Graham Arnold signs multi-year contract to stay as Socceroos coach after World Cup heroics

Graham Arnold’s fantastic Socceroos World Cup campaign has been rewarded with a contract extension until 2026.

Australia pulled off their best World Cup tournament since 2006, reaching the Round of 16 before being knocked out by eventual champions Argentina.

Going in with relatively low expectations from fans, the team managed to unite the entire country together with a great run of group games and shockingly advanced to the knockout stages.

A lot of the praise went to Graham Arnold who is now set to remain in charge of the Socceroos until the end of the 2026 World Cup.

Football Australia confirmed the news in a press release in which Football Australia Chair Chris Nikou outlined the ambitions of the national team.

Mr Nikou said: “What Graham and the entire squad achieved under the most challenging of circumstances during the last FIFA World Cup campaign was exceptional, and we are delighted that we have secured his services for a further four years.

“Football Australia is ambitious, where we expect continued progress and results from our senior and youth national teams, and through our discussions with Graham over recent weeks, we know our thinking is aligned on the future direction of Australian football and the Subway Socceroos.”

News.com.au reports that the contract is worth $1.6 million and will see Arnold provide mentorship to the coaches in Australia’s men’s youth national teams.

Arnold maintained that his aspirations went beyond delivering results on the field.

He said: “In addition to success on the field over the next four years, I want to help deliver results for football in the form of bespoke infrastructure for our game across Australia.

“Football is the world game, where for a country of 26 million people, we certainly overachieve based upon the funding and investment our game receives.

“For our sport not to have a national home of football, and for the Socceroos to not receive any high-performance funding is something I want to support Football Australia to resolve over the next four years.

“As we saw, a successful FIFA World Cup campaign unites and inspires all Australians like nothing else does, and it is in the national interest to support both our senior national football teams.”

He continued: “I love Australia and I love Australian football, and nothing in football can ever match the elation, pride and sense of achievement, I and the entire set-up felt in Qatar.

“The hunger to continue in the role has never been stronger and I know I have more to give to the Socceroos’ program and Australian football, where I want to deliver more smiles for our fans as we did in Qatar.

“I approach the next four years with a clean sheet, which is underpinned by a burning ambition to provide more opportunities to our leading emerging and established talent, whilst challenging for major titles starting with the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar next year.”