Live: Socceroos continue World Cup prep with tough Canada friendly

Kick-off is right around the corner in Montreal, looks a lovely night in Quebec.

To Marzi’s question, it’s probably the strongest team Canada has to pick from. But it is missing a few key players they will hope to have fit by the World Cup, namely Alphonso Davies, Moise Bombito and Alistair Johnston.

The boss has spoken about debutant Jacob Italiano, goalkeeper Paul Izzo and this Canada team:

“[Italiano] has come in and done very well at training, settled in very quickly. So I thyoght he deserved an opportunity.

“I just wanted Paul [Izzo] to have a sense of ‘you’re playing this time with Maty Ryan here’, because I think that’s a bit different psychologically too. I want to see how he handles that.

“[Canada] are very strong and very well led by their manager, but that’s what we want. That’s why we want these games. We’re getting ready for the World Cup and this is part of our preparation.”

Ranked number 26 in the world, one place the 25th ranked Socceroos, Les Rogues will present as proper opposition for Australia today.

Led by Jesse Marsch – who you may remember begun the process of taking Leeds United down a few years ago before he let Sam Allardyce finish the job – Canada is a talented if somewhat depleted side.

Juventus striker Jonathan David captains the side, and though its best player – Bayern Munich full-back Alphonso Davies – is still recovering from an ACL tear, there is pace and threat throughout that lineup.

As a joint-host of next year’s World Cup, expectation is high for this Canada side.

Not many surprises in Tony Popovic’s starting XI, though there is a start for Jacob Italiano who was flown in late as a replacement for for Fran Karacic.

Our boy king Alessandro Circati captains the Socceroos again at just 22 years old, and it’s a pretty familiar and settled looking midfield.

The excitement comes from Nestory Irankunda and Mohamed Toure, whose ability to link up and erupt on the counter-attack blew New Zealand away in the last window.

Plenty of quality on the bench, including Jordy Bos who is fresh off winning the Dutch Eredivisie’s player of the month.

Hello! Bonjour! Welcome to Montreal where our Socceroos are set to continue their build up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Today Australia faces Canada in the first of two North American friendlies it has booked for this window, with the US awaiting on Wednesday.

This will be a good test for Tony Popovic’s young side as it continues its rise and development less than 12 months out from the World Cup finals. Every international is an opportunity for this team and this is a Socceroos squad full of players desperate to impress. Settle in and let’s see what the 90 minutes of football has in store for us.