Joshua Inserra: I'm feeling very excited for U20 World Cup
Joshua Inserra stated it is always a massive honour to represent Australia as the CommBank Young Socceroos compete at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™.
The 20-year-old Melbourne Victory defender featured regularly throughout the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2025™, and admits the experiences from that successful tournament will help at the World Cup in Chile.
The CommBank Socceroos qualified for the major tournament for the first time since 2013 after their history-making performance in China earlier this year.
The FIFA U20 World Cup Chile 2025™, scheduled from 27 September to 19 October, features 24 teams from across the globe, with the CommBank Young Socceroos sealing their place in the 24th edition of the bi-annual tournament.
The squad will be cut to 21 players before Australia begin their FIFA U-20 World Cup campaign against European heavyweights, Italy at the Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander in Valparaíso on Monday, 29 September at 6am AEST.
Their Group D schedule will see the CommBank Young Socceroos stay in Valparaíso to tackle their second opponents, Argentina, on Thursday, 2 October (AEST) before travelling to Santiago to end the group phase against Cuba on Sunday, 5 October (AEDT) at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos.
Read on about what he had to say.
Looking forward to the tournament
Feeling very excited, it's just such a privilege to always play for Australia, and especially now playing in a World Cup is going to be huge. So really excited for the opportunity, and can't wait to show what me and the boys can do.
... It's a massive platform and the biggest stage, (so) to do it on the biggest stage, and especially to represent Australia, is just unbelievable.
Reflections on U20 Asian Cup triumph
It was an amazing achievement from all the boys and all the staff. To win an Asian Cup, it was just unbelievable, a testament to all the boys and all the hard work and stuff we've been doing over the past two years. We've had a lot of camps together, so it's really good to always come together in a camp and just show what we can do.
Drawing on the positive experiences from March
It shows we won the Asian Cup, and it's not easy, especially against those Asian teams (especially against the likes of Iraq, Japan and Saudi Arabia). So to do that, it's a real testament to all the boys. It's really exciting, and it definitely drives us.
A special group
So we've been together in so many camps. So we always come together. Everyone gets along. All the boys are just all so good. So the camps, when we come together is just unreal.
Reaction to the draw
To be fair it was a good draw. We got Italy, Argentina and Cuba. So these are the teams you want to play against. You always want to play against the best. And we can definitely showcase what we can do against them.
MATCH SCHEDULE | FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP CHILE 2025™
Italy v Australia
Date: Sunday, 28 September 2025 / Monday, 29 September 2025 (AUS)
Time: 5.00pm (local) / 6.00am (AEST)
Venue: Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, Valparaíso, Chile
Argentina v Australia
Date: Wednesday, 1 October 2025 / Thursday, 2 October 2025 (AUS)
Time: 8.00pm (local) / 9.00am (AEST)
Venue: Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, Valparaíso, Chile
Australia v Cuba
Date: Saturday, 4 October 2025 / Sunday, 5 October 2025 (AUS)
Time: 8.00pm (local) / 10.00am (AEDT)
Venue: Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago, Chile