Socceroos coach searches for Harry Souttar replacement as key games loom

With four games to go and four teams sitting just one point off their current automatic qualifying spot for the 2026 World Cup, the Socceroos could ill afford to lose the player that is quite clearly their best right now.

But they will have to try to make it to the USA, Canada and Mexico next year without the brilliance of towering defender Harry Souttar, who is out for several months with a torn Achilles tendon.

Losing the player that provides them more assuredness than any other is a monumental blow to a team that is still trying to find its way consistently under manager Tony Popovic.

Less than two months out from the resumption of World Cup qualifiers and a clash with Indonesia at the Sydney Football Stadium on March 20, the challenge to fill Souttar’s sizeable void is one not lost on the Socceroos boss.

“Like for like, you don’t replace Harry. His attributes are unique to what we have at the moment,” Popovic said. 

“It’s a blow, of course it is, but we have to find solutions. He’s got better and better, he performed very well for Sheffield United at the top of the table [in the Championship].

“We need to find a player that gives us stability in the back three. That can be more of a technical player, it can be a physical player. We’re open minded in how that looks.

“We feel there might be another Jason Geria out there, he’s been great coming in, he’s looked like he’s played for the Socceroos for years. We believe we’ll find the right player that can do the job in March.”

Cameron Burgess has partnered Souttar at the back plenty and is the best credentialed but is struggling for game time at Ipswich in the EPL.

Popovic has looked to fast track Sydney FC’s Hayden Matthews but he is set for a move to Portsmouth in England, which could impact the minutes he gets.

Regular defender Kye Rowles will need to adapt to a new environment after transferring from Scotland to DC United in the USA. 

If there is one caveat to the Souttar conundrum, it’s that Australia became accustomed to dealing with his absence throughout the last qualifying campaign after he tore his ACL.

He would end up making a startling return for the Qatar World Cup and shined as Australia recorded its best ever result in football’s showpiece event — one they had to qualify for through the play-offs for the second straight time.

Avoiding that tumultuous path this time around without their 2m tall centre-back, and with little margin for error afforded, looms as an almighty test.

Behind the defence however, Popovic’s goalkeeper dilemma may become a little clearer.

The Socceroos boss has switched between Aston Villa’s Joe Gauci and captain Mat Ryan since taking charge as both battle for regular game time at their clubs.

But with 96-cap Ryan linked strongly to a move away from Roma in Italy and to France with Lens, he may make that decision a straight-forward one if he becomes the number one at a club sitting seventh in Ligue 1.

“Obviously he’s going there with a view to get minutes,” Popovic said.

“Game time always helps. You can’t replicate training for minutes, especially if it’s at a very high level.”

There are some injury issues in attack as well.

Portsmouth’s Kusini Yengi has looked most adept at leading the Socceroos line in recent times but has been out for six weeks with a knee injury and still has at least another month left on the sidelines.

“He’s been running for a couple weeks, I don’t think he’s training with the team as yet but he’s building up his fitness,” Popovic said.

“From what I’m told, middle to end of February he might be available.”

And Motherwell’s Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had his strong run of goalscoring form in Scotland halted by a calf injury.

“He played under a bit of a cloud and with hindsight perhaps he shouldn’t have but try to tell a player not to play when selected. He’s had a bit of a setback so we’ll have to wait and see when he can come back,” Popovic said.

Australia’s World Cup qualifier against Dutch great Patrick Kluivert’s Indonesia on March 20 in Sydney will be followed by an away clash against China five days later.

The 2026 qualifying campaign concludes with a monster clash against top-of-the-table Japan in Perth on June 5 followed by a trip to Saudi Arabia.