Socceroos wary of Jordan friendly due to security threats

Football Australia will continue to assess security ahead of the Socceroos' planned friendly against Jordan, with an under-strength squad named amid player concerns over safety.

Tony Popovic's squad was revealed at 10:30pm on Saturday night for upcoming friendlies against Qatar in Doha on November 13 (November 14 AEDT) and Jordan in Amman three days later.

The friendlies were initially meant to serve as preparation for the Asian Cup which has since been pushed back from January to December 2027 due to security concerns in host country Saudi Arabia.

Professional Footballers Australia (the PFA) on Friday said players had "overwhelmingly expressed their view that the Jordan match should be rescheduled or relocated".

Captain Maty Ryan and fellow veterans Jackson Irvine and Milos Degenek, plus midfielder Aiden O'Neill, are the most prominent omissions from coach Tony Popovic's squad, which includes seven uncapped players.

It is unclear whether those players made themselves unavailable for safety reasons.

As yet, there has been no movement on the Amman fixture, despite Indonesia recently cancelling their own planned friendly in Jordan.

"For the match against Jordan, we will continue to assess the security environment and provide players and staff with timely, comprehensive updates, including relevant safety advice and risk assessments," FA chief executive Martin Kugeler said.

"The safety and wellbeing of our players and staff remains our highest priority."

There are eight changes to the squad from September's friendlies against Brazil in Australia.

New call-ups are Central Coast defender Diesel Herrington, older brother of Hull City ace Lucas Herrington, Portsmouth striker Thomas Waddingham and FC St. Pauli midfielder Sam Klein.

Attacker Daniel Arzani returns after finding form at Ferencvaros, along with defender Gianni Stensness (Viking FK), who scored against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Striker Kusini Yengi joins brother Tete, while goalkeepers Joe Gauci (Lincoln City) and Tom Glover (RB Omiya Ardija) have been recalled.

"While the Asian Cup has been rescheduled, that does not take away from the importance of this window," Popovic said in a statement.

"We have limited opportunities to be together as a group, so every camp and every game is important.

"We will have an eye on continuing to evolve the squad for the future, with our World Cup 2030 qualifying campaign and the Asian Cup both now in the second half of 2027.

"This camp gives us another chance to work with new players and see how they fit into what we are building."

Socceroos Squad

Goalkeepers: Patrick Beach, Joe Gauci, Tom Glover*

Defenders: Kealey Adamson*, Aziz Behich, Kasey Bos*, Alessandro Circati, Jason Geria, Diesel Herrington*, Lucas Herrington, Jacob Italiano, Harry Souttar

Midfielders: Sam Klein*, Riley McGree, Connor Metcalfe, Paul Okon-Engstler, Gianni Stensness, Patrick Yazbek

Forwards: Eli Adams*, Daniel Arzani, Nestory Irankunda, Thomas Waddingham*, Kusini Yengi, Tete Yengi, Marcus Younis