Like a warm embrace from an old school friend. Or rediscovering that sweater just as the season changes. The Socceroos gave Australia’s football fans a familiar feeling in their pummelling of Bangladesh at AAMI Park on Thursday night. Or maybe the family’s go-to takeaway: a meal well-liked, not for the everyday, but one that has been delivered before. There’s Harry Souttar nodding home. Jackson Irvine industrious in the middle. Craig Goodwin as potent as ever. The unending grin of Jamie Maclaren. Talk of long-haul flights in the aftermath. And recovery. But despite it all – every flashback, every echo from the past – the future could not be kept at bay. The Socceroos might still be enjoying the afterglow of their successful run at the Qatar World Cup less than a year ago, but Thursday represented the start of a new chapter. It was the first step on the long path to the 2026 showpiece in North America. A minimum of 16 games over close to three years, with friendlies and the Asian Cup next year interspersed. Long, but less precarious. The once-sharp knife edge of qualification has been dulled again. Five more games loom in the Socceroos’ opening phase, including testing fixtures against 96th-ranked Palestine. But in the group of four, also featuring Lebanon, Australia just needs to finish in the top two. Ten games in the subsequent phase follow, requiring a top-two finish in a group of six. But even then consolation places in subsequent rounds are available. The 2026 World Cup tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico will expand to a gargantuan 48 teams, handing the Asian confederation eight spots, and one more slot in the play-offs. Oman is currently Asia’s ninth-highest ranked team, followed by Uzbekistan, China, Jordan and Bahrain. Keeping that kind of company would represent drastic Australian underperformance. Having said that, the current generation remains something of an enigma. And the next? Very much a mystery. This Socceroos side doesn’t have a single player competing in one of Europe’s top leagues. Their standout player on Thursday, Goodwin, left the A-Leagues for Saudi Arabia two months ago. They barely qualified for Qatar. Yet when they got there, the Socceroos had their best ever World Cup. The emergence of young talents from the A-Leagues, alongside Garang Kuol and Nestory Irankunda, will make renewal one of the themes of this campaign. But 2026 might be too soon for many of them. Irankunda, for example, will only be 20 by 2026. Kuol, only 21. Fortunately, many of the current crop have careers on the up. Connor Metcalfe and Jackson Irvine look likely to lead St Pauli to promotion to the Bundesliga with their club unbeaten so far this season. Keanu Baccus has helped St Mirren to third position in the Scottish table. Even 32-year-old Mitch Duke is set to return to the J-League after his club booked promotion two weeks ago. Jordan Bos – more than a decade younger – has already established himself in Belgium with Westerlo after his May move. There remain obvious questions. The retirements of Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic and lack of matches for Ajdin Hrustic in Italy have left Australia without obvious ball players. The likes of Irvine, Metcalfe, Baccus, Aiden O’Neill and Riley McGree have proven effective in the engine room, but the recall of Massimo Luongo suggests Arnold is still looking for complementary pieces. There are also conundrums that will emerge slowly. After the Qatar run and his longevity, Arnold has claims to the title of Australia’s greatest coach. He is adored by his players. Metcalfe said after the match “we’re like a close family”. But by the start of the World Cup, assuming he gets there, he will have been in charge for eight years. Maclaren appeared to enjoy his hat-trick on Thursday, but the 30-year-old knows his time, and that of his generation, is coming. “There’s some young boys coming through and keeping us older boys on their toes,” he said afterwards. This was an evening of historical significance. Arnold earned a new record for most Socceroos games coached. There was a celebration of the 50 years since Rale Rasic’s team qualified for the 1974 World Cup. The moment was shared by the 18th anniversary of John Aloisi’s famous penalty against Uruguay. And a smaller piece, in the 72nd minute: a Socceroos debut to striker Kusini Yengi, who plays for Portsmouth in England’s third tier. From Rasic, to Aloisi, Arnold and now Yengi. “We need the points to go to the World Cup,” the 24-year-old debutant said. “Which is what everyone wants to do.”