For a nation of roughly 26 million people, Australia have enjoyed a great amount of sporting success, continually producing outstanding athletes that have dominated the world stage. The Australian cricket team was arguably the most dominant side in the history of the prestigious game for a five-year period under Steve Waugh, beating every single Test-playing nation in the world, especially their arch rivals England.

The Baggy Greens have won the Cricket World Cup more times than any other team in the history of the tournament with five crowns to their name. In rugby union, the Wallabies have also excelled with two Rugby World Cups, although recent success has been thin on the ground. The Kangaroos’ rugby league team has been dominant, winning the crown 11 times, including the last two finals on the bounce.

Even in the Olympics, Australia have been competitive at the top of the medal charts, winning 17 gold medals at Tokyo 2020, securing their best haul since Athens 2004. However, for all the achievements that Australia have accomplished as a sporting nation there is one discipline that has failed to capture the imagination of the population. Football or soccer is not held in the regard by Australians as it is elsewhere in the globe.

Links with the home of football not prosperous

Despite obvious strong links with England, the home of football, the game has not quite translated to being a successful entity down under. It is highlighted by the fact that Australia are backed at 250/1 in the football betting odds to win the next World Cup. The Kangaroos have not been able to put forward a particularly competitive team in the tournament. Their best finish came in 2006 when they were cruelly eliminated in the round-of-16 stage by Italy and a late winner from Francesco Totti in the 95th minute.

In other sports, Australia have produced world-class stars that have topped the world rankings even in competitive fields such as golf where Jason Day and Adam Scott have had their moments in recent history, while Greg Norman flew the flag for many years as one of the leading lights of the game. The best footballer that has emerged from Australia has obviously been Tim Cahill. The midfielder and attacker was a solid Premier League player for Everton for a number of years, but was never considered a superstar. Nor was Brett Emerton, Lucas Neill and Mark Schwarzer, who were also Premier League stalwarts.

It is surprising that a country that has prided itself on sporting success has not produced one outstanding player in the world of soccer. Even little known countries have had at least one player that has stood out from the pack to play at the highest level for one of the leading teams in the world.

The simple reason is that the young talent in Australia floods towards Aussie rules, rugby league and union, along with cricket. Even after that Olympic sports and even golf could take higher priority. The A-League is an entertaining division and has attracted talented footballers from around the world, but until elite Australian talent comes through the ranks and performs, football will continue to be a second-class citizen down under.