Brandon Borrello missed the Asian Cup due to injury. Now his dream is a Socceroos World Cup berth

In 2023, it looked like Western Sydney Wanderers star Brandon Borrello was on a path to the Asian Cup.

But a fractured foot cruelled that dream.

The year before, Borrello had made his return to the A League with the Wanderers after stints with various clubs in Germany. He finished that first season as the top goalscorer for the club and won the Alex Tobin Medal.

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Borrello's first international goal also came in 2023 against Ecuador.

But a fractured foot later that year cruelled such a strong run of form.

As the Socceroos go through their World Cup qualifiers, Borrello has a goal in mind: returning to that national setup.

"Obviously we're looking at qualifying for the World Cup right now and I think if I stay on the same track that I was in my first year I can get back to those heights, scoring goals week in, week out," he told Wide World of Sports.

"I don't think that'll necessarily be a problem but that's one of the biggest goals for myself, personally, is making that squad to qualify for a World Cup and with everything I think I can do, that should be possible."

So who will he achieve that?

"It's just consistency at the moment. Obviously last year I didn't have the chance whereas the first year I did and I produced the numbers that I did and we played the way we played," he said.

"But now it's more of a team objective so regardless of how good I play or how bad I play I want the team to win.

"So that's helping the players around me to win the game and I'm not saying I know all the answers but maybe that extra bit of advice ... I think that's going to be the difference this year."

Currently going through another pre-season, Borrello says everything is "so far, so good" under new coach Alen Stajcic.

At 29 now, the winger has experienced the ups and downs of football.

His time in Germany had plenty of highlights and some lowlights too, but now Borrello agrees this is the most settled he's been in his career.

"Definitely," he said.

"It sounds bad at 29, but you're sort of hitting that back end of the career, things start to get put into perspective, like what's my playing style? What am I as a player?

"You're starting to figure yourself out, what you can and can't do. I still think I can do it all but time will tell. It's definitely a really good time in my career. I've found a club in Western Sydney Wanderers where they've believed in me and have given me that chance and that's been portrayed on the pitch."

The Wanderers will kick off their season with a blockbuster clash against Sydney on Saturday, October 19.