World Cup: Why did Socceroos coach Tony Popovic take off goalkeeper Pat Beach for Mat Ryan?

Pat Beach says he had no idea he was about to be subbed off ahead of the Socceroos' penalty shootout defeat against Egypt on Saturday morning.

Locked at 1-1 as extra time came to its conclusion and penalties loomed, Australia boss Tony Popovic made the boldest of bold calls, replacing starting keeper Beach with his squad captain, Mat Ryan.

Ryan never had a touch on the ball, and was scored past by all four Egyptian penalty takers as the Socceroos crashed out of the tournament.

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Being a World Cup coach can be a thankless task.

Get a decision right and you are a hero forever.

Get it wrong, and there can be no hiding.

Popovic has discovered that to his cost.

This was not a move without precedent.

Back in 2022, in the final intercontinental qualifying match for the Qatar World Cup against Peru, rolls were somewhat reversed when Ryan was replaced by Andrew Redmayne in the 120th minute against Peru.

Redmayne was christened the Grey Wiggle for his remarkable moves, a modern interpretation on the famous Bruce Grobbelaar "spaghetti legs" wiggle.

The then-Socceroos boss Graham Arnold was hailed for his masterstroke, as Redmayne saved Alex Valera's spot kick as the Socceroos won 5-4 and made it to the Qatar tournament.

The Netherlands also had success in bringing on Tim Krul for Jasper Cillessen at the 2014 World Cup for a shoot out against Costa Rica, with Krul saving two spot kicks in the quarter final as the Dutch progressed.

Needless to say, it didn't work out quite the same way this time.

Ryan didn't make a single save, never even touching the ball other than to pick it out of his net as the Egyptians won the shoot out 4-2.

"The Australian experiment from Tony Popovic … poor Matty Ryan didn't get near any of them," former England striker Chris Sutton said on the BBC.

Popovic had made Beach his number one with a controversial selection call in the opening game of the tournament against Türkiye, promoting the young Melbourne City stopper ahead of the 104-cap veteran.

That gamble paid off in a big way, with 22-year-old Beach delivering a superb performance, making eight saves as the Socceroos won 2-0.

That call was made on a gut feel: "I just wanted to play Patrick," Popovic said pre-game.

In fact, Beach was brilliant throughout the entire tournament.

Opta stats showed that Beach prevented 2.2 goals at this World Cup, making 13 saves from the 15 on-target shots he faced.

That is the most of any goalkeeper at the 2026 tournament so far.

"It was a massive, massive call to leave Matty Ryan out when he did," former Socceroo Mark Milligan said on SBS.

"Because Matty Ryan at the time had done nothing to warrant what was coming, he's coming off the back of a fantastic season.

"But if it weren't for Beach, I think this tournament would have looked a lot different before this game."

Fellow SBS pundit Tommy Oar called it a "huge call to take him out for the penalty shootout".

So what was the reasoning?

"I think that was always an option for us, with his experience," Popovic said immediately after full time.

"Then you have to see how the game plays out. Sometimes in extra time players go down and you've got to make changes and you don't have a sub available, but we still had one available with a couple of minutes to go and we put Matty on."

So, was this a carefully crafted plan built up over the last couple of weeks?

"No, no, [I wasn't told] before the match," Ryan said in the mix zone.

"Just as extra time was beginning, Pauly [Izzo] and I got told to warm up and the first time I got told was five minutes before half time of extra time, that if we weren't going to make any more subs then right at the end they were gunna put me in there."

Ryan said he'd not had a chance to talk to Beach about it, but Beach told media that he had no idea the change was coming.

'I didn't know I was being subbed'

"You have to talk to the coaches about that," Beach said in the mix zone. "I found out at the same time you guys did.

"Obviously there was a plan that was put in place, and it wasn't for us to know about.

"Our job is just to focus on the game and what's happening in the moment, and obviously there was a general decision and discussion that was had, and that's it.

"The coaches made a decision, and as far as it goes, Matty and I are here to do the job of whatever works best for the team and brings the best outcome for our team.

"I didn't know [that I was going to be subbed out].

"That's not saying that's obviously going to be brought up. You don't need the distractions, you don't need the extra thoughts.

"You just need to be in the moment, and like I said, a decision was made, and we respect that decision, and that's the game.

"I would have loved to be in the penalty shootout, but like I said, that's the decision that the boss has made.

"There's no other feelings other than respect to him and respect that decision."

In terms of being given the starting role, Beach said he feels "very fortunate to be given that role from the boss".

"There's a lot of quality goalkeepers here and also that haven't been selected for this campaign, so I don't think it's my position."

That echoes with the Redmayne situation in one aspect — Ryan as the standing keeper did not know he was about to be replaced.

However, Redmayne had been told "a month to six weeks ago" that in that scenario, he would be bought on.

"These are the decisions that you have to make as a coach, the risks you have to take," Milligan said.

"We saw two big decisions against Türkiye that paid off, for me, unfortunately the decisions that were made after that probably didn't come to life like he would have hoped."

Popovic defended his call in the post-match press conference.

"OK, it didn't work," Popovic said.

"We can look at many things and the reasons behind it, but with Matty's experience, and I think if you look at his record in saving penalties…

"Patrick is new as a goalkeeper, not just with the national team, but even in club football.

"I just felt that Matty's experience would be the difference.

"In the end it didn't work out that way, but not because of Matty's poor judgement or lack of ability, they took really good penalties."

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