Akon's potential non-selection dominated the A-League discourse last week after Sydney FC did a 180 on their initial intention to veto his World Cup call-up due to his growing importance to the Sky Blues' first team.
The 17-year-old qualifies for the World Cup as he does not turn 18 during the calendar year in which the tournament has been played.
Akon, and Brisbane's Archie Mitchell and Central Coast's Oliver Carroll have been added to the squad that recently played in the Copa España, with Melbourne City's Fraser Brown and Sydney FC's Ethan Fletcher among those to have been omitted.
Seven A-League clubs are represented by 17 players in the squad, with Sydney's Akol Akon, Melbourne City pair Besian Kutleshi and Akeem Gerald, and Brisbane Roar's Emmett Shaw having already made their first team debuts.
The remaining four are from European academies including Manchester United's Jariyah Shah and Bournemouth's Max Lyall-Rajendra.
Australia missed the two previous editions of the tournament and are playing for the first time since 2019, when a team including names such as Noah Botic, Ryan Teague, Josh Rawlins and Yaya Dukuly advanced to the Round of 16.
The Joeys qualified via a semi-finals finish at the previous AFC U17 Asian Cup.
Joeys Under-17 World Cup squad:
Goalkeepers: Lachlan Allen (Western Sydney Wanderers), Hugo Ng (Adelaide United), Charlie Wilson-Papps (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Defenders: Harrison Bond (RB Salzburg), Emile Katrib (Western Sydney Wanderers), Max Lyall-Rajendra (Bournemouth), Callum McCaskey (Central Coast Mariners), Archie Mitchell (Brisbane Roar), Marcus Savic (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Midfielders: Besian Kutleshi (Melbourne City), Sajjad Nasiri (Adelaide United), Dionn Nigro (Sydney FC), Oliver O'Carroll (Central Coast Mariners), Jariyah Shah (Manchester United), Emmett Shaw (Brisbane Roar)
Forwards: Akol Akon (Sydney FC), Luke Becvinovski (Central Coast Mariners), Max Court (Brisbane Roar), Akeem Gerald (Melbourne City), Georgio Hassarati (Western Sydney Wanderers), Henrique Oliveira (Macarthur FC)
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
