Why would you pick Giannou? If the season stats are correct, he hasn't scored a goal yet & the season is nearly finished. Boyle can play as a striker if needed. 

I would imagine this squad would want to include a large amount of players with national team experience due to the long break, to avoid a potential Matildas situation, at least for the first game against Kuwait. 

Has Jason Davidson been playing at all?

Jack Iredale

Cory Brown has been on fire

Lol. 

Elder is absolutely cursed. Simon Hill mentioned his podcast interview had been delayed. Had a chuckle thinking the guy misses and interview while also always missing the national team. Smith and Behich it is then. Iredale has done very well. Davidson seems fit.

Would be nice to see the last two get some time. I'd prefer Wright and Susnjar in a way but provided we beat Kuwait we can have a lot of fun in the final 3 games.

I’d certainly be pleased to see Good named in the squad too. 

Yep fair call on Goodwin.

Deng will be with the Olyroos I imagine, so we'll likely see Bailey Wright or Ryan McGowan instead I reckon.

the fact we picked Giannou, I expect a 4231 with lots of set-pieces.

When is the squad announced?

It's usually 2 weeks before a camp right? So I reckon next week.

Camp starts on 24th with a lot of the OS players having finished arriving on the 23rd. A Leeague players will be released May 31st so will have less time in camp. GA flies out on the 19th - 6 days from now. 

Thinking about our world ranking and what the future holds. 

It is not that simple. Part is ranking, part is performance at previous world cups, part is confederation weighting. I'm sure someone can find the details. I'm also not sure of how many teams in each pool. Has the World Cup expanded to 48 teams yet? 

Just did a bit of research and Russia 2018 literally did top 7 teams (host nation being the 8th in pot 1, next best in pot 2 etc etc 
If that’s the case then we just need to be in that 3rd best pool 

Does anyone know what's happening for host qualification in 2026 given it's being joint hosted by 3 countries. Surely not all 3 of USA, Mexico and Canada get pot 1 automatically? If they do I'd defs wanna be in the group with Canada

Just reported on the Socceroos Facebook page, Mitch Langerak has retired from international football. Massive loss - he would've been pushing Ryan for the top spot 

That is a huge loss. After Ryan who may not have been first choice who is next - especially with Vukovic (36) - not playing and without a club,

I'm not sure but I imagine CONCACAF will just get an extra spot and there'll be some fine print that the top ranked of the three hosts gets that spot if they all fail to qualify the conventional way (which won't happen in a 48 team WC, Mexico and the US will do it easy).

Reports that Arnold is still banking on Elder. Big squad so it seems Holland will be considered the Jeggo replacement. Ruka to get in while Giannou is worth including in a big 34.

The squad is shaping up nicely by all accounts. Does anyone know, will they be splitting into two bubbles? Apologies if this has been mentioned somewhere already?
you could have a ‘soft’ split. Same hotels but differently timed meals etc. Same training times but at two ends of a field, only coming together for practice matches? 

Wonder if Langerak will change his mind at a later date. He's only 32. The situation with COVID is likely to improve drastically within the next couple of years. Feels kinda odd that he's outright retired from national team duties, instead of saying due to his family's situation that for the foreseeable future he will not be available. 

EDIT: Only 32 in the sense that if he is lucky with his injuries he could still play till his late thirties, hell maybe push forty if he is dedicated and lucky enough. 

If he changes his mind before the World Cup, we’ve qualified, he is in form and clearly in our top three keepers, should he picked? 

Absolutely.

No. Do the hard yards to be considered. Glad to hear Ibrahimovic is injured and won't go to the Euros. Just waltzes back in after the others got the there.

I think I am more in this camp. I respect a person’a right to decline national team selection and especially if this is for family reasons but it shouldn’t then become a case of picking and choosing when you want to play. I’d rather someone not quite as good but more committed any day of the week. 

https://www.the-afc.com/competitions/afc-asian-cup/news/latest-update-on-asian-qualifiers

North Korea withdraw due to Covid concerns. 

According to Vince Rugari, the Socceroos squad won’t be named until the week after next week. It was meant to be this Wednesday but injuries and continued difficulties around travel in some countries has made Football Australia push it back by a few days.