Football Federation Australia’s chief executive is facing his most testing few weeks since taking control with a packed programme of World Cup qualifiers straight after hosting the FIFA World Congress in Sydney.

It is a far cry from the dark days of the relatively recent past when Australia was seen as a footballing irrelevance by the rest of the world.

So as Buckley takes a deep breath ahead of Australian football’s big month, he is confident but not complacent.

Buckley, who was due to open the FFA’s inaugural coaching conference in Sydney today, insists it is folly ever to believe that the hard work is done.

He told au.fourfourtwo.com it was hard to pinpoint a single event that marked Australia's football coming of age.

“I’m sure people will look back at a whole series of events," he said. "There’s so much work to do that I don’t think we can ever afford to say ‘we’ve arrived’.

“Maybe that’s for others 10 or 15 years down the line to say that. At the moment it’s just about getting all the building blocks in place.”

For now, he is simply looking to a successful four or five weeks with an ideal wishlist.

He said: “Perfect scenario? We’ve qualified for the next phase, we’ve won the right to hold the Club World Cup and the Fifa world walks away from Sydney thinking the congress here was one of the best ever.”