Australia Out of World Cup: Popovic Under Fire After Penalty Shootout Loss
The line was that this was a no-lose situation. “Either way you win,” people said. “Whatever happens there will be consolation.”
Tell that to an Australia fan staring at the screen as Hossam Abdelmaguid thumped in Egypt’s fourth penalty in Dallas.
The Socceroos are out of the World Cup. Again. Still no win in the knockout rounds. And this one will sting for a long time.
Popovic under fire after shootout gamble backfires
Australia’s campaign ended with a 4-2 defeat on penalties after a 1-1 draw through extra time at Dallas Stadium, a night that turned from tense to torturous once the shootout began.
Tony Popovic walked into it with two big calls. He swapped starting goalkeeper Patrick Beach for veteran Mat Ryan just before the spot-kicks. He also handed a penalty to 18-year-old Lucas Herrington. Ryan couldn’t produce the save Australia needed. Herrington couldn’t convert.
The teenager’s miss will be replayed and dissected, but the focus has quickly turned to the man who put him there.
Former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Bosnich said he was “astounded” that Beach, who had carried Australia through the 120 minutes, was taken off for the shootout. Robbie Slater added his voice, questioning the wisdom of placing that level of pressure on a teenager on the biggest stage the sport can offer.
Popovic, though, has strong backing from the top. Football Australia moved quickly to defend their coach, insisting he remains “absolutely” the right person to lead the national side despite the criticism swirling around his decisions. For now, the federation is standing firm, even as debate rages over whether this was ruthless tournament management or overthinking at the worst possible moment.
What is not in dispute: when Abdelmaguid buried his penalty, the arguments about process and planning didn’t matter much to Australian hearts. The overwhelming sensation was something closer to nausea than consolation.
Mbappe powers France through brutal heat and bruising contest
On the other side of the draw, another World Cup heavyweight simply found a way.
In Philadelphia, France waded through suffocating heat and a scrap of a contest against Paraguay to book a fourth straight World Cup quarter-final. The temperature hit 37 degrees in the first half, the pace slowed to a crawl, and the game turned into a test of patience as much as quality.
France had both. Paraguay had resistance, and not a great deal else.
The decisive moment came on 70 minutes. Doué went down in the box under a clear challenge from Gomez. The referee waved play on, but the VAR check told a different story. Replays showed contact, a trip, and an inevitable outcome. The referee trotted to the monitor, took one look, then pointed to the spot.
Ousmane Dembele had the ball at first. Kylian Mbappe took responsibility.
A stuttered run. A cool strike into the bottom-right corner. Paraguay 0-1 France, and the golden boot race suddenly crackled again.
It was Mbappe’s seventh goal of the tournament, pulling him level with Lionel Messi at the top of the charts and lifting his World Cup tally to 19 in 19 matches – just one shy of Messi’s 20. The Real Madrid forward is not only dragging France deeper into this tournament; he is stalking history with every touch inside the box.
Paraguay tried to respond, throwing on Mauricio and Avalos in search of pace and purpose in the final stages. It never really came. France, even in second gear, controlled the closing minutes. When Mbappe hammered a late effort at Gill, the goalkeeper could only parry it straight back to him. The follow-up looked destined for the corner until Gill twisted, flung himself across goal and somehow clawed it away.
It kept the scoreline respectable. It did nothing to change the outcome.
By the seventh minute of stoppage time, tempers frayed. The match ended with stern words and bristling confrontations, Paraguay players surrounding the referee while the French finally allowed themselves a brief celebration.
France didn’t need a second goal. They had the one that mattered, and they had their ticket to face Morocco in the quarter-finals.
Australia, by contrast, are left with only questions. France march on with Mbappe chasing Messi’s records. The Socceroos fly home still searching for a first knockout win, and a way to turn all that sickening, hollow feeling into something more than another hard-luck story.
