Sydney, Oct 6 Australia midfielder Massimo Luongo’s return to international football is on hold for the time being as he has been ruled out of the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan due to an ankle injury.
Last week, Luongo, who plays for Premier League side Ipswich Town FC, came out of international retirement and was included in the 26-man Australian squad. But now he is out due to injury.
Another midfielder, Connor Metcalfe, has also been ruled out of the squad due to a foot injury. He did not play in Bundesliga side St Pauli’s 3-0 defeat to Mainz on Sunday.
The Australian Football Association (AFA) said, “The team’s medical staff was informed about the injuries of Luongo and Metcalfe after the official announcement. Now the injury examination and rehabilitation plan of both will be made in collaboration with the clubs.”
Luke Bratton and Patrick Yazbek have been included in the team in place of Luongo and Metcalfe. Yazbek has been called up for the first time since his debut against Lebanon in March 2024, while Bratton has returned to the team for the first time since 2018.
Australia will face China at Adelaide Oval on October 10 and Japan at Saitama Stadium in Japan on October 15. Australia is in fifth place in Group C of the qualifiers. It is five points behind Japan and three points behind Saudi Arabia.
AFC Asian Qualifiers – There will be three groups of six teams, where all teams will play home and away matches. The top two teams of each group will directly qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Team:
Goalkeepers: Matt Ryan, Joe Gauci, Paul Izzo.
Defenders: Aziz Behich, Jordan Boss, Cameron Burgess, Thomas Deng, Jason Zaria, Lewis Miller, Kai Roels, Harry Souttar, Gianni Stensness.
Midfielders: Keanu Baccus, Ajdin Hrustic, Jackson Irvine, Luke Bratton, Riley Magree, Patrick Yazbek, Aidan O’Neill.
Forwards: Daniel Arzhani, Mitchell Duke, Craig Goodwin, Nestori Irrankunda, Sam Silveira, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Nishan Velupillai.
