(Reuters) – Ipswich Town midfielder Massimo Luongo has withdrawn from Australia’s World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan next week due to an ankle injury, Football Australia announced on Sunday.
Luongo did not play in the Premier League club’s 4-1 loss to West Ham United on Saturday and is joined on the sidelines by fellow midfielder Connor Metcalfe, who missed St Pauli’s 3-0 Bundesliga loss to Mainz due to a leg injury.
Coach Tony Popovic has called up Macarthur FC’s Luke Brattan and Patrick Yazbek from Nashville SC as replacements for the qualifiers, which will be played in Adelaide on Thursday and Saitama on Oct. 15.
Luongo was called up to the squad on Friday for the first time since reversing his decision to retire from international football. The 32-year-old had been included in Popovic’s first squad since the former defender replaced Graham Arnold as coach last month.
The meeting with China is a must-win for the Australians, who have one point from their opening two matches in the third phase of Asia’s qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, having lost to Bahrain before drawing 0-0 with Indonesia.
The Socceroos are fifth in Group C of the qualifiers, five points adrift of leaders Japan and three behind second-placed Saudi Arabia.
Only the first two finishers in the group are guaranteed to qualify for the World Cup, with teams in third and fourth in the six-nation standings progressing to a further round of qualifying.
(Reporting by Michael Church; Editing by William Mallard)
