What happened to the Socceroos who last won a World Cup game?
Tim Cahill wants to BUY a football club, Mark Schwarzer has swapped the gloves for a microphone while Mark Bresciano has launched a medicinal CANNABIS business… here’s what happened to the Socceroos who last won a World Cup game for Australia
- Qatar 2022 will be Australia’s fifth consecutive World Cup appearance
- But the Socceroos haven’t won a World Cup game since 2010
- Tim Cahill and Brett Holman scored in a 2-1 win over Serbia in South Africa
- Australia were knocked out of the group on goal difference by Ghana
- Sportsmail looks at the Socceroos players from the day and where they are now
- Click here for all your latest international sports news at Daily Mail Australia
- Click here for all the latest World Cup 2022 news and updates
Australia may have become regular guests at the World Cup, but wins on the biggest stage of all have proved very hard to come by for the Socceroos.
After ending a 32-year wait for a World Cup spot in 2006, Australia have not missed the tournament since.
However, there has been precious little to celebrate for the Socceroos, who finished bottom of their group both in 2014 and 2018 with a solitary point across the two tournaments.
Tim Cahill (left) celebrates with Lucas Neill after scoring the opening goal in Australia’s 2-1 win over Serbia in the final round of games in Group D at the 2010 World Cup
It’s been over 12 years since Australia won a game at the World Cup, with Tim Cahill and Brett Holman combining to beat Serbia 2-1 at the Mbombela Stadium in Neisprut in the final Group D fixture of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Thrashed 4-0 by Germany in their opening game, Australia drew 1-1 with eventual quarter-finalists Ghana as Asamoah Gyan’s penalty cancelled out Holman’s opener.
The midfielder bagged his second goal of the campaign with superb effort against Serbia, doubling the Socceroos’ advantage shortly after a trademark Cahill header.
Australia finished level with Ghana on four points, but went out of the World Cup on goal difference.
Here, Sportsmail takes a look at what happened to the Socceroos who last won a World Cup game.
Australia finished level on points with Ghana but were knocked out on goal difference
Mark Schwarzer
A Socceroos hero after saving two penalties in the World Cup playoff in 2005, Schwarzer amassed 109 caps over a 20-year career with Australia – both records in their own right.
He pulled off a string of crucial saves in the win over Serbia in 2010, which would turn out to be his last World Cup appearance.
Schwarzer left Fulham after five seasons at the end of the 2013 season to take up the role of reserve keeper at Chelsea and Leicester over the next four years, equally split between Stamford Bridge and the King Power Stadium.
After retiring, Mark Schwarzer became a pundit for Optus Sport in Australia
While he failed to add any silverware to the League Cup he won with Middlesbrough in 2004, he became the oldest all-time player at both clubs.
Australia’s Footballer of the Year in 2009 and 2010, Schwarzer is now a Premier League pundit for Optus Sport in Australia and regularly appears on BT Sports in the UK.
Luke Wilshire
Wilshire represented Australia at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, starting five of the Socceroos’ seven games across the two tournaments.
He won the Russian National League in his second spell with Dynamo Moscow in 2017, just months before ending his 17-year spell in Europe by signing for Sydney FC.
His only season in the A-League proved to be one to remember as Sydney finished as minor premiers and picked up the FFA Cup.
After retiring in 2018, he coached Wollongong Wolves in the NPL for four years and in May this year he was appointed as head of youth development at Central Coast Mariners for the next two seasons.
Luke Wilshire, pictured here in 2013, was appointed as head of youth development at Central Coast Mariners for the next two seasons in May this year
Michael Beauchamp
An unused substitute in the four matches in the 2006 World Cup, Beauchamp made his World Cup debut against Serbia four years later as he replaced Craig Moore in the starting XI.
An inaugural signing for both Melbourne Heart and Western Sydney Wanderers in their debut A-League campaigns in 2010 and 2012 respectively, Beauchamp captained the Wanderers to the A-League Grand Final in their first season.
He won 22 caps for Australia and retired in 2018 after a spell with Marconi Stallions in the New South Wales NPL, the club he’d started his career at 18 years earlier.
Michael Beauchamp was an inaugural signing for both Melbourne Heart and Western Sydney Wanderers (above) in their debut A-League campaigns in 2010 and 2012 respectively
Lucas Neill
Australia’s captain at the 2010 World Cup, a record 61 of Neill’s 96 Socceroos caps came as skipper.
By the time tournament kicked off in South Africa, Neill’s 15-year career in England had ended, with the right-back leaving Everton mid-season to join Turkish giants Galatasaray.
A solitary season in Istanbul was followed by brief and similarly unsuccessful spells in the United Arab Emirates with Al Jazira and Al Wasl in 2011 and 2012, before he signed for Sydney FC as guest player the following year.
Lucas Neill played a record 61 times as Socceroos captain before retiring in 2014
Neill played only four matches on his 10-game stint in Sydney and eventually hung up his boots in 2014, after fleeting spells in Japan and England.
The third-most capped Socceroos in history, Neill last played for the national team in 2013 and was declared bankrupt by British authorities three years later.
After keeping a low profile for almost six years, the former Blackburn star resurfaced in 2020 when he was asked by Football Australia (FA) to assist with the unveiling of new Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson.
David Carney
One of the most well-travelled members of the Socceroos squad, Carney played for eight clubs across England and Scotland in his career, along with spells in Spain, Uzbekistan and in the MLS.
Promoted into the starting XI in place of Scott Chipperfield following Australia’s 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Germany in their opening game of the 2010 World Cup, Carney played in the 1-1 draw with Ghana and the 2-1 win over Serbia.
The dependable left-back won the A-League with Sydney in 2006 and 2017, lifting the FFA Cup in the same season.
Carney took up coaching after retiring in 2018 and will replace former Socceroos teammate Luke Wilshire as the coach of Wollongong Wolves in the NPL from next season.
David Carney won the A-League with Sydney in 2006 and 2017 and will coach the Wollongong Wolves in the NPL from next season, replacing Luke Wilshire at the helm
Jason Culina
An ever-present figure in the Socceroos’ World Cup campaign in 2006, Culina started all of Australia’s three games in the 2010 tournament.
The midfielder won four Eredivisie titles in five years with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, before returning to the A-League as Gold Coast’s first marquee player. Culina joined his father Branko at Newcastle in 2011, but the family reunion backfired spectacularly.
The Jets ripped up Culina’s $850,000-a-season deal when it became apparent he needed knee surgery before he’d even kicked a ball for his new club and subsequently sacked his father.
Culina retired in 2013 after playing just eight games for Sydney FC.
Jason Culina retired in 2013 after playing just eight games for Sydney FC
Carl Valeri
Like his midfield partner Culina, Valeri started all three of Australia’s games at the 2010 World Cup.
The midfielder made his name in Italy’s second and third divisions, before moving to Melbourne in 2014. He was a key player in the Victory’s stunning 2015 season, in which Melbourne won the A-League Grand Final after finishing as minor premiers and lifted the FFA Cup.
Valeri won his second Grand Finals with Melbourne three years later, before retiring at the end of 2019.
Carl Valeri won two A-League Grand Finals with Melbourne before retiring at the end of 2019
Brett Emerton
A bonafide Socceroos legend after scoring in the 3-1 win over England at Upton Park in 2002, Emerton established himself as one of Australia’s pillars for over a decade.
A key cog in the teams that qualified for the World Cup in 2006 and 2010, Emerton started six of Australia’s seven games across the two tournament – he missed the Round of 16 loss against Italy in 2006 through suspension.
His spell in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers came to an end just two games into his ninth season in July 2011, when the club terminated his contract by mutual consent allowing Emerton to sign a three-year deal with Sydney FC.
Brett Emerton took on ambassadorial roles for the FA and Macarthur United after retiring
Persistent back problems forced Emerton to retire in 2014, but he remained in football and took on ambassadorial roles for the FA and Macarthur United, along with coaching within the latter’s junior setup.
Away from the field, the former winger dabbled into property and along with his wife Sarah purchased an entire apartment block in Lilyfield, Sydney for $10.2million in 2020.
Tim Cahill
The Socceroos’ World Cup history wouldn’t be the same without Tim Cahill. The first Australian to ever score a World Cup goal in 2006, Cahill has scored in three different World Cups and his five goals are the most by any Australian in the history of the tournament.
Cahill scored 56 goals in 226 Premier Leagues games across eight seasons with Everton, before crossing the Atlantic in 2012 to join the New York Red Bulls.
A three-year spell in the Big Apple was followed by two years in China, before Cahill returned to Australia to play for Melbourne City from 2016 to 2018, winning the FFA Cup in his first season.
Tim Cahill is the current chief sports officer of the Aspire Academy in Qatar
After retiring in 2019, the former Everton legend has completed his UEFA Pro Licence along with the UEFA A, B and C licences and has studied Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports at the prestigious Harvard Business School.
Currently the chief sports officer of the Aspire Academy in Qatar, the 42-year-old told the Herald Sun earlier this year he may even consider owning a football club one day.
Mark Bresciano
One of the Socceroos’ pillars for over a decade, Bresciano represented Australia at three World Cups and won 84 caps for the national side.
After nine seasons in Serie A with Parma, Palermo and Lazio, the Melbournian spent four seasons in Dubai and Qatar with Al Nasr and Al-Gharafa respectively before retiring in 2015.
Bresciano was appointed to the FA board after returning to Australia and, like Emerton, he has invested in property after hanging up his boots.
His business interests extend far beyond real estate and in 2018 he revealed he was working on cultivating cannabis for medical uses with his Greenhope company.
Mark Bresciano worked on cultivating cannabis for medical use and was appointed to Football Australia’s board and inducted in Australia’s football Hall of Fame after retiring
Josh Kennedy
A second-half substitute in the 1-1 draw against Ghana, Kennedy started his first World Cup game in the win against Serbia.
Unfortunately for the man Socceroos fans christened Jesus, it would prove to be his first and last start in the tournament as he missed the 2014 World Cup through injury.
It was a cruel blow for the striker, who had written himself in Australian sporting folklore by coming off the bench to head in an 83rd-minute winner against Iraq in to clinch a World Cup berth.
Having spent a combined 16 seasons plying his trade in Germany and Japan, Kennedy signed for Melbourne City in 2015 but retired at the end of the season. The 40-year-old joined the FA’s inner circle in August to be ‘the interface between the governing body and its member federations.’
Josh Kennedy spent a single season at Melbourne City (above) before retiring in 2015 and is currently working with Football Australia
Scott Chipperfield
Chipperfield played in each of Australia’s four games the 2006 World Cup and retained his spot for the Socceroos’ 4-0 loss to Germany in their opening game of the 2010 tournament.
He was subsequently dropped and came on as second-half substitute in the next two group games, announcing his retirement from international football soon after Australia’s win over Serbia.
He racked up 68 caps for the Socceroos and won the Swiss Super League title seven times in 11 years with FC Basel, the club his son Liam currently plays for.
Scott Chipperfield won the Swiss Super League title seven times in 11 years with FC Basel
Brett Holman
Holman finished the tournament as Australia’s top scorer, after netting the opener in the draw against Ghana and the second goal against Serbia.
The midfielder, who won 63 caps for the Socceroos, signed for Aston Villa in 2012 after a decade in Holland but departed the Premier League after just one season.
He returned to Australia in 2016, signing a two-year deal with the Brisbane Roar, before suffering a career-ending knee injury while playing against Perth Glory in 2018. The incident sparked a protracted legal battle between the player and the club, with Holman accusing the Roar of withholding insurance money.
Last year, the Roar were eventually ordered to pay the former Socceroos almost $370,000 in insurance payout plus over $40,000 in interests and legal costs.
Brett Holman was embroiled in an acrimonious legal battle with the Brisbane Roar after suffering a career-ending knee injury while playing for the club in 2018
Richard Garcia
A relatively surprise inclusion in the starting line-up for the 4-0 hammering against Germany, Garcia was dropped for the game against Ghana and came on a second half substitute against Serbia.
After 13 seasons in England with West Ham, Colchester and Hull, he returned to Australia in 2012 and retired three years later after spells with Melbourne Heart, Sydney FC and Perth Glory.
Garcia was appointed Glory coach in 2020, but was sacked midway through his second season in charge.
Richard Garcia was appointed as Perth Glory coach in 2020, but was sacked midway through his second season in charge due to poor results
Pim Verbeek
The enigmatic Dutchman fell just short of emulating his compatriot Guus Hiddink by steering the Socceroos to the knockout stage of a World Cup.
Never afraid of making his opinions on what he perceived to be the A-League’s poor standards known, Verbeek’s four-year spell in charge of Australia ended shortly after the 2010 World Cup.
He died after a four-year battle with cancer in 2019, following spells in charge of Morocco’s U23 team and Oman.
Pim Verbeek left the Socceroos shortly after the 2010 World Cup and died in 2019
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