Jordy Bos and Lucas Herrington: Rising Stars of the Socceroos
Australia had already done the job. A place in the round of 32 secured, a professional 0-0 against Paraguay banked. Yet as the players walked off, there was only one name really echoing around the Socceroos camp.
Jordy Bos.
Not officially player of the match, not on the scoresheet, but unmistakably the heartbeat of Australia’s performance in Leipzig — and doing it all from the “wrong” side of the pitch.
Bos bends the game from the right
A natural left-sided fullback, Bos was pushed over to the right of defence and promptly treated it as a personal challenge. He drove high, he drove hard, and for long stretches he drove Paraguay to distraction.
He created more chances than anyone on the field. He took the most shots. He completed the most dribbles. Every attacking surge down that flank seemed to involve the Feyenoord defender, often in tandem with Cristian Volpato, the pair repeatedly slicing into the same channel.
From the Australian bench and on the pitch, the admiration was unfiltered.
“He’s the best player in the world, Jordy Bos,” Nestory Irankunda declared after the stalemate. Hyperbole, yes. But it captured the mood. To his teammates, Bos wasn’t just solid out of position; he was the main event.
“Best wing back in the world, and he’s so talented, but what a guy,” Irankunda added, still buzzing. “He done so well at right back today, but he got so high up the pitch, and he showed glimpses of what he can do with the ball. We’ve always known Jordy for doing great things, and today he was incredible.”
The comparisons came quickly. Some saw shades of Gareth Bale, the Welshman who began as a flying fullback before turning into one of Real Madrid’s great attacking weapons. Bos, though, has always had a different idol.
He grew up watching Arjen Robben — the Dutch winger who turned cutting inside from the right into an art form.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t score like him, but I tried, tried my hardest,” Bos said. “I think I could have scored a couple, but I think from now on if everyone puts their best foot forward and we get chances, we just have to finish it. The sky’s the limit.”
Those last four words hung in the air. For Bos, for this young Australian side, they didn’t sound outlandish.
Herrington steps into history
While Bos tore up one flank, another story was quietly unfolding on the opposite side of the back three.
Lucas Herrington, just 18, slipped into the starting XI and into the record books, becoming the youngest Australian ever to start a World Cup match. In doing so, he took the mark off his own teammate, Irankunda.
There was nothing loud about his performance. No headline-grabbing runs, no wild tackles. Just composure, timing, and a sense that this was a teenager who belonged at this level.
His rise has been rapid. Big European clubs have already circled, with Barcelona among those keeping tabs. The noise around his future is growing, but Herrington is determined to keep it at arm’s length.
“I’m here at the World Cup, so that’s my main focus. I just want to help the team as much as possible, and we can deal with that after,” he said.
It’s a line that could sound rehearsed. From Herrington, it felt like a simple truth. And Irankunda, who knows exactly what it’s like to be swept up early — signed by Bayern Munich at 17 — is determined to help him keep his feet on the ground.
“He’s so talented and I feel like this is just a glimpse of what he can do, a small glimpse of what he can do, and I feel like he can just get better from here and I feel like we’ll see a better side to him,” Irankunda said. “I’ve just told him to try to stay away from it,” he added, nodding towards the speculation that already surrounds his young teammate.
Herrington had to be patient. He watched the first two games from the bench, waiting, learning, absorbing the rhythm of a World Cup from the periphery.
“It’s my first World Cup at 18. It’s in probably everyone’s best interest for a young player just to watch and observe the first couple of games,” he said after his debut against Paraguay. “I’m just grateful my opportunity came out and I really enjoyed it. I loved it every minute.”
The pride was obvious. So was the calm. No grand declarations, no rush. Just the sense of a defender who understands that this might be the first step in a very long journey.
A new Australian edge
A goalless draw rarely crackles with optimism, yet this one did for Australia. The scoreboard stayed blank, but the performance of Bos on one side and Herrington on the other hinted at a different kind of future for the Socceroos.
Two young defenders, one marauding, one measured. One already being compared to Bale and shaped by Robben, the other being courted by Barcelona and guided by Bayern’s next big thing.
The round of 32 awaits. Tougher tests are coming. The margins will shrink, the stakes will rise, and chances like the ones Bos fashioned against Paraguay will have to be finished.
But if this is the standard of Australia’s new generation at the back, how high can this ceiling really be?
