Cristian Volpato's Journey: From Italy to the Socceroos

Cristian Volpato pauses for a moment when he talks about it. Not tactics. Not selection. Not even the World Cup. His heart.

“Something — I don't know — in my heart just said, 'I think it's time to come home.'”

For two years, Australian football lived in the shadow of that heart. The boy from Sydney who left for Italy, dazzled at Roma, wore the Azzurri badge at youth level and turned down a ticket to Qatar. The one who said in March he was still waiting for a senior call from Italy.

Now, at 22, Cristian Volpato is back in green and gold. And this time, it’s for a World Cup.

From saying no to Qatar to chasing a World Cup

Volpato will pull on a Socceroos shirt for the first time against Switzerland at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Saturday (5am Sunday AEST). A friendly on paper, but a landmark in practice.

As an 18-year-old at Roma, he rejected Graham Arnold’s plea to join the 2022 World Cup squad, preferring to keep the Italy dream alive. That decision stunned many in Australia and turned him into a symbol of the tug-of-war between two footballing identities.

“Playing for Italy also was good and amazing,” he said in a video interview released by Football Australia. “But maybe when I was 18, maybe I was a bit too young, and maybe I was a bit too scared to make the change straight away, so maybe I was in my comfort zone a bit, playing for Italy.”

The comfort zone has gone. The World Cup changed everything.

Italy aren’t going. Australia are.

“Obviously, playing in a World Cup for your nation is something unreal,” Volpato said. The implication was clear: if he wanted to be on that stage this year, it would be in Australian colours.

A choice that never left his mind

This was never a simple flag swap. Volpato was born in Australia to Italian parents, raised in Sydney’s football culture, then sharpened in Italy’s. Both sides felt like home.

“I'm Italian and I'm Australian, so it's actually been a big decision that's always been in my head 24/7 for quite a while,” he admitted. “It's really hard because it's like people want you to choose something, one or the other.”

He has chosen. Not because one side stopped mattering, but because one side felt like home at the right time.

“Obviously, I do feel Australian, so it felt really good coming in, being brought in by the boys, and speaking English — Aussie.”

That last word carried a smile. The sort of detail that tells you this isn’t a box-ticking exercise. It’s a player leaning into who he is.

Popovic’s stance and Circati’s push

The conversation that finally nudged Volpato across the line didn’t come with pressure or promises. It came with honesty.

Tony Popovic, now the man in charge and preparing Australia for the World Cup, made his position clear: he wanted Volpato, but he would not beg.

The attacker spent a long time talking with Popovic and close friend Alessandro Circati, another Italian-based Australian who committed to the Socceroos before him. The timing was symbolic. On the final day of the Serie A season, Sassuolo and Circati’s Parma met. The chat intensified.

“He [Circati] was trying to convince me, and I was like, alright, I'm gonna come, I'm gonna come,” Volpato recalled.

This wasn’t a last-minute scramble by Australia. It was a long courtship finally reaching its conclusion because the player himself was ready to cross the line.

Fit, available, and under the microscope

Now that he’s here, the debate moves from identity to impact.

Popovic confirmed on Friday that Volpato is “fit and available” to face Switzerland and expects him to see the pitch, having missed the Mexico game after arriving late in camp. The staff have pushed him hard to close the conditioning gap on teammates who have been in the setup longer.

Popovic believes the attacker is now looking the sharpest he has since joining the squad.

Inside the group, any potential friction over his late switch has been publicly brushed aside. Midfielder Connor Metcalfe deflected a question about whether Volpato’s decision timeline had caused any issues in the dressing room. The message: he’s in, we move on.

Volpato, for his part, knows the outside noise hasn’t disappeared. He also knows the best way to silence it.

“Obviously people are writing us off a lot because we're Australia,” he said. “But I believe in the group, I believe in the coach, I think we've got a really good team, so hopefully we can shock a lot of people.”

He isn’t just talking about the World Cup. He’s talking about himself.

Dress rehearsal in San Diego

Saturday’s clash with Switzerland is Australia’s final friendly before the World Cup. On the surface, it’s a tune-up game. Underneath, it’s a stress test.

The conditions have been designed to mirror the Socceroos’ second group match against the United States on June 19 (June 20 AEST): a midday kick-off and a quick exit from the city afterwards. Same heat, same rhythm, same demands.

“A good dress rehearsal, good last hit-out for players to get minutes in before the big dance in front of us,” Popovic told AAP.

Switzerland provide a serious European benchmark, exactly the kind of opponent Australia will face in their June 13 opener against Turkey in Vancouver. The stakes are not about points, but about proof.

Who is ready? Who can cope with tempo, pressure, travel, and expectation? Who can change a game?

Popovic may also hand a debut to striker Tete Yengi, another fresh attacking option looking to force his way into World Cup minutes. But all eyes will drift, again and again, to the No. 10 who once said no.

Volpato wanted time. He’s had it. He wanted clarity. The World Cup offered it.

Now he has what he asked for: a stage, a shirt, and a chance to show whether “coming home” can carry Australia somewhere they haven’t been in a very long time.