Australia's World Cup Injury Blow and Tactical Shift
The World Cup has finally found its edge.
Across North and South America, in packed stadiums and awkward kick-off times, the tournament is beginning to sort the serious contenders from the hopefuls, the streetwise from the naïve, and the ruthless finishers from those still feeling their way into the group stage.
Australia’s injury blow and a call to attack
Australia’s World Cup campaign has taken an untimely hit. After starting both matches so far, right wing-back Alessandro Italiano is set to miss the decisive clash with Paraguay through injury, joining Mat Leckie on the sidelines.
It’s a significant setback. Stepping in for the injured Lewis Miller, Italiano had quietly become one of Tony Popovic’s most important pieces. He worked relentlessly to shut out Turkiye on Matchday 1, then got through another full 90 minutes against the USA in Seattle.
That second game told a different story. Australia sat deep, absorbed pressure, and paid the price. Two first-half goals to the USA left the Socceroos chasing shadows before Popovic finally rolled the dice. On came Connor Metcalfe, Nestory Irankunda and Cristian Volpato. The dynamic flipped almost instantly. Suddenly there was thrust, risk, and purpose.
Craig Foster wants that version of Australia from the first whistle against Paraguay.
“I hope so (that they attack), but they're a little bit more cautious under Tony Popovic, that’s the way that he coaches, that’s the reality,” Foster told 1170 SEN Breakfast, acknowledging Popovic’s pragmatism while pushing for more ambition.
He didn’t stop there. “He's done a great job, he qualified them automatically, which we hadn't done some time, so his record is brilliant. The game against USA, of course, that's when you get caught, because if you're a bit too cautious and you go behind, it's very difficult to get back into the game. So hopefully he's learned from that, and I'm sure he has.”
Foster wants the kids on the pitch early, not as late saviours.
“I’d like a little bit more of an aggressive approach. I don't think he's going to go with full attack in the first half, but I certainly hope that he does put the young really quick guys on anyway.
“That'll give us the best opportunity when we do have those chances that we'll have someone there, speedy enough to get on the end of them and also capable of taking them.”
Volpato, in particular, made his point in a matter of minutes.
“I think that's right (to start Volpato and Irankunda). Volpato has obviously only played that one bit, but he showed enough in that short cameo… he was phenomenal.
“I mean, that has to make a statement to the coach. It has to. So, I'd be surprised if we didn't see him and Irankunda in the first half definitely.
“Get yourselves ahead of Paraguay, and then of course we've already shown that our defensive organisation means we're very, very difficult to break down, like Ghana were this morning.
“But he's got to work out how we're going to actually create more chances and take those chances, and you need the best attacking players to do that.”
Australia know how to suffer without the ball. The question now is whether Popovic trusts his young attackers to decide a World Cup group.
Colombia climb, Congo cling on
Elsewhere, Colombia quietly flexed their credentials. Right-back Daniel Muñoz provided the decisive moment, arriving in the 76th minute to score the only goal and send Colombia to the top of Group K with six points from two games.
Congo, by contrast, are hanging on. Just. They sit on a single point but remain alive as a potential third-placed qualifier if they can beat Uzbekistan on Sunday. It’s thin ice, but it’s still ice.
Bellingham, Queiroz and a flashpoint in Boston
In Boston, a tetchy 0-0 draw produced more heat than quality. England’s playmaker found himself at the centre of it.
Jude Bellingham escaped a booking for a heavy challenge on Jerome Opoku right in front of the dugouts, then walked into a confrontation with opposition coach Carlos Queiroz as the teams left the pitch. Words were exchanged, tempers flared.
Queiroz later explained the incident.
“He had a bad reaction with some bad names,” he said. “My intention was to tell him to cool down with that tackle. He went with his foot against my player. But my first goal was to cool down because I was worried that the player was not in 100 per cent health.
“In the middle of the emotional moment these things are normal. He swears and that created more tension. It's football, it's nothing special. One word created a bit of fire but we cooled down. Football is not dancing in a saloon with tuxedos. It's not a show.”
Bellingham’s version carried a similar tone of competitive edge, nothing more.
“It was just when I made a silly tackle, to be honest," he said. “I was trying to win the ball, and I followed for a little bit and caught the lad. I spoke to him after, and then their bench jumped up trying to get me a yellow card.
“So, I think their manager, I just recognised him. He's obviously the one who used to be at Manchester United, so great respect, and nothing but a competitive edge for both of us.”
On the table, the result leaves both sides still in the fight. They’ve opened their winning account at this World Cup and now sit third in Group L on three points, with England and Ghana leading the way on four.
Croatia face Ghana next on June 28. Win, and they’re through to the Round of 32. Draw, and they cling to the hope of sneaking in as one of the best third-placed teams. Panama, already eliminated, will be playing only for pride when they meet England on the same day.
Ghana park the bus, England hit a wall
If England’s win over Croatia felt like a statement, the goalless grind against Ghana felt like a warning.
For 95 minutes in Foxborough, Ghana parked not just a bus but a fleet. They defended deep, in numbers, and refused to budge. The officials had a poor night for both sides, the contest grew increasingly physical, and frustration seeped into England’s play and discipline. Declan Rice’s yellow card summed it up: a tackle born of irritation as much as intent.
What a comedown from that thrilling victory over Croatia. For Ghana, it was a tactical triumph. For England, it was a reminder that World Cups are often decided by how you handle nights like this, not just the glamorous ones.
Micah Richards didn’t sugarcoat it.
“The frustrating thing was that England weren't brave enough. Yes, we knew they were coming up against a team that would set up in a low block, but I just felt that there were too many safe passes.
“You need to be more brave when you come up against a team in a low block.”
Harry Kane, shackled after his brace against Croatia, explained how Ghana smothered him.
“I was kind of man-marked there with (Thomas) Partey for a lot of the games," he told the BBC. "I didn't have the space to drop deep and then arrive later in the box, but they also defended the box well.
“We had plenty of crosses with, but just couldn't quite get the first contact.
“The balls were the middle were kind of tough to play because it was so compact in there, so it was a game we kind of felt got better as we went along, and we started getting the winners one v one and they was dangerous.
“You go through games like that, we're playing in the World Cup, you play against a decent side who are compact and make it difficult, and that's what we come against today.”
Wayne Rooney, who knows Queiroz’s methods from their Manchester United days, saw a familiar pattern.
“You're always hoping for that energy and that performance that we had against Croatia in the second half. These games are so difficult when the teams sit back,” he said.
“You have to break them down, and you have to find the space. For me, the key was getting crosses into the box. That is where all the chances came from.
“We keep going, we still have a great chance of finishing top of the group. There's no need to be negative; we need to stay positive.”
England sit top of the group on goal difference, Ghana just behind. The margins are small. The mood, more fragile.
FIFA’s new twist on the shootout
World Cup knockout football will come with a subtle but potentially significant change.
Penalty shoot-outs, which begin from the Round of 32, currently start with two coin tosses: one to decide which end the kicks are taken into, and another to decide who shoots first. Arsenal know the sting of that system all too well. In their Champions League final shootout, they lost both tosses, kicked second into a stand packed with PSG fans, and lost.
FIFA want to remove that double disadvantage. From this World Cup’s knockouts, a single coin toss will decide everything. The winner chooses either to shoot first or to select the end. The other captain takes whichever decision remains.
It’s a small tweak. But on nights when careers and legacies hinge on a single kick, even the coin now has a fairer script.
Ronaldo answers, loudly
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal have finally arrived at this World Cup with something more than questions for company.
After a flat 1-1 draw with DR Congo in their opener, the noise grew. At 41, was Ronaldo still worth his place? Was Roberto Martinez too wary, too sentimental, to leave him out?
Uzbekistan felt the backlash.
Ronaldo scored twice in a 5-0 demolition that will all but secure Portugal’s place in the knockouts, his brace landing a day after Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland all hit doubles of their own. The old rival, the pretenders, all trading blows on the same stage.
Ronaldo’s response was as emotional as it was defiant.
“I knew it. God helps those who work hard. It was a difficult, dark week, it felt like I was already retired from football, but I held on as I always do because I believe more in hard work than in football. It was difficult, I have to confess, but we're back.”
Roy Keane, never one to indulge sentiment without substance, backed his former teammate.
“Cristiano Ronaldo was never gone. He is the man. What is up with everybody? Doubted genius.
“We met Tom Brady the other day. He is up there with all these sports people. He's the man. Great to see him back. His two goals were excellent.
“Again, he has joined the party. The hardest point of the game is putting the ball in the back of the net. And he does.”
The World Cup has its familiar protagonist again. The plot feels richer for it.
Tragedy in the French camp
Amid the noise and spectacle, France’s camp has been hit by personal tragedy.
Didier Deschamps has left the squad after the death of his mother, the French Football Federation confirmed.
“Didier Deschamps will not be able to oversee training sessions ahead of the Norway v France match. He will also be absent from the bench for Friday’s final Group I game,” the FFF said.
“The national team coach learned this morning of the death of his mother and will return to France to attend her funeral.
“In agreement with Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, who is currently at the France team’s base camp, Deschamps has entrusted assistant coach Guy Stephan with responsibility for leading the squad until his return.”
On the pitch, France will continue. Off it, they pause for their coach.
England’s irritation, America’s ceiling
Back with England, the second group game has tested more than just their creativity. It’s tested their temperament. Ghana’s deep block, the lack of clear chances, the creeping sense of time slipping away – all of it fed into that Rice yellow and the rising exasperation in the stands.
And across the Atlantic, the World Cup conversation has turned to the USA’s ceiling.
The Americans have talked big. The performance against Australia in that “putrid” contest, as one observer put it, gave them bragging rights but not universal admiration.
Former USA goalkeeper Tim Howard cut through the noise with brutal clarity on the Unfiltered Soccer Podcast.
“The US cannot, unequivocally, win the World Cup,” he said in debate with Landon Donovan. “The US will have to play the greatest game they’ve ever played four times in a row.
“They’re going to have to beat (four) world soccer powerhouses in a row… The round of 16, quarterfinals, semi-finals, finals. It is literally impossible for the US to win the World Cup… That’s just the reality.”
Ambition meets realism. Hype meets history.
And as the group stage edges towards its climax – with Australia wrestling with injuries and identity, England straining for fluency, Portugal rediscovering their talisman, and Colombia already moving with quiet authority – the real question starts to take shape.
Who, when the knockout lights come on and the coin spins in the air, will actually be ready to own this World Cup?
