Socceroos Prepare for Türkiye: Mohamed Touré's Uncertain Status

ALAMEDA, California — The Socceroos’ final preparations for Türkiye were supposed to be routine. One last sharp hit-out at the Oakland Roots and Soul facility, cameras in for the usual 15-minute window, a few stretches, a few rondos, then the serious work once the gates closed.

Instead, all eyes were drawn to the player who wasn’t there.

Mohamed Touré, the 22-year-old Norwich City forward widely tipped to spearhead Australia’s attack in Group D, never emerged for the open portion of Wednesday evening’s session. Every other member of Tony Popovic’s 26-man squad went through the motions. Touré did not.

He had arrived with the group. He stood in place for the team photo before training began. Then, as the drills started and the tempo lifted, he vanished from the picture.

Reporters spotted it immediately. So did Jordan Bos.

"It was actually during training where I noticed he wasn't in there," the defender admitted when asked about his teammate’s whereabouts. "So I don't know why he wasn't."

Bos’s uncertainty summed up the mood. The Socceroos had no interest in opening the door to speculation, but they couldn’t close it either.

Before Milos Degenek fronted the media, a team spokesperson moved to cool the situation, confirming that Touré is expected back on the training pitch on Thursday. No explanation. No detail on why he missed Wednesday’s work. Just the assurance that he should return, and the knowledge that Australia’s opening clash with Türkiye is now just days away.

That silence will only feed the questions.

Any absence for Touré would be a major problem for Popovic. The young striker has been earmarked to lead the line throughout this campaign, his form at Norwich City — the goals, the raw power, the direct running — giving the Socceroos a focal point they have craved.

"He's a big asset for us," Bos said. "He's been doing really well, and his new club, he's scoring goals and his power — everything about him — is great."

Those words carried extra weight with Touré nowhere in sight.

If he cannot start, or cannot play at all against Türkiye, the depth chart thins quickly. Tete Yengi suddenly becomes the only fully fit out-and-out striker in the squad. The 25-year-old has just one cap to his name, earned only last Saturday in San Diego, but he made it count, stepping off the bench to score Australia’s 56th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Switzerland.

It was an encouraging debut. It was not supposed to be the foundation of an entire tournament.

Popovic does have other ways to construct a front line. Nestory Irankunda, electric on the wing against the Swiss, has been used centrally by the coach before and offers a different kind of chaos through the middle. His pace, his willingness to drive at defenders, can unhinge back fours that prefer everything neat and predictable.

Then there is Mathew Leckie, the old reliable. The Melbourne City veteran has spent much of his career shuttling between roles, often pushed inside when coaches needed a solution and trusted to make sense of it on the fly. Popovic made that trust explicit when he named his squad.

"The luxury of Mathew Leckie is that he can play anywhere," the coach said at the time. "He has the experience and maturity that you don't need a week or two of training in a position with him. You can basically show him a video, and he would know what to do."

If Popovic decides not to start Yengi, Leckie is the obvious emergency centre-forward. It would not be the first time Australia turned to him in a moment of need.

For now, though, everything loops back to Touré. To the sight of him in the team photo, then not on the grass. To the brief, guarded confirmation that he is expected back tomorrow. To the lack of clarity on what, exactly, pulled him out of training on the eve of a major tournament.

Behind closed doors on Thursday, away from the cameras and questions, the Socceroos will get their answers. The rest of the football world will find out soon enough — when the teamsheets drop for Türkiye and we see whether the name Mohamed Touré sits at the top of Australia’s attack, or disappears again.