The Socceroos Power Rankings

Who is No.1 ... we come up with the Socceroos pecking order. Source:FOX SPORTS

Who is the first name on Holger Osieck's team sheet? Who is indispensable? Who is knocking at the door? And who do we have coming through the ranks?

Welcome to the Socceroos Power Rankings – your chance to play the role of Holger Osieck and scour the globe and debate the pecking order of Aussie players vying for a spot in the national squad on the road to Brazil. 

GROUP A:

Korea Republic

Iran

Uzbekistan

Qatar

Lebanon 

GROUP B:

Australia

Iraq

Jordan

Oman

Japan

Socceroos' schedule:

June 8, 2012: Oman 0 Australia 0 (away)
June 12, 2012: Australia 1 Japan 1 (home)
September 11, 2012: Jordan 2 Australia 1 (away)
October 16, 2012: Iraq 1 Australia 2 (away)
March 26, 2013: Oman (home)
June 4, 2013: Japan (away)
June 11, 2013: Jordan (home)
June 18, 2013: Iraq (home)

To kick-start the countdown to the first big game in 2013 – Tuesday night’s qualifier against Oman in Sydney – a Fox Sports football roundtable have ranked their top-50 Australian footballers.

It’s subjective, it’s opinionated and it’s going to provoke great debate.

Group B		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Japan	5	4	1	0	11	13
2	Australia	4	1	2	1	0	5
3	Iraq	5	1	2	2	-1	5
4	Oman	5	1	2	2	-3	5
5	Jordan	5	1	1	3	-7	4

Ahead of the Socceroos’ return to competitive action, Simon Hill, Andy Harper, Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater nominated their list of 50 – from which we came up with a final list. The criteria is simple: if you are the coach, who are the first names on your team sheet? 

We’ll follow the form of our Aussies abroad and in the A-League through the course of the World Cup qualifying campaign and monitor who is pushing their cause, or sliding down the list, all the way to – hopefully – Brazil. 

So, is Lucas Neill still the first name pencilled into the first-XI?

Who is the biggest bolter? 

Who is the most glaring omission? 

We’ll reveal players 50-36 on Wednesday morning. Join the debate as we continue the countdown on Thursday and Friday, before we reveal our top 10 on Monday morning. 

Join us as we find out if you agree with the panel’s choice of our most important Socceroo, and explore who our options are if form or injury hampers our top squad. 

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The country’s quest to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil re-starts on Tuesday night. Australia are locked in a dogfight with Oman, Iraq and Jordan for the second automatic spot in Group B, eight points behind Japan. You can watch this vital clash live and in stunning HD from 6.30pm (EDT) on Fox Sports 1 HD, with kick-off from 7pm. 

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