World Cup: Columbus Crew defender Milos Degenek on Australia roster

World Cup-australia

The Socceroos will have an MLS presence at the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Australia announced their 26-man roster Tuesday morning, and Columbus Crew center back Milos Degenek made the group called in by head coach Graham Arnold.

Drawn into Group D, Australia will begin play Nov. 22 when facing defending champions France. Then there are matchups with Tunisia (Nov. 26) and Denmark (Nov. 30), with the top two countries advancing to the 16-team knockout stage.

Degenek logged 28 appearances (24 starts) in the Crew’s defense during the 2022 MLS season, arriving last January as a free agent after previously playing for Serbian top-flight side Red Star Belgrade.

Born in Croatia, Degenek has one goal across 38 appearances with Australia. He was an unused substitute as they qualified for Qatar by winning an inter-confederation playoff over Peru on penalty kicks, though was a constant presence throughout Asia’s qualification process.

Australia are in their fifth straight World Cup, highlighted by a Round of 16 trip in the 2006 tournament.