Jordy Bos and Lucas Herrington Shine in Australia’s Draw with Paraguay
Australia’s goalless draw with Paraguay will not live long in the memory for its attacking flair, but one storyline cut through the stalemate: the growing authority of Jordy Bos and the arrival of Lucas Herrington on the World Cup stage.
The Socceroos booked their place in the round of 32 with a point that did the job, yet it was a fullback playing out of position who stole the dressing-room acclaim.
Bos bends the game from the “wrong” side
Asked to operate on the right instead of his natural left, Bos did not just cope. He took charge.
The Feyenoord defender drove relentlessly down the flank, combining sharply with Cristian Volpato and turning what should have been a compromise role into the game’s most dangerous outlet. By the final whistle, Bos had created more chances than anyone else, taken the most shots and completed the most dribbles on the pitch — a statistical sweep that underlined what everyone watching could already see.
Nestory Irankunda did not bother with understatement.
“He's the best player in the world, Jordy Bos,” he declared after the 0-0 draw. “Best wing back in the world, and he's so talented, but what a guy.”
It was not empty praise. From right back, Bos repeatedly surged so high that he resembled an out-and-out winger, darting inside, stepping past challenges, flashing efforts at goal. The comparisons came quickly, his display likened to the early-career version of Gareth Bale, the marauding fullback who reinvented himself as a superstar attacker at Real Madrid.
Bos’s own footballing imagination was shaped elsewhere.
He grew up watching Arjen Robben, another left-footed Dutch master cutting in from the flank. Against Paraguay, you could see the influence in the way he drove at defenders, looking for that sliver of space to unleash a shot.
“Unfortunately, I didn't score like him, but I tried, tried my hardest,” Bos said. “I think I could have scored a couple, but I think from now on if everyone puts their best foot forward and we get chances, we just have to finish it. The sky's the limit.”
The goal never came. The intent did, over and over again. On a night when Australia misfired in the final third, Bos’s aggression with the ball and composure without it offered a blueprint for how this side can hurt better opponents in the knockout rounds.
Herrington steps out of the shadows
On the opposite side of Australia’s back three, the story was quieter but no less significant.
Lucas Herrington, just 18, became the youngest Australian to start a World Cup match, snatching the record from his own teammate Irankunda. It was a landmark moment delivered without fuss, the teenager folding calmly into the defensive structure and showing why some of Europe’s heavyweights, including Barcelona, have already come calling.
There was no sense of a player distracted by transfer talk.
“I'm here at the World Cup, so that's my main focus. I just want to help the team as much as possible, and we can deal with that after,” Herrington said, speaking with the clarity of someone who understands the stage he is on.
Irankunda, himself signed by Bayern Munich at 17, recognised the crossroads.
“He's so talented and I feel like this is just a glimpse of what he can do, a small glimpse of what he can do, and I feel like he can just get better from here and I feel like we'll see a better side to him,” Irankunda said. “I've just told him to try to stay away from it,” he added, referring to the swirl of speculation around Herrington’s future.
Herrington had to be patient. He watched the first two matches from the bench, learning the rhythms of tournament football before his chance finally came against Paraguay.
That wait did not bother him.
“It's my first World Cup at 18. It's in probably everyone's best interest for a young player just to watch and observe the first couple of games,” he said. “I'm just grateful my opportunity came out and I really enjoyed it. I loved it every minute.”
No dramatics. No grand declarations. Just a young defender easing his way into the biggest competition in the sport and looking like he belongs.
A new edge to Australia’s future
Australia leaves the group with only one goal scored, questions still circling about cutting edge in front of goal. Yet out wide and at the back, the picture looks very different.
Bos, rampaging from the “wrong” flank and still dictating the contest. Herrington, stepping into World Cup football with the poise of a veteran. Irankunda, already a Bayern player, talking about both as if they are only scratching the surface.
For years, the Socceroos have leaned on grit and organisation to bridge the gap to the world’s elite. With this new generation, they might be growing something sharper: fullbacks who can rip games open, teenagers who treat a World Cup debut as a natural next step.
The round of 32 will provide a harsher examination. The margin for error will shrink. But if Bos keeps storming forward like this, and Herrington keeps growing into his role, Australia’s back line may become the launchpad for something far more ambitious than just survival.
