With less than a month remaining in the Championship season, it's crunch time for Australia's 2026 FIFA World Cup hopefuls scattered across England's second tier, with promotion, relegation, and national team selection all on the line.

Eighteen Australians call the Championship home, but it is at the extremities of the table where the stakes are highest. Riley McGree's Middlesbrough are pushing for promotion to the Premier League; Hayden Matthews' Portsmouth are fighting to stay in it.

But beyond the ladder and club aspirations, a group of Aussies are fighting it out for the chance to make Tony Popovic's 26-man World Cup squad, due to be announced on June 1, three weeks after the Championship campaign concludes in May.

Here's a look at the key Australians -- and what's at stake -- over the run in.

While the Premier League was once a fertile ground for our creative midfielders -- from Harry Kewell and Josip Skoko to Aaron Mooy -- that influence has dwindled to nothing in recent years.

Attacking midfielder McGree could change that.

His Middlesbrough side looked odds-on to secure a spot in the top two and automatic promotion, but now find themselves in a horror run of form -- the club are winless in six and have slipped to fourth. However, a spot in the playoffs is still likely, where four clubs battle it out, with a winner-takes-all final at Wembley deciding the final promotion place.

Despite two lengthy injury spells this season, McGree, 27, has still managed five goals and three assists in 24 games, with head coach Kim Hellberg recently calling him a "brilliant player."

Middlesbrough look a more dangerous side with him in the team. The same is true of the Socceroos, for whom McGree will be a key player at the World Cup -- assuming he can stay fit.

His teammate Sam Silvera, 25, could give Australia two players in the Premier League next season.

The winger worked his way back into Socceroos contention after a strong January for Boro -- three consecutive starts, two goals and an assist -- before injury halted his momentum in February.

With depth on Australia's right flank being tested following Blackburn fullback Lewis Miller's season-ending Achilles injury, Popovic could be given a nice selection headache if Silvera can force his way back into contention. The former Central Coast Mariners flyer returned as an unused substitute in Boro's 1-0 loss to Portsmouth last weekend.

Over at Watford, now sitting comfortably mid-table, 20-year-old Nestory Irankunda is the Socceroos' headline player -- yet the most complicated to assess.

The winger arrived from Bayern Munich in July 2025 with enormous expectations, but the season has been anything but straightforward -- three managers, 10 yellow cards, one (harsh) red, and a discipline problem that has frustrated everyone.

Current boss Ed Still dropped him to the bench at Stoke City in March, telling reporters that players "can't just rock up, expect to be starting and then think not performing or delivering is good enough."

Irankunda responded by coming off the bench and scoring -- a perfect snapshot of a supremely talented, yet sometimes-frustrating player.

Four goals, four assists and six big chances created across 36 appearances -- averaging just 50 minutes per game -- tell the story of a hot-and-cold "moments" player who Popovic has deployed off the bench for the Socceroos for precisely that reason.

Irankunda proved it in Melbourne in Australia's last game off the bench against Curaçao with a brace and a Michael Jackson celebration, then returned to Watford -- where a quiet game against QPR preceded a man-of-the-match performance against Charlton, equalising late to grab the headlines.

Despite dominating Watford's highlights reels most weeks, Irankunda's numbers show a player who struggles for consistency and discipline despite having the talent to become a Premier League winger.

Still said as much, stating he is working with Irankunda "because I don't feel that he's making the most out of the talent he's got."

At 20, there is still time -- but tactical discipline and emotional maturity need to catch up with potential. A strong finish could convince Popovic he is ready to start at a World Cup.

Another Australian creating headlines is Norwich City's 22-year-old striker Mohamed Touré, who -- since joining the Canaries in January -- has done enough to make Popovic's World Cup selection considerably easier.

Touré marked his league debut with a goal from the bench, before producing a hat-trick in his first start -- then scored in the FA Cup the following week, making it five goals in his first eight days at the club.

An injury ruled him out of the Socceroos' recent FIFA Series, but he picked up exactly where he left off in the Championship, producing two assists in Norwich's 2-1 comeback win over promotion-chasing Millwall.

For the player who moved to Europe at 17, the question was never his talent, but his ability to be a consistent goal-scorer and nail down a spot as a starting striker on the continent. While not yet locked in as the starting striker at Norwich, his short spell at the club is showing signs he is growing into his potential.

If he stays fit, Touré will almost certainly lead the line for the Socceroos when they face Türkiye in Vancouver on June 13 in their World Cup opener.

Since winger Adrian Segečić's defection to Croatia, Australia's presence at Portsmouth has thinned to three players -- with Matthews, 21, the only one with any realistic, albeit slim, World Cup chance.

He hasn't featured since hobbling off in a 5-0 loss to Bristol City on New Year's Day and will need to break into a Pompey side languishing 21st -- one point above the drop zone -- to catch Popovic's eye.

As misfortune would have it, one side below Pompey is Harry Souttar's Leicester City. "Big Harry" hasn't featured since December 2024 following an Achilles injury and, with the World Cup looming, it looks as though Australia's pre-World Cup camp in Florida will be Souttar's only chance to prove his fitness to Popovic.

He made his return to the Foxes bench last weekend as an unused substitute.