A trio of Socceroos who call MLS home are confident the league’s rising standards will bolster their hopes of being part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Last week, Australia sealed its spot in next year’s footballing showpiece that will be staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the help of three MLS representatives in their squad: Nashville SC’s Patrick Yazbek, D.C. United’s Kye Rowles, and New York City FC’s Aiden O’Neill.
A former skipper of Belgian Pro League side Standard Liège who started both of the Socceroos’ wins, O’Neill became the latest Aussie to make the move Stateside in April, trading the Meuse River for the Hudson. He joined Rowles, Yazbek, Ariath Piol, Giuseppe Bovalina, Lachlan Brook, and Jake Girdwood-Reich in a large cohort of Australians moving to the MLS in the past 24 months.
“It was something that came a little bit out of the blue, but it’s something that I’m extremely excited to be involved in,” O’Neill told ESPN. “At a club like New York and the MLS as well. I’ve been there for nearly a month now, and the quality has surprised me — it’s been really good.
“There are some really good players, especially in the attacking third; ones that if you make a mistake, they can really punish you.”
Previously describing the American top-flight as serving as a “good stepping-stone” for his players, Socceroos coach Tony Popovic started an all-MLS pivot of O’Neill and Yazbek in the Socceroos’ pivotal 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia last week, handing the latter a first international start in the process.
“It’s a growing league, it’s massive,” Yazbek told ESPN. “I think it doesn’t actually get the kind of recognition it deserves at the moment. I can only say that in a few years, it’ll be one of the biggest leagues in the world.
“It’s very competitive, there are a lot of world-class players. I can talk about [Leo] Messi and [Luis] Suarez, but look at Emil Forsberg, Eric Choupo-Moting, Wilfried Zaha, Federico Bernardeschi, Liel Abada; there are so many teams and so many world-class players.
“You know that you’re getting consistent world-class opposition in a very competitive league with a lot of teams. That was very important for me, to make sure that my level of football is at the highest level at all times.”
While MLS has long battled a reputation as being a “retirement league,” 23-year-old Yazbek is reflective of the type of player that Australia has supplied to the league in recent years; players in their prime, such as O’Neill (26) and Rowles (26), or still yet to enter it like Yazbek, Piol (20), and Girdwood-Reich (21).
According to the CIES Football Observatory, the average age of an MLS player is 27.2, the same as Spain’s LALIGA, and sitting between the likes of the Japanese J1 League (28) and German Bundesliga (27). The sale of players such as Jhon Durán, Thiago Almada, and Djordje Petrovic have all netted MLS clubs significant transfer fees in recent years, while the league introduced cash transfers between its sides in 2025.
“There’s a massive, old perception of MLS being this retirement league when, in fact, it’s completely the opposite,” said Yazbek.
“There are so many young players coming out of there, so many young players are going there and getting sold, and some are even playing out their careers there. It’s a league with world-class resources, world-class facilities, great fan engagement, and it’s highly competitive.”
With the Socceroos qualifying for the World Cup with a year to spare, Australian players will spend the next 12 months doing everything they can to press their case for selection in Popovic’s final squad. And Rowles is confident the MLS environment is one where he can press his case.
“From the outside, a lot of people think it might be just a bit of a jolly up, but it’s physically taxing, for sure,” Rowles told ESPN. “The boys get through a lot of work every game, and they push your bodies to the limits every week.
“Externally, there might be that little bit of ideology around the league, but I think every week, when you see the lineup of other teams, they’re always stacked from the midfield and into the forward. For me, every week is a new challenge and a new opportunity to prove myself against great players.
“With them hosting the World Cup, it’s only going to get better … with the amount of effort and time and finances that’s going to get put into it.”
