Cristian Volpato’s Road to the Socceroos: Expired Passports and a 2006 Twist
Cristian Volpato’s path to the 2026 World Cup has been anything but straightforward. The 22-year-old winger only switched international allegiance from Italy to Australia in late May, following a conversation sparked by a Serie A match involving Socceroos defender Alessandro Circati. According to The Guardian, it was a gut feeling that finally settled the matter. “Something clicked and my heart said: ‘Just go,’” Volpato told the publication.
What nearly derailed everything was not football politics but bureaucracy. Volpato’s Australian passport had expired on the eve of the tournament, forcing him to rush back to Sydney for an emergency renewal. He made it, just, and has since made his first World Cup start against Paraguay, looking lively down the right flank.
The Grosso and Totti Connection
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Volpato’s story is his strange personal ties to Australia’s most controversial World Cup exit. In 2006, Fabio Grosso won a late penalty against the Socceroos, converted by Francesco Totti, sending Italy through at Australia’s expense in a result that still rankles. Volpato has watched that match roughly a hundred times — and it turns out Totti was his former agent, while Grosso was his coach at Sassuolo until recently taking the Fiorentina job.
Volpato says Grosso told him he “didn’t even know what he was doing” when he went down, and that Totti simply “shot as hard as he could”. Rather than dwelling on the injustice, Volpato draws a practical lesson for Australia’s upcoming match against Egypt in Dallas: “Small details can make a big, big difference.”
Rejected at 16, Back on His Own Terms
Volpato’s journey started with rejection. Two Australian football academies turned him away at 16, telling him he was not good enough. His father consoled him on the drive home, and the family — his mother selling her shop to fund the move — relocated to Italy. He earned a trial at Roma, secured a place in the academy, and eventually represented Italy at junior level before making his senior international choice.
Socceroos fans who had previously criticised him online for his apparent reluctance to commit have since warmed to him, creating their own chant declaring him “one of our own”. Volpato says the videos sent by his family helped confirm the decision was right.
Australia are still searching for their first World Cup knockout win, 20 years on from that Grosso penalty. Follow all the action and check the live standings on our World Cup 2026 hub.