Tony Popovic has been named the new head coach of the Socceroos, taking over after the sudden resignation of Graham Arnold.

The 51-year-old was announced as the new coach by Football Australia on Monday. 

His appointment follows the departure of Arnold, who suffered a pair of disappointing results in the current phase of World Cup qualification, putting the Socceroos on the backfoot.

Popovic has been out of work since leaving Melbourne Victory following their A-League Men grand final loss to the Central Coast Mariners.

The former defender has been living in Croatia since he opted against renewing his contract with Victory, and it remains unclear how much time he will split between his family in Europe and coaching duties in Australia.

He was arguably the most well-credentialed candidate available to FA given he has worked as an assistant at Crystal Palace and taken charge of clubs in Türkiye and Greece.

Popovic has enjoyed most success as a head coach in Australia, guiding the Western Sydney Wanderers to Asian Champions League glory in 2014, lifting the ALM premiership with Perth Glory, and the Australia Cup with Victory.

He had previously been in the running for the Socceroos job in 2013, receiving a ringing endorsement from Tim Cahill before losing out to Ange Postecoglou.

Popovic will be charged with ensuring Australia continues its run of qualifying for the World Cup, which stretches back to 2006 and is under threat after the last two games of Arnold's reign.

Arnold ended his six-year tenure with a 1-0 loss at home to Bahrain and a 0-0 draw away to Indonesia, leaving his successor facing an uphill task to qualify automatically.

Should the Socceroos fail to finish in the top two spots in Group C, there are two further rounds of matches that can help stamp their ticket to the expanded 2026 World Cup.

Popovic is expected to take control of his first match against China in Adelaide on October 10, before an away trip to face unbeaten group leader Japan five days later.

He will have a little over a week to finalise a squad of players for October's matches and must quickly figure out a way to break down stoic Asian defences that proved to be Arnold's undoing in the final matches of his tenure.

AAP/ABC