Cristian Volpato's Return to Australia: A New Chapter Ahead of World Cup
Cristian Volpato didn’t just change national teams. He came home.
The 22-year-old Sassuolo attacker is set to pull on the green and gold for the first time against Switzerland at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Saturday (5am Sunday AEST), ending one of Australian football’s most closely watched tug-of-war stories.
For years, Volpato was the one that got away. A Roma prodigy, an Italy youth international, a creative No.10 many in Australia feared would slip permanently into the Azzurri system. In 2022, when Graham Arnold came calling with a World Cup ticket in hand, the teenager said no. He wanted to wait for Italy.
Now, with another World Cup on the horizon and Italy absent from the tournament, the decision has flipped.
“Obviously, playing in a World Cup for your nation is something unreal,” Volpato said in a video interview released by Football Australia. The lure of that stage, in the colours of the country where he was born, became impossible to ignore.
From comfort zone to crossroads
Volpato speaks about Italy with genuine affection.
“Playing for Italy also was good and amazing,” he said, before admitting that the choice he made as an 18-year-old at Roma came from a place of safety as much as ambition.
“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 eventually started to itch. The internal debate never really stopped.
“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 said. “It’s really hard because it’s like people want you to choose something, one or the other.”
At some point, the head noise met a sharper feeling.
“Something — I don’t know — in my heart just said, ‘I think it’s time to come home.’”
That line will echo with Socceroos fans who remember the frustration of his earlier rejection. Back then, Arnold’s pitch to take him to Qatar was bold and public. Volpato turned it down and, as recently as March, spoke about waiting for a senior Italy call-up.
This time, the approach was quieter, more patient, and led by Tony Popovic in his role with the national team setup. Popovic made it clear he would not beg. The conversation stretched out, serious and honest. There was no ultimatum, just a question: what do you really want?
A mate’s nudge and a World Cup on the line
One of the loudest voices in Volpato’s ear belonged to a close friend who has already crossed the same bridge. Alessandro Circati, the Parma defender, committed his future to Australia and quickly became part of the Socceroos’ plans.
The two met on the final day of the Serie A season, when Sassuolo faced Parma. The football finished; the persuasion did not.
“He [Circati] was trying to convince me, and I was like, alright, I’m gonna come, I’m gonna come,” Volpato said.
The wider context mattered too. Italy will not be at this year’s World Cup. Australia will. For a player whose prime years are just beginning, the chance to walk into a major tournament with a clear role and a coach who trusts him is no small detail.
Popovic confirmed on Friday that Volpato is “fit and available” to face Switzerland and expects him to get minutes, after the attacker arrived too late to feature against Mexico.
He has needed time to catch up physically, Popovic admitted, but now looks his sharpest since joining camp.
Inside the camp, outside the noise
Any late switch of allegiance invites scrutiny. Questions about loyalty, timing, and dressing-room dynamics inevitably follow. Midfielder Connor Metcalfe was asked whether Volpato’s change of heart had caused any friction in the squad. He brushed it aside.
The mood inside the camp, Volpato says, has been anything but hostile.
“Obviously, I do feel Australian, so it felt really good coming in, being brought in by the boys, and speaking English — Aussie,” he said.
He knows some observers have already made up their minds about him and about this team.
“Obviously people are writing us off a lot because we’re Australia, 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 said.
There is no hedging in that. No talk of easing in or just enjoying the experience. He has come to make a mark.
Dress rehearsal in San Diego
Switzerland offer a serious examination, the kind of European opponent Australia must handle if they are to progress deep into the tournament. The timing and conditions are no accident either.
Saturday’s game is Australia’s final friendly before the World Cup and has been set up to mirror their second group match against the United States on June 19 (June 20 AEST): a midday kick-off, heat, and a quick exit from the city afterwards.
“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.
It is also a window for fringe players and fresh faces to stake a claim. Striker Tete Yengi is another who could debut in San Diego, adding further intrigue to the attacking mix.
The opener against Turkey in Vancouver on June 13 looms first, but all eyes, for now, are on how this revamped front line looks with Volpato in the picture.
He once said no to Australia at a World Cup. This time, he has chosen the long flight, the different badge, the anthem he grew up hearing. The comfort zone is gone. The stage he always wanted is finally in front of him.
Now the question is simple: how far can he — and the country he has chosen — go?
