Just hours after the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifier against Bahrain in November, the team’s accommodation was growing increasingly silent. What had once been a hive of activity, meeting rooms and hallways reserved for preparations for the 2-2 draw, had given way to a hush; bleary-eyed players already heading to the airport to return to their clubs for weekend fixtures. Tony Popovic wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself.

For two months, his life had been a whirlwind – named Australia coach three days after Graham Arnold’s surprise resignation and given just over a week to assemble a staff and squad for qualifiers against China and Japan. Another squad was required to be selected a fortnight later for qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Two draws left the Socceroos paradoxically in the box seat to qualify for the 2026 World Cup but also in some peril. But now, as his players dissipated from Riffa, there was ennui as a career spent in the near-endless grind of clubland gave way to four months of inactivity.

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“I thought I’d really struggle in this period in terms of, what do you do for four months?” Popovic says. “My wife tells me, maybe you should stay away from the first couple of days. So I actually stayed a couple of days in Dubai on my own and just kind of re-grouped a little bit, assessed what happened and watched the game back.”

Flash forward to January, and Popovic cuts a relaxed figure at Football Australia’s head offices in Moore Park. The extended period between games means he has mostly been unsighted in recent months, but occasionally seen at A-League Men games between scouting trips to Europe and organising his affairs after a sudden ascension to national team boss. But he’s in good form at today’s media briefing in Sydney’s east, where he touches on injuries to the likes of Harry Souttar and Connor Metcalfe, skipper Mat Ryan on the eve of his move to Lens, Alex Robertson (he’s still unavailable for Socceroo selection), Nestory Irankunda’s loan, the need for young players to be consistent, and more.

Undoubtedly his mood has been helped by not needing to hold court like this every week as he did in the A-League, but he comes across as having settled into the Socceroos’ hot seat across the nearly 45-minute conversation. When he first assumed the role, there was a level of tension as he felt out the job and vice versa. Now, afforded time to adjust and acclimatise, he appears more at ease in a position that, clearly, represents a lifetime aspiration for the 58-time Socceroo. “It’s been good,” he says. “I’ve enjoyed it because you have a bit of a plan. You want to monitor players that are playing, but you’re also spending time looking for players outside the square.”

But clouds, potentially, gather; a nightmare scenario in which Australia are eliminated from qualifying altogether, let alone slip into another phase of qualification, is just as much in play in the months ahead as them punching their ticket to 2026. Unblocking a spluttering attack and taking six points from penultimate qualifiers against Indonesia and China in March is vital, especially with Japan and Saudi Arabia waiting in June.

“You can view it as: we’re a point above last or we’re in second position that enables us automatic qualification,” Popovic says. “That’s where we want to remain. We know it’s not easy, we’ve proven that it’s not easy to make World Cups. But I want that expectation. I want that. I want everyone to want that expectation. I want everyone to expect us to beat Indonesia. But we have to perform. There’s one thing saying just play. We have to be elite. And if we’re elite, we have a good chance to set ourselves up well in this window.”

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To achieve this, Popovic wants more – from his players, his staff and himself. The need to “be better” is often spoken about, as is the need to “raise their level”. But above all else, being “elite” is a defining theme. This week, the details-obsessed coach and his staff have gathered in Sydney, poring over the first two windows where they were effectively learning on the job. Did they train too much or too little? When did they train and how did they train? Did they have too many meetings and did they go too long? Everything is on the table both figuratively and literally; a nutritionist has been appointed to provide advice to players on how to best handle quick turnarounds in an international window. “If players believe that they can eat and drink what they want after a game and the following day in recovery and just turn it on four days later, it doesn’t work,” the coach says.

Popovic makes clear at several points that he and his staff can’t hold players’ hands – that they’re employed by clubs and that won’t be undermined. But he’s just as definitive in declaring standards won’t waver when they come into camp. “The Socceroos is the highest level possible,” he says. “You’re playing for your country. That needs to be elite. The elite will survive. And if you’re not elite, you’re not going to be able to play for the Socceroos.” Come March, we’ll discover if elite expectations deliver elite outcomes.