Australia is currently 35th in the rankings, according to FIFA. Their highest ranking was in 2009 when they moved up to 14th, and the lowest in 2014, when they dropped down to 102. The team has represented Australia at the FIFA World Cup tournament on five occasions, in 1974 and from 2006 to 2018. The team has also represented Australia at the FIFA Confederations Cup four times.
Many Australians have been famous in football in A-League, and also they have been to Europe’s top leagues, including the English Premier League.
Let’s see who all were the best to give an identity to Australia in football:
Tim Cahill
Tim Cahill is Australia’s all-time top scorer, scoring 50 goals in 109 games from 2004 to 2018. He became the first Australian to score a goal at the FIFA World Cup. He has played as a striker and as an attacking midfielder in his career.
Cahill has scored in three world cups. In 2006, 2010 and 2014. he also became the first Australian player to score a goal in the Asian Cup AFC in 2007.
Mark Schwarzer
Mark Schwarzer was the first non-British player to play over 500 Premier League games making him the most famous non-British player in Premier League history and the oldest player to play in the UEFA Champions League playoffs. During his time in England, Schwarzer represented the likes of Middlesbrough, Fulham, Chelsea and Leicester.
He is considered one of the best goalkeepers who have played in the Premier League. He is the player with the most appearances for his home country Australia. He played 109 times for his country.
From 1993 to 2013, he represented Australia in international tournaments and was part of the 2006 and 2010 world cup squad.
Mark Bosnich
Mark Bosnich has played for some of the most popular teams in the English Premier League. He played in England for Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea and was a member of Australia’s national team and football clubs: Central Coast Mariners, Sydney Olympic and Sydney United.
Manchester United signed him in 1989. But due to the lack of opportunities, he went back to Australia. But he came back to EPL when Aston Villa bought him in the next year, and it was when he was able to establish himself as a great goalkeeper.
Harry Kewell
Another Australian legend who has played in the English Premier League. He has played for Liverpool, Leeds United, Melbourne Victory, Galatasaray, Al Garafa and Melbourne Heart and is one of the best Australian footballers of all time.
He was named one of the Youngest Player of the Year by the PFA in 2000, and Kewell was named Australia’s Greatest Footballer in 2012 in a 2012 poll of Australian fans, players and the media.
