Football Australia can today confirm CommBank Joeys head coach Carl Veart’s 23-player squad to represent Australia in the upcoming AFC U17 Asian Cup™ Saudi Arabia 2026 Qualifiers in Jordan this month.
Sydney FC duo Akol Akon and Miles Milliner are included, having also played in the 2025 AFC U17 Asian Cup™, as is Melbourne City’s Akeem Gerald, who became the youngest player to play in an AFC Champions League game in October.
There are also new faces in the squad, including Jariyah Shah, who is currently playing for Manchester United’s U18 side, and Lenny Van Heer, who plays for Djurgårdens in Sweden.
As part of Group E, the CommBank Joeys will face off against hosts Jordan, before games against Bhutan, Philippines and Iraq from November 24 (local) to November 30 (local), all of which will be hosted at the Aqaba Stadium in Aqaba, Jordan.
With qualification for the AFC U17 Asian Cup™ Saudi Arabia 2026 up for grabs, the CommBank Joeys must finish top of their group to secure their Finals spot next year.
All group winners will progress to the 21st edition of the Finals, where they will join the nine AFC representatives from the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025 who have automatically qualified, namely Qatar, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Korea Republic, DPR Korea, Japan, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.
“This will be my third camp with the players since taking charge of the CommBank Joeys and the most important so far in this group’s development. I’m excited to see the things we’ve been working on in those camps be put into action across these four games.
“We’ve been aiming to challenge the boys in different ways and provide invaluable experience as part of our preparations for these AFC U17 Asian Cup™ Saudi Arabia 2026 Qualifiers and now is the time for this squad to show us what they’ve learned.
“I believe that we have put a strong squad together which is capable of competing during these qualifiers, with the ultimate goal of reaching the AFC U17 Asian Cup™ in Saudi Arabia next year.”
CommBank Joeys Squad | AFC U17 Asian Cup™ Saudi Arabia 2026 Qualifiers
Name | Surname | Position | Current Club | Junior Club / MF |
Akol | Akon | Attacker | Sydney FC | St Marys Convent SC / Football NSW |
Lachlan | Allen | Goalkeeper | Western Sydney Wanderers FC | Ramsgate RSL FC/Football NSW |
Winston | Ashburner | Defender | Melbourne Victory FC | Yarraville Glory FC / Football VIC |
Luke | Becvinovski | Attacker | Melbourne City FC | Pascoe Vale FC / Football VIC |
Aaron | Black | Goalkeeper | Perth Glory FC | Morley Windmills SC / Football West |
Deklan | Cooper-Ndambuki | Defender | Adelaide United FC | Valley View SC / Football SA |
Max | Court | Midfielder | APIA Leichhardt FC | APIA Leichhardt FC / Football NSW |
Luka | Demuth | Midfielder | Melbourne City FC | Aspendale Stingrays SC / Football VIC |
Oliver | Dimovski | Defender | Melbourne Victory FC | Whittlesea Ranges FC / Football VIC |
Akeem | Gerald | Attacker | Melbourne City FC | FC Bulleen Lions / Football VIC |
Georgio | Hassarati | Attacker | Western Sydney Wanderers FC | Putney Rangers FC / Football NSW |
Emile | Katrib | Defender | Western Sydney Wanderers FC | Panania Diggers SC / Football NSW |
William | Kengni | Defender | Melbourne Victory FC | Whittlesea Ranges FC / Football VIC |
Miles | Milliner | Defender | Sydney FC | Collaroy Cromer Strikers FC / Football NSW |
Sajjad | Nasiri | Midfielder | Adelaide United FC | Ingle Farm SC / Football SA |
Hugo | Ng | Goalkeeper | Adelaide United FC | Metrostars / Football SA |
Henrique | Oliveira | Midfielder | Macarthur Bulls FC | Adelaide Port Pirates / Football SA |
Malik | Olukhale | Attacker | Melbourne Victory FC | Brunswick Zebras SC / Football VIC |
Aston | Reid | Midfielder | Sydney FC | Lilli Pilli FC / Football NSW |
Marcus | Savic | Defender | Western Sydney Wanderers FC | Moorebank Sports SC / Football NSW |
Jariyah | Shah | Defender | Manchester United FC | Doncaster Rovers FC / ENG |
Emmett | Shaw | Midfielder | Brisbane Roar FC | Centenary Stormers FC / Football QLD |
| Lenny | Van Heer | Midfielder | Djurgårdens IF Fotboll | Williams Landing FC / Football VIC |
