The Socceroos cannot let their trademark toughness and physicality slip while attempting to improve their style of play ahead of the World Cup, says coach Tony Popovic.

Popovic, who has a remarkable record of eight wins, three draws and one loss, revealed he'd previously been unhappy with how his charges had gone away from physicality in the first games of his tenure.

Australia ruffled some feathers in recent friendlies against Canada and the United States with their aggression and physicality.

"Maybe we surprised them. I don't think that there are any malicious tackles, or if there was VAR in the games, that we'd have any issues in the games. It's just they didn't like the physicality," Popovic said.

"We are coming to Canada: we're supposed to respect them as a 'better nation'. We're

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