Australia manager Graham Arnold will take charge at World Cup 2022, and he is set for his third taste of international football’s biggest tournament.
The 59-year-old’s playing career took him to Europe, where he played as a forward in the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as scoring 19 goals for the Socceroos in 56 caps.
His first big break in management came in the national team set-up, as he was appointed as assistant to Frank Farina in 2000.
Farina was sacked in 2005 but Arnold worked alongside his successor Guus Hiddink at the 2006 World Cup, where Australia reached the last-16 and lost to Italy courtesy of a 95th-minute Francesco Totti penalty.
Graham Arnold took on the Australia managerial job on an interim basis after the tournament and led them to the 2007 Asian Cup, where they were knocked out by Japan on penalties in the quarter-finals.
When Pim Verbeek was appointed as the next full-time boss, Arnold went back to his former role as an assistant, and was part of the coaching team at the 2010 in South Africa, when Australia were knocked out in the group stage on goal difference after picking up four points.
The Sydney native then moved into club management, leading unfancied Central Coast Mariners to the A-League Premiership title in 2011/12 before winning the Grand Final in 2013.
He then took charge of hometown club Sydney FC, winning a further two Premierships, one Championship and an FFA Cup – achievements that earned him a place in the Australian football Hall of Fame.
Arnold was appointed permanent Australia boss in 2018, replacing Bert van Marwijk on the back of a group stage exit at the 2018 World Cup in Russia where the Socceroos picked up just one point.
He suffered a disappointing quarter-final exit to hosts UAE at his first major tournament, the 2019 Asian Cup.
But at youth level Arnold qualified the Under-23s for the 2020 Olympics thanks to a third-place finish at the AFC U-23 Championship, although they were knocked out at the group stage in Tokyo.
Australia finished third in their World Cup qualifying group behind Saudi Arabia and Japan, leaving them facing a play-off maze to qualify for Qatar 2022.
They were up against the UAE again first, but this time came out on top with a 2-1 victory in Qatar thanks to goals from Jackson Irvine and Ajdin Hrustic.
That earned them an intercontinental play-off clash with Peru, where goalkeeping heroics from Andrew Redmayne – who Arnold subbed on especially for the penalty shoot-out – edged Australia into the World Cup.
Set to face France, Denmark and Tunisia in Group D, Graham Arnold will have a tough task selecting his Australia World Cup squad. He has picked players plying their trade across the globe for his squads in the past 12 months, with 53 called up to represent Australia.
