Players, coaches and staff, check. Media, check, and fans, triple-check. But there's one Aussie presence missing out in Russia that's gone a little under the radar.
Ben Williams - 2014
For A-League fans who remember Williams as a referee who leant towards the harsher end of the scale, it may not come as a surprise that, as is a common vocation for match officials, away from the pitch Williams is a teacher.
Upon being notified of his inclusion by way of an email from FIFA, he took six months of unpaid leave to prepare fully for what he calls "the biggest sporting event in the world". It would be incorrect to suggest that Williams aimed to make up for that lost time in the classroom by doling out some discipline on the field, but it's fair to to say that he didn't hold back in Brazil.
Two of the ten red cards in the tournament came from his breast pocket. He was the only referee to send off two players, and his 15 bookings were more than any of his colleagues produced.
His first match was Ecuador's 2-1 group stage win over Honduras at the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, three days before the already-eliminated Socceroos were due to play there against Spain.
Next for Williams came Belgium's clash with South Korea in Group H - and his first red card, issued to Steven Defour for a studs-up challenge on Kim Shin-wook. Defour tried to look innocent but it was the correct call and, in any case, the ten-men regrouped and went on to win through Jan Vertonghen's second-half goal.
Just three days on from that, Williams entered untrodden ground for Australian referees - a World Cup round of 16 match, between Costa Rica and Greece. He handed out eight yellow cards over an epic 120 minutes of tense football, three of them noteworthy.
Two were shown to Costa Rica defender Oscar Duarte, who received his marching orders in the 66th minute. Another, Williams showed to a player who wan't even on the field of play - Costa Rica midfielder Esteban Granados, who had protested a little too much from the bench over the non-award of a penalty for the Central Americans.
Once again, it was the ten men that prevailed. Costa Rica progressed to the quarter-finals on spot-kicks - and Williams, Australia's last man standing, joined them there, as the fourth official for Argentina's win over Belgium.
No Australian match official has been involved so far into a World Cup tournament so in that regard, Williams sits above his predecessors Boskovic, Bambridge, Lennie and Shield at the top of the class.
He quit in 2016 to dedicate himself fully to keeping Canberra's kids in line.
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