Stars and gripes: USA pundit Mike Grella mocks Socceroos World Cup chances — again

Former USA footballer Mike Grella just can’t help himself, once again slagging off Australia’s chances at the FIFA 2026 World Cup. 

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Never shy of delivering ‘hot takes’ in his role as a pundit for CBS Sports Golazo, Grella went on a rambling rant ahead of the the United States’ opening 4-1 win against Paraguay, as he again dismissed the Socceroos’ as a credible opponent in the tournament.

Having previously described the USA’s match against Australia as a ‘layup’, Grella doubled down on the quality gap between the two sides, while also appearing to repeatedly make fun of 20-year-old Aussie star Nestory Irankunda.

“I go look at their team and I don’t recognise any players” Grella declared. 

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“What are they drinking over there because they have no shot of doing anything at the World Cup?” he continued.

So confident is Grella that he suggested he’d be willing to wager a ‘couple of thousand bucks’ on the outcome of next week’s match between the two nations in Seattle and agreed to wear a Socceroos jersey if Australia beats the United States.

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“They are the weakest team in the group,” he said of Tony Popovic’s Socceroos who are currently ranked 15 places higher than fellow Group D opponents Paraguay.

“There’s no shot Australia can compete with the US, the only way they can play is in defence and try to keep it 0-0 … that’s the only way.

“There’s levels of quality, the US has players that play week in, week out in Europe and Australia does not.”

After his original ‘layup’ outburst last month former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer took the opportunity to publicly rebuke Grella on air explaining Australians prefer to let ‘their performance do the talking.’

This time it will be up to the Socceroos to do just that on the field as they open their Group D account against FIFA world number 22 Türkiye in Vancouver on Sunday afternoon (Australian time).

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