In a cruel twist, Massimo Luongo has been ruled out of the Socceroos’ crucial World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan after missing Ipswich’s latest Premier League match against West Ham due to an ankle injury.
It comes just days after ending his retirement from international football.
FC St Pauli midfielder Connor Metcalfe is also unavailable.
He failed a fitness test on a leg injury and was ruled out of their 3-0 defeat to Mainz in the Bundesliga.
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Metcalfe has been a mainstay in the Socceroos midfield during this qualifying campaign.
Macarthur’s Luke Brattan and Nashville SC’s Patrick Yazbek have been called into the squad as cover.
It’s Brattan’s first call-up since 2018, while Yazbek has been recalled for the first time since his international debut against Lebanon, in March this year.
Luongo picked up the ankle injury soon after being named in Tony Popovic’s first squad in charge of the national side; a squad that was only revealed on Friday.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna revealed in the build up to their match against West Ham that he had several injury concerns on his hands, but didn’t name the players specifically.
“We’ve got a few other little issues that we’re monitoring at the moment, but in general we have good availability,” McKenna said.
Luongo’s name was then missing from Ipswich’s team-sheet.
The Socceroos medical team will now “work with Ipswich Town FC and FC St Pauli on rehabilitation plans and return to play timelines for both players following more detailed assessment,” Football Australia said in a statement.
The 32-year-old retired from international football in January this year, right before the Asian Cup.
At the time, the midfielder was intent on pouring his energy into Ipswich’s push for promotion to the Premier League and earning a new contract with the club.
With both of those goals achieved, Luongo backflipped on his decision to end his time as a Socceroo last week. His absence is a sizeable blow.
Australia sits fifth in a six team group after two-games of the third round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In what turned out to be Graham Arnold’s last two matches in charge of the Socceroos, they failed to score in a defeat to Bahrain on the Gold Coast and a draw with Indonesia in Jakarta, and Luongo’s creative spark would’ve been a welcome addition for the October window.
The top two-teams in the group will seal automatic qualification for the tournament, which will be co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Further opportunities to qualify will be available in the fourth and fifth rounds if required.
The Sydney born playmaker is the only Socceroo currently getting minutes in England’s top-flight. He started Ipswich’s first two-games of the season against Liverpool and Manchester City, but only got six-minutes in the following four-games, with the arrival of England international Kalvin Phillips, on loan from Manchester City, limiting his opportunities.
Socceroos defender Cameron Burgess also plays for Ipswich, but has only featured once on the pitch for McKenna this season, and that was in a second-round League Cup defeat to AFC Wimbledon on penalties.
Players will start arriving in camp in Adelaide in waves, right up until Wednesday morning; just a day before the game against China.
Luongo will be forced to watch on from England and hope for better luck ahead of two more big qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in November.
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