Jordy Bos Shines in Socceroos' Draw Against Paraguay
Australia’s goalless draw with Paraguay will not linger long in the memory for its scoreline. For Jordy Bos, it might mark something far more important: the night a World Cup campaign quietly bent in his direction.
The Socceroos booked their place in the round of 32 with a pragmatic, disciplined performance, but inside the dressing room the conversation kept circling back to the same name.
“He’s the best player in the world, Jordy Bos,” Nestory Irankunda declared, half-laughing, half-deadly serious after the final whistle. Hyperbole, sure. But it captured the mood.
Bos owns the right flank
Bos did not even start on his favoured side. A natural left-back, the Feyenoord defender was pushed over to the right of Australia’s back line, asked to adjust his angles, his body shape, his instincts. He made the switch look like a promotion.
He created more chances than anyone else in green and gold. He took more shots. He completed the most dribbles. Every time Australia tried to raise the tempo, Bos was the one stepping on the gas, tearing forward to link with Cristian Volpato down that right-hand channel.
There were flashes that stirred memories. The way he surged from deep, the way he treated the flank as a runway rather than a boundary, drew comparisons to Gareth Bale’s early days as a rampaging fullback before his transformation into a superstar winger at Real Madrid.
Bos’s own reference point lies elsewhere. He grew up watching Arjen Robben, the Dutch master who turned cutting inside into an art form.
“Unfortunately, I didn't score like him, but I tried, tried my hardest,” Bos said, still replaying the missed openings in his mind. “I think I could have scored a couple, but I think from now on if everyone puts their best foot forward and we get chances, we just have to finish it. The sky's the limit.”
The numbers backed up the eye test. Bos pushed so high that, at times, he looked like an auxiliary winger rather than a defender, driving at Paraguay’s back line, committing players, forcing decisions. For a side that has sometimes lacked incision in the final third, his ambition with the ball felt like a jolt of electricity.
Herrington steps into the spotlight
On the opposite side of Australia’s back three, another story was quietly taking shape.
Lucas Herrington, just 18, became the youngest Australian ever to start a World Cup match, nudging Irankunda’s own record into the history books. There was no chest beating, no grand entrance. Just a composed, assured debut from a teenager who has already drawn admiring glances from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Barcelona.
The speculation around his future has been growing louder with every month. Herrington wants none of it, at least not yet.
“I’m here at the World Cup, so that’s my main focus. I just want to help the team as much as possible, and we can deal with that after,” he said, sounding like someone who has already rehearsed that line more than once.
Irankunda, who knows exactly what it means to be swept up by a European giant after his own move to Bayern Munich at 17, echoed the sentiment and the warning.
“He’s so talented and I feel like this is just a glimpse of what he can do, a small glimpse of what he can do, and I feel like he can just get better from here and I feel like we’ll see a better side to him,” Irankunda said. “I’ve just told him to try to stay away from it,” he added, nodding toward the transfer noise that now follows Herrington everywhere.
Herrington had to be patient for his chance. He watched the first two matches from the bench, studying, waiting, learning the rhythms of tournament football before being trusted from the start against Paraguay.
“It’s my first World Cup at 18. It’s in probably everyone’s best interest for a young player just to watch and observe the first couple of games,” he said afterwards. “I’m just grateful my opportunity came out and I really enjoyed it. I loved it every minute.”
There was no fuss in his performance, but plenty of promise: calm on the ball, alert in the duels, comfortable stepping into midfield when required. If Bos brought the fireworks, Herrington supplied the steady glow.
A new generation, a higher ceiling
Australia still needs more goals. The finishing did not match the buildup against Paraguay, and Bos knows it. His own frustration at not finding the net betrayed standards that are rising within this squad.
Yet in a tight, nervy group-stage match, two young defenders — one marauding, one measured — offered a glimpse of what might be coming next for the Socceroos.
Bos spoke about the sky being the limit. With him charging down one flank and Herrington growing into his role on the other side of the back line, the real question is how quickly this new generation can turn potential into something far more dangerous for the rest of the world.
