessandro Circati, Milos Degenek, Jason Geria, Lucas Herrington, Jacob Italiano, Harry Souttar, Kai Trewin
Midfielders: Cameron Devlin, Ajdin Hrustic, Jackson Irvine, Connor Metcalfe, Paul Okon-Engstler, Aiden O’Neill
Forwards: Nestory Irankunda, Mathew Leckie, Awer Mabil, Mohamed Toure, Nishan Velupillay, Cristian Volpato, Tete Yengi
–Field Level Media
