2025–26 Western Sydney Wanderers FC season

Western Sydney Wanderers
2025–26 season
ChairmanPaul Lederer
ManagerAlen Stajcic
StadiumCommBank Stadium
A-League MenTBD
A-League Men FinalsTBD
Australia CupRound of 16
Top goalscorerLeague:
All: Bozhidar Kraev (2)
Biggest win3–0
vs. Peninsula Power (A)
(22 July 2025)
Australia Cup
Biggest defeat0–3
vs. Heidelberg United (A)
(12 August 2025)
Australia Cup
All statistics correct as of 12 August 2025.

The 2025–26 season is the 14th in the history of Western Sydney Wanderers FC. In addition to the domestic league, Western Sydney Wanderers participated in the Australia Cup.

Players

First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Australia AUS Gabriel Cleur
3 DF Australia AUS Alex Gersbach
4 DF Australia AUS Alex Bonetig
5 MF Malta MLT Dylan Scicluna
6 MF Iraq IRQ Mohamed Al-Taay
7 FW Australia AUS Alou Kuol
8 MF Australia AUS Steven Ugarkovic
9 FW New Zealand NZL Kosta Barbarouses
11 FW Australia AUS Marcus Younis (scholarship)
14 DF Australia AUS Phillip Cancar
17 MF Australia AUS Jarrod Carluccio
18 MF Australia AUS Oscar Priestman
19 DF Australia AUS Ruon Tongyik
20 GK Australia AUS Lawrence Thomas (captain)
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 FW Australia AUS Aydan Hammond (scholarship)
22 DF Australia AUS Anthony Pantazopoulos
23 MF Bulgaria BUL Bozhidar Kraev
24 DF Australia AUS Nathan Barrie (scholarship)
25 MF Australia AUS Joshua Brillante
26 FW Australia AUS Brandon Borrello
28 DF Australia AUS Joshua Laws
30 GK Australia AUS Jordan Holmes
31 DF Australia AUS Aidan Simmons
49 FW Australia AUS Alaat Abdul-Rahman (scholarship)
64 MF Spain ESP Juan Mata
— DF Australia AUS Ricky Fransen (scholarship)
— DF Australia AUS Ben Mewett (scholarship)

Transfers

Transfers in

No. Position Player Transferred from Type/fee Contract length Date Ref
10 FW Alexander Badolato Melbourne Victory End of loan (1 year) 30 June 2025 [1]
9 FW New Zealand Kosta Barbarouses Wellington Phoenix Free transfer 1 year 1 July 2025 [2]
8 MF Steven Ugarkovic Melbourne City Free transfer 2 years 1 July 2025 [3]
14 DF Phillip Cancar Newcastle Jets Free transfer 1 year 1 July 2025 [4]
7 FW Alou Kuol Central Coast Mariners Free transfer 1 year 1 July 2025 [5]
11 FW Marcus Younis Netherlands Jong PSV End of loan (2 years) 1 July 2025 [6]
TBA DF Ben Mewett Central Coast Mariners Academy Free transfer 2 year scholarship 13 July 2025 [7]
19 DF Ruon Tongyik Unattached Free transfer 1 year 11 August 2025 [8]

From youth squad

No. Position Player Age Notes Ref
49 FW Alaat Abdul-Rahman 18 2-year scholarship contract [9]
DF Ricky Fransen 18 2-year scholarship contract [10]

Transfers out

No. Position Player Transferred to Type/fee Date Ref
14 FW Nicolas Milanovic Scotland Aberdeen Undisclosed 15 May 2025 [11]
13 MF Dean Pelekanos Malaysia Sabah End of contract 15 June 2025 [12][13]
7 FW Zac Sapsford Scotland Dundee United Undisclosed 10 June 2025 [14]
1 GK Taiga Harper Unattached End of contract 30 June 2025 [12]
8 DK South Korea Jeong Tae-wook South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors End of loan 30 June 2025 [12]
9 FW Sweden Marcus Antonsson Sweden IFK Värnamo End of contract 30 June 2025 [15][12]
10 FW Alexander Badolato Newcastle Jets Mutual contract termination 30 June 2025 [1][16]
19 DF Jack Clisby Unattached End of contract 30 June 2025 [12]
27 FW James Temelkovski Hong Kong Tai Po End of contract 30 June 2025 [17]

Contract extensions

No. Player Position Duration Date Notes Ref.
2 Gabriel Cleur Right-back 1 year 2 June 2025 [18]
30 Jordan Holmes Goalkeeper 2 years 4 June 2025 [19]
25 Joshua Brillante Defensive midfielder 1 year 21 July 2025 Contract extension triggered [20]

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss

2 August 2025 Persib Bandung Indonesia 1–0 Australia Western Sydney Wanderers Bandung, Indonesia
  • Wiliam 60'
 Report Stadium: GBLA Stadium
Referee: Thoriq Al Katiri
19 August 2025 Western Sydney Wanderers Australia 1–1 Australia Newcastle Jets Newcastle, Australia
Report Stadium: Darling Street Oval

Competitions

Overall record

Competition First match Last match Starting round Final position Record
Pld W D L GF GA GD Win %
A League Men TBA TBA Matchday 1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !—
Australia Cup 22 July 2025 12 August 2025 Round of 32 Round of 16 2 1 0 1 3 3 +0 050.00
Total 2 1 0 1 3 3 +0 050.00

Last updated: 12 August 2025
Source: Competitions

A-League Men

Main article: 2025–26 A-League Men

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
9 Perth Glory 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 Australia Cup play-offs
10 Sydney FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Wellington Phoenix[a] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Western Sydney Wanderers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Western United (W) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Withdrawn[b]
First match(es) will be played: 17 October 2025. Source: A-Leagues
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) wins; 5) head-to-head results; 5a) head-to-head points; 5b) head-to-head goal difference; 6) Fair Play points; 7) away goal difference; 8) away goals per match; 9) home goal difference; 10) home goals per match; 11) toss of a coin in an event of a tie of two clubs.
(W) Withdrawn before the start of the season.
Notes:
  1. ^ Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is part of the Oceania Football Confederation.
  2. ^ Western United's license was revoked on 8 August 2025.[21] The decision has been appealed by the club.[22]

Results summary

Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
0 0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Last updated: 22 May 2025.
Source: Ultimate A-League

Matches

The fixtures for the 2025-26 A-League Men season are yet to be announced.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

Australia Cup

Main article: 2025 Australia Cup

  Win   Draw   Loss

22 July 2025 Round of 32 Peninsula Power 0–3 Western Sydney Wanderers Brisbane
19:30 AEST Report
Stadium: A.J. Kelly Park
Attendance: 1,839
Referee: Jack Powers
12 August 2025 Round of 16 Heidelberg United 3–0 Western Sydney Wanderers Melbourne
19:30 AEST
Report Stadium: Olympic Park
Attendance: 1,103
Referee: Zijad Ahmetovic

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.[23]

As of 12 August 2025
No. Pos Nat Player Total A-League Men Australia Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Goalkeepers
20 GK Australia AUS Lawrence Thomas 2 0 0 0 2 0
Defenders
2 DF Australia AUS Gabriel Cleur 2 0 0 0 2 0
3 DF Australia AUS Alex Gersbach 2 0 0 0 2 0
4 DF Australia AUS Alex Bonetig 2 0 0 0 2 0
19 DF Australia AUS Ruon Tongyik 1 0 0 0 0+1 0
22 DF Australia AUS Anthony Pantazopoulos 2 0 0 0 2 0
31 DF Australia AUS Aidan Simmons 2 0 0 0 0+2 0
Midfielders
6 MF Iraq IRQ Mohamed Al-Taay 1 0 0 0 0+1 0
8 MF Australia AUS Steven Ugarkovic 2 0 0 0 1+1 0
17 MF Australia AUS Jarrod Carluccio 2 0 0 0 0+2 0
18 MF Australia AUS Oscar Priestman 1 0 0 0 1 0
23 MF Bulgaria BUL Bozhidar Kraev 2 2 0 0 2 2
25 MF Australia AUS Josh Brillante 2 0 0 0 2 0
Forwards
7 FW Australia AUS Alou Kuol 2 0 0 0 2 0
9 FW New Zealand NZL Kosta Barbarouses 2 1 0 0 2 1
11 FW Australia AUS Marcus Younis 2 0 0 0 0+2 0
21 FW Australia AUS Aydan Hammond 2 0 0 0 2 0
Player(s) transferred out but featured this season

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.[23]

As of 12 August 2025
Rank No. Pos. Nat. Name A-League Men Australia Cup Total
Yellow card Yellow card Yellow-red card Red card Yellow card Yellow card Yellow-red card Red card Yellow card Yellow card Yellow-red card Red card
1 22 DF Australia Anthony Pantazopoulos 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0
2 3 DF Australia Alex Gersbach 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
17 MF Australia Jarrod Carluccio 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Total 0 0 0 4 0 0 4 0 0

Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.

As of 12 August 2025 2025
Rank No. Nat. Goalkeeper A-League Men Australia Cup Total
1 20 Australia Lawrence Thomas 0 1 1
Total 0 1 1

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Wanderers confirm departure of Alex Badolato". Western Sydney Wanderers. 27 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Barbarouses joins Wanderers for 2025/26 season". Western Sydney Wanderers. 18 June 2025.
  3. ^ "A-Leagues Champion Ugarkovic returns to Western Sydney". Western Sydney Wanderers. 20 June 2025.
  4. ^ "Cancar returns to the Red & Black". Western Sydney Wanderers. 29 June 2025.
  5. ^ "Alou Kuol joins Wanderers for 2025/26 season". Western Sydney Wanderers. 2 July 2025.
  6. ^ "PSV neemt afscheid van meerdere spelers Jong PSV" [PSV bids farewell to several Jong PSV players]. PSV (in Dutch). 16 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Mewett signs scholarship deal". Western Sydney Wanderers. 13 July 2025.
  8. ^ "Wanderers confirm signing of defender Tongyik". Western Sydney Wanderers. 11 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Abdul-Rahman signs two-year scholarship deal". Western Sydney Wanderers. 10 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Fransen pens two-year scholarship deal". Western Sydney Wanderers. 11 July 2025.
  11. ^ Dodd, James (2025-05-15). "Western Sydney Wanderers agree club-record transfer fee for Nicolas Milanovic: Full Details". A-Leagues. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Wanderers confirm departure of five players". Western Sydney Wanderers. 7 June 2025.
  13. ^ Sabah [@SabahFCofficial] (15 June 2025). "Welcome to the Land Below the Wind, Dean! Sydney-born 🇦🇺 Formerly from Western Sydney Wanderers. Midfield engine for Sabah. Say hello to our newest Rhino!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "Wanderers agree transfer for Sapsford to Dundee United". Western Sydney Wanderers. 10 June 2025.
  15. ^ Diamant, Jonatan Pinheiro (27 May 2025). "Officiellt: Antonsson klar för IFK Värnamo" [Official: Antonsson ready for IFK Värnamo]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish).
  16. ^ "Newcastle Jets sign Alex Badolato". Newcastle Jets. 27 June 2025.
  17. ^ "𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐊𝐎𝐕𝐒𝐊𝐈". Tai Po. 20 July 2025 – via Instagram.
  18. ^ "Cleur signs one-year extension". Western Sydney Wanderers. 2 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Holmes extends contract with Wanderers". Western Sydney Wanderers. 4 June 2025.
  20. ^ "Brillante's contract automatically extended". Western Sydney Wanderers. 21 July 2025.
  21. ^ Rugari, Vince (8 August 2025). "Aloisi 'devastated' as former champions Western United stripped of A-League licence". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  22. ^ "Western United Club Statement". Western United. 8 August 2025.
  23. ^ a b "Newcastle Jets FC – Squad". soccerway.com.
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