How to Make the World Cup and Survive Grade Five

This is a new book. Condition: Brand New.

Could you coach the Australian women's soccer team to victory? In her funniest book yet, Carla Fitzgerald serves up a winning middle-grade story about sport, friendship drama and finding the guts to have a go.

'It's easy to be an armchair critic but much harder when you're the one making the decisions.'

Eleven-year-old Ronni is basically a professional athlete ... at watching sport. If it's on a screen, she's glued to it, just like her parents. But when Ronni and her best friend, Kai, are recruited to secretly coach the Australian women's soccer team for the World Cup qualifiers, she discovers life looks very different on the other side of the screen.

Suddenly, Ronni's running training sessions on the sly and sidestepping suspicious players. The team is floundering, social-media critics (including her own dad!) are piling on - and worst of all, Kai thinks her tactics are way off. Turns out coaching is tougher than it looks! With the team's World Cup dreams slipping away and her friendship on the line, Ronni must choose: stay on the bench or get in the game?

Book details and technical specifications

Format: Paperback / softback
ISBN13: 9780702271229
Published: September 2026

Number of pages: 272
Width: 129 mm
Height: 197 mm
Depth: 17 mm

Publisher: University of Queensland Press