Cristian Volpato troll: Can Australia forget World Cup taunt as Socceroos become bridesmaid?

In March 2022, an 18-year-old Cristian Volpato laughed in the face of the Socceroos struggling World Cup 2022 qualification campaign.

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With both Australia and Italy clamouring for his international services, Volpato decided to mock Australia’s loss to Japan just as he chose to pledge his allegiance to Italy.

Christian Volpato on Snapchat [@thewswpost]. pic.twitter.com/5D8J7uB69Q

— A-League Wrap-Up (@ALeagueWrapUp) March 24, 2022

Ironically, despite that defeat to Japan, the Socceroos managed to qualify for the Qatar World Cup via playoff wins against UAE and Peru.

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And Italy missed the 2022 event after losing a playoff to North Macedonia.

Then Socceroos coach Graham Arnold stated Volpato was offered a World Cup spot for 2022, but declined.

Fast forward to 2026 and it’s a similar story for both nations — Australia is in June’s World Cup, but Italy fell short after going down in a playoff to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On Friday, it emerged Volpato, now 22, has switched his allegiance to the Socceroos and today was selected in the nation’s World Cup squad.

Make no mistake — Volpato and the Australian national team are a marriage of convenience for all involved at this stage.

The Socceroos need talent in their team. It has been a rough transition from the glory days of having players spread across Europe’s top leagues to now.

For Volpato, he had dreams of playing for Italy’s national team after scoring for Roma as an 18-year-old in the Serie A.

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Appearances followed for Italy under 19s, under 20s and under 21s before he secured a move to Sassuolo, in a bid to play regularly in the Serie A and push for national team honours.

However, while still young, his career as an attacking force at Sassuolo has stagnated, having been in-and-out of the starting line-up for the majority of the 2025-26 season.

It obviously became pretty clear to Volpato that his chances of getting in the Italian national team in the future are a long shot from here.

There is also the slightly amusing fact Italy have now failed to qualify for the last three World Cups, meaning Australia could very well be his best chance to play on the world’s biggest stage.

Volpato will now likely get the opportunity to play in the World Cup for Australia, allowing him to show his talents in front of the world — which is excellent for his brand and possibly his stagnating club career.

But even though he was only 18 when he mocked the Socceroos, supporters have long memories as the story was highlighted upon news he wanted to play for Australia.

Whether Volpato’s relationship with the national team is a marriage of convenience or a fruitful partnership will be one of the biggest stories for the green and gold out of this World Cup.

We’ll learn pretty fast whether Volpato can channel his motivations into success for his bridesmaid nation.

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