Australia's Socceroos Lose World Cup Round of 32 Penalty Shootout to Egypt; Coach Defends Goalkeeper Change

2026 World Cup Key News

(ARLINGTON, Texas, July 3, CNA) Australia lost to Egypt in a penalty shootout in the World Cup Round of 32 today. Australian head coach Tony Popovic defended his decision to change goalkeepers at the time.

Agence France-Presse reported that Popovic also said he did not regret letting 18-year-old defender Lucas Herrington participate in the penalty shootout. Herrington's shot hit the crossbar. Another defender, Harry Souttar, also missed his shot.

Australia drew 1-1 with Egypt after 120 minutes of play, ultimately losing the penalty shootout 2-4.

In the final moments of extra time, with a penalty shootout looming, Popovic replaced 22-year-old goalkeeper Patrick Beach with the more experienced Mathew Ryan.

Ryan, 34, failed to save any penalties, and Egypt advanced to the Round of 16, where they will face Argentina or Cape Verde.

Popovic stated that the Australian team "showed fighting spirit, resilience, and strength" to force the game into a penalty shootout, and he was "deeply proud." Australia has yet to win a knockout stage match in the World Cup.

Popovic said, "There are always substitution options during a match, and with only a few minutes left in extra time, we had no players leaving due to injury, so we had one substitution slot remaining, and we decided to bring Ryan on."

"Yes, the outcome was not successful, and of course, many reasons can be discussed, but considering Ryan's extensive experience, and if you look at his past record of saving penalties... Beach is still a relatively inexperienced goalkeeper, both for the national team and at the club level."

"We believed Ryan's experience would make a difference."

When discussing letting Herrington take a penalty under immense pressure, Popovic said, "If this young player had scored, I believe everyone would be saying something different right now."

He told the media, "You would probably be sitting here praising an 18-year-old for scoring a penalty on such a stage." (Compiled by Lu Ying-tzu) 1150704

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