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Could Socceroos' benefit from being drawn in Pot 3?
Nicholas Quinlan • November 17th, 2025 7:36 pm
Adam Peacock believes that the Socceroos won’t be adversely affected by where they are placed for the FIFA World Cup Group Stage Draw.
After going unbeaten in his first 11 games of his tenure, Tony Popovic was flying high as the national team coach, helping Australia rank 25th in the FIFA World Rankings, which puts them at the precipice of making Pot 2 in the FIFA World Cup Group Stage Draw.
However, in the last two games, Popovic has faced some struggles, having encountered his first two losses against the United States in October and Venezuela on Saturday which has made that task of trying to make Pot 2, that little bit harder, with it being more likely that they will be drawn in Pot 3.
Peacock, who will be hosting SEN 1170’s Afternoons in 2026, believes that even though the Socceroos could be in a worse pot for the draw, it won’t have that much of a material effect on the team, considering the disparity in rankings.
“Yeah, the pots and the draws, it’s still all up in the air where everyone lands,” he noted on SEN Breakfast.
“On paper, it might make it a little bit trickier, but I don’t subscribe to the theory that it changes something materially.
“It’s what you get, and you can land in a slightly tougher draw, but then sometimes your so-called easier draw, if you’re in a higher pot, you can end up with a harder proposition because of the way that the weighting is done.
“And the World rankings are a bit loose because some European teams are ranked low because they are playing against other strong European teams all the time, where in other parts of the world, they’re playing each other.
“Especially in a World Cup cycle, so it can be a bit misleading. I’m not worried about that, I’m more worried about the performance.”
Before the draw and seeds are set, Australia will take on Colombia in their final match of the international window.
The friendly between the two nations will take place on Wednesday afternoon in New York at Citi Field Stadium.
The Draw of the Group Stage for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place in Washington D.C. on Saturday morning (AEDT) with SEN having LIVE coverage of the tournament, which begins on June 11.
