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It was not the coverage Port Phillip Bay Council had in mind when they sent out a good-natured press release on Friday afternoon, announcing St Kilda beach was to be temporarily renamed Patrick beach, after the Socceroos goalkeeper.

Defender Aziz Behich was told of the name change for Melbourne’s seaside marvel. “Hopefully they clean it up,” he said.

Beach himself was more generous, describing St Kilda as a nice, relaxing spot, especially in the summer. “I don’t know how long that [the change] is or what’s the go with that, but it’s very much appreciated,” he said. “I think it’s pretty funny as well.”

After a tepid buildup to the tournament, the nation appears to be approaching peak Socceroos. There are surging television ratings, an avalanche of memes and social media content, and a seemingly never-ending stream of football-themed advertising. Harry Souttar was featured in a mural painted in Richmond this week, sponsored by a boot company, depicting the so-called “minister of defence” as a bricklayer building a wall.

Australia’s elected representatives have also leveraged the excitement. The prime minister Anthony Albanese posted a video with a trio of Socceroos on his social media accounts last week, while Coalition leader Angus Taylor also got in on the fun following the Paraguay clash: “Fantastic. Great move. Well done Socceroos.”

Australia have now reached the World Cup knockout rounds for the third time, and the second in succession. Some will say this achievement is slightly less significant given the larger tournament in 2026 and additional round of 32. Behich is having none of it.

“For me, you need to enjoy what we did last night because these moments don’t come around often, especially at this level,” said the veteran of three World Cups. “It’s the pinnacle of football, you’re up against the best in the world, and we did something special coming from Australia, so we really need to enjoy that.”

Most other nations in the world treat football as their primary athletic pursuit. But the sport in Australia – while popular to play – remains more towards the periphery, at least compared to the economic giants of AFL and NRL. Moments like Friday afternoon are therefore important for football’s standing, even if the entertainment value of the clash against Paraguay might have tempted some school students to go back to maths class.

Defender Milos Degenek said the Socceroos reaching the knockout rounds again has a broader significance given the world has traditionally written Australia off. “It’s a lot harder for us to get into the football world with 27 million people, most of them wanting to play rugby and cricket,” he said. “For us, we do all we can to play football, and I think we’re putting football in the place where it should be in Australia.”

The curious thing about this World Cup is that it is a tournament split in two. Australia have progressed through the 48-team group stage, and now have a week-long gap before the 32-team elimination bracket begins. That is not long enough for injured duo Mat Leckie and Jacob Italiano, who are returning home after their recovery timelines were too long for even this generous schedule.

Behich said he was gutted for Leckie, his teammate at Melbourne City and the player who scored the goal against Denmark four years ago that sent Australia through to the last 16. “We want him to stick around because we know what he can give us as a team, and even when he’s not playing his experience and presence around a lot of the players,” he said. “But it’s all part of football, he wished us all well and he said he’ll be following.”

Like the rest of Australia, Leckie will now watch as the Socceroos attempt to do something they have never done before: win a World Cup knockout match. Jackson Irvine, the midfielder who returned to the starting lineup against Paraguay, said after clinching the knockout place the team will need to combine the best of each performance in the group stage.

“The start [against Paraguay] and against Turkey, the defensive strength that we’ve showed when we have to be deep, but also [in the last match] when we’re able to play higher up and press a little bit more as well,” he said. “If we can bring it all together, all the little bits that we’ve shown over these three games, make sure we put in a complete performance, we’re a problem for any team.”

Behich wants to sprinkle in a bit of extra motivation into that recipe, from their last-16 defeat to Argentina in 2022. “The last one left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, so I’ve got that burning fire in the belly. We’ve always said we want to do something special.”

Survive the last 32, and that extra spice might come in handy. Lionel Messi and co are the Socceroos’ likeliest opponents in the following round – if both teams survive their first knockouts – replicating the fixture from Qatar. Before then, however, the team heads to Texas to play Egypt. If it’s already starting to feel like peak Socceroos, hold on to your hats.