How are the Young Socceroos shaping up ahead of the U-20 World Cup?

Sprawled across Northern Chile's Pacific coast lies the Atacama Desert, an otherworldly stretch of parched earth that has been woven into the country's early history. Embedded in its collective memory is the mythical story of the Alicanto, a bird whose shimmering feathers reflect the very mineral a seeker most desires. If the bird deems the suitor worthy, it leads them to vast riches buried deep beneath the desert floor, a reward that could change their fate forever. But the Alicanto offers no promise without risk. Should the bird sense greed or unworthiness, it will lead the follower astray into a world of darkness, lost within the endless wilderness, where they may vanish or fall to their death. The story of the Alicanto served as a reminder to the Chilean people to overcome their greed during the early days of mining and geological exploration.

As Australia begins its 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup campaign, the story serves as a vivid metaphor. The path to success is never simple. You may be on course toward your stated goals, but the journey is ruthless. Only your inner spirit and character are the beacon that will determine your fate.

The Young Socceroos have prepared for the tournament in the private surrounds of Valparaíso. (Image: Football Australia)

The case for how prepared the Young Socceroos will be to face adversity with a level head is being continuously made, with the team entering its first World Cup since 2013 and coming in as Asian champions for the first time.

Much like the quest for gold in the Atacama, this otherwise fanciful status comes with a hardened challenge. Two traditional powerhouses of the world game, Italy and Argentina, await in Group D, along with CONCACAF upstarts Cuba.

The playing group will nevertheless be ready to embrace this challenge ahead of them, with a squad boasting a highly experienced group of personnel, highlighting exactly how they ended such a long wait for Australia to be playing in the global showpiece at U20 level, and proving the notion that this generation of talent may be capable of heights once achieved in a bygone era.

Integral to the change in fortunes was also the character and intuition shown by head coach Trevor Morgan, who arrived at the Asian Cup in China promising a more attacking style of play that had previously eluded other Australian youth national teams.

It is no wonder, then, that under a more aggressive style backed by self-belief in a way previously unattained, this squad would go on to win silverware and provide something of a spark within themselves and the entire national curriculum.

Insights on exactly who headlines the 2025 squad when compared with their last World Cup in 2013, a team led by familiar A-League figureheads such as Joshua Brillante and Jamie Maclaren, likely shape up far more promising not just as a result of what Morgan installed, but also from the products of their own talent and experience.

More players are appearing homely and settled both overseas and domestically, with gametime and fitness at a premium in the lead-up to the World Cup.

The overseas contingent includes Perth products Jaylan Pearman and Daniel Bennie, who are regular fixtures in the academy squad of Queens Park Rangers, as well as Musa Toure, who has joined his brother, Mohamed, at Danish club Randers.

Also featuring in the final squad named on Thursday, Louis Agosti has been battle-hardened at the senior level, having gained minutes in Serie C. Meanwhile, Asian Cup hero goalkeeper Steven Hall also plays academy football for Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion.

Steven Hall provided his heroics late in the penalty shootout against Saudi Arabia, securing the Asian Cup title. (Image: Asian Football Confederation)

Locally, the squad also holds many familiar A-League names. Lucas Herrington accrued nearly a full season at Brisbane Roar before securing a move to the MLS, and Max Caputo has just won a championship at Melbourne City. The likes of Alex Badolato and Paul Okon-Engstler have made off-season moves to Newcastle and Sydney, respectively, that provided a spark for many in the league's orbit to take notice of what they offer.

There is no doubt in this case that the path on paper might suggest a decent tussle with even the toughest of opponents, as senior minutes appear to be coming at a premium. How exactly they shape up across Group D in this aspect becomes a pretty fascinating and diverse picture, as well as when compared with proven results by extension.

Matchday one opponents Italy likely pose the most unique and difficult challenge in this regard, with their squad, which is already on the younger side, mostly being 17 to 19 years old, containing just six players from major Serie A clubs' academies, with senior minutes being of quite a value to their selection process.

The biggest asset to highlight in this respect is Ismaël Konaté, a 2006-born forward who has already notched up 12 senior starting appearances for Empoli in Serie B.

The real danger of the journey is being provided through talents like Konaté. The Australian outfit is quite spoiled for senior minutes as well. However, the Italians, playing in their league system and throughout Europe, likely have a more valued development system. They also have the results, having been a semi-finalist at the UEFA U-19 Euros in Northern Ireland in 2024, where Spain eliminated them in the 100th minute of their semi-final.

Argentina's profile is comparatively delicate; they boast just five players in a European environment out of their full 23-man squad, headlined by Porto's Tomas Perez. For the rest of the team, senior minutes in Argentina may still be valuable, especially on South American soil, where the team could come alive in the tournament.

Results-wise, as a team and a program, they also have their own demons to face. Argentina were knocked out on home soil in the previous edition of the World Cup at the Round of 16 stage, and there will be emotional baggage to carry. Locally, within South America, they also fell short of expectations. Across four games against Brazil and Colombia at different stages of the CONMEBOL U-20 Championship, they failed to win.

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In this department, the Young Socceroos' final group opponent, Cuba, is a mystery, with a mainly local squad from a league system where data is sometimes difficult to find. Outside of local phenom Romario Torres, their advantage truly lies with their unknown quantity and, by extension, their fitness and the match minutes they have gained.

Their qualification being secured through gritted teeth against Honduras in a shootout, naturally, it was Torres himself who scored the winning penalty.

Looking tactically from the Australian perspective, regardless of whether the evergreen image of Morgan and the squad continue to approach the tournament in the same confident and aggressive way, results are obviously never guaranteed, and the exact point of the tournament should not be lost either.

A youth tournament should never be a results-based analysis, at least not as the first point of call. These tournaments are, for all intents and purposes, something of a balancing act between player development, tactical evolution for the country as a whole, and the results.

This balancing act will define Australia's aspirations. However, with an Asian title in the bank and the possibility of confidently entering the knockouts off the back of securing a result against Italy or Argentina, this could be impactful enough to define all three. Approaching it in this manner obviously does no good.

The whole team would likely argue that nothing has changed; for them, it is the same as the Asian Cup, and they will approach it with the same level of devotion and prowess.

How the exact target can be stated, even if it is one of many possible options, might then come down to a somewhat simplified notion. I would argue that success, by whichever means it is presented, is still a tangible win for football in this country, and that those can be presented in a series of different ways, maybe even a few years down the track.

The transfer one player might gain from a good performance, or Football Australia being able to take away something tangible for its pending restructure, may be more beneficial for us than any one result that occurs in the coming month.

In that same vein, I remind you of the story of the mythical Alicanto. Could it be that a beautiful golden bird inhabited the riches found in the Atacama Desert, or could the true riches have been found in those who dared to track its journey in search of better things to come?

Click here to read more about Australia's men's national teams!