European giants reportedly circling emerging Socceroos star

He might have only managed a total of 78 minutes in his entire career as a Socceroo, but Cristian Volpato has already been awarded the highest of praise.

Coming off the bench for Australia against the USA at the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Volpato changed the outlook of the Socceroos’ attack, posing a threat that the nation hasn’t seen for a number of years.

A natural ball carrier, Volpato completed the most dribbles of any player on the pitch with five in just 29 minutes, creating one great chance and missing another in a game-altering cameo deep in the second half.

Despite the Socceroos’ inability to breach the co-host’s defence, Volpato – alongside fellow substitutes Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe – was crucial to Australia’s lack of spark going forward.

With that cameo in mind, football expert Brenton Speed believes the newest Socceroo carries the likeness of one of the nation’s greatest ever players.

“He is the most exciting player – skillset wise – I’ve seen for Australia since Harry Kewell,” Speed told SEN's Kick Off.

“Maybe a Tom Rogic along the journey (as well.)

“He had more successful dribbles than anyone we’ve seen in an Australian shirt at a World Cup!

“Volpato would be quicker than Rogic, and he is so skilful. Left footer… he is going to play a lot more for the Socceroos.

“They did well to get him.”

Despite his excellent cameo against the USA, Speed still believes Volpato should start on the bench in Australia’s final group stage match against Paraguay.

“(Tony Popovic) had most of the players for two months, or six weeks in the buildup. He had them at the US base.” he said.

“Volpato committed to Australia late, had to come via Australia to get to the United States to be a part of that squad at very late notice.

“He hasn’t done the Popovic minutes on the training pitch to be ready for 90 minutes.

“But he is ready for 30-minute cameos and what have you.”

Another young Socceroo that’s receiving some high praise is centre-back Alessandro Circati.

The 22-year-old, who plays in Serie A for Parma, is reportedly being circled by some of Europe’s biggest clubs and he’s now said to be garnering the interest of the best of them all in Paris Saint-Germain.

While a move to the reigning back-to-back European champions would no doubt turn the head of any player, SEN’s Jordan Kounelis and Archie Thompson don’t think the Aussie should be making the move unless he’s guaranteed playing minutes.

Kounelis: “PSG have sort of cast the net open to a group of players, and in that group that they are keeping an eye on at this World Cup, is Alessandro Circati.

“He is garnering interest from many different big teams around the biggest leagues in the world.

“Premier League teams are looking at him, La Liga teams are looking at him as well, and now, PSG are looking at him as well. So, is PSG a good fit? Does the French league suit a player like him defensively? Would you go there, or do you need to go there with a guarantee that he's going to get minutes?”

Thompson: “You have to probably look at going there guaranteed with minutes.

“He's already playing in the Serie A, he's playing, week in, week out… “But PSG though, you can't ignore a club like that that compete in the Champions League, they're winning titles and that’d be a nice change. Look at the players he’d be playing with, amazing.”

Kounelis: “He’s a possible future replacement for Marquinhos potentially who's nearing the end of his career now. So, if that's the guarantee (getting minutes)… but it is a very tough team to break into, you have to be of the utmost quality to play for PSG.

“But it's not as if they don't search out players from maybe smaller nations. Willian Pacho is their other centre back who's from Ecuador, so they're not just looking for Brazilians, French, English and Spanish, it's like they're not afraid to sort of cast the net far and wide.”

Australia’s final group stage match commences this Friday at 12pm, with a result against Paraguay guaranteeing progression to the Round of 32.

You can listen to Simon Hill and Andy Harper call Australia v Paraguay live from Santa Clara, California, from Friday at 10am AEST on SEN, the official radio broadcaster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup™.