'There shouldn't be a debate' - Ange Postecoglou urges Socceroos to take Tim Cahill and Daniel Arzani to the World Cup

Debate has raged about whether Bert Van Marwijk should take veteran striker Tim Cahill and young winger Daniel Arzani in the Socceroos squad to the World Cup, but former coach Ange Postecoglou believes the answer is clear.

Cahill, 38, and Arzani, 19, are the oldest and youngest players respectively in Australia's 26-man preliminary squad for Russia, that will be whittled down to 23 on June 3 after the friendly against Czech Republic.

But Postecoglou thinks both should be on the plane to Russia and he would select the duo if he was in charge of the national team.

When asked about Cahill's hopes of playing at a fifth consecutive World Cup and Arzani making his debut at a major tournament, Postecoglou told SEN: "You just have to take [Cahill]."

"There shouldn't be a debate. You take them both.

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"[Cahill] wasn’t played a lot, but I think knowing Tim, and I haven’t spoken to him in probably six months, he will still be in very good condition.

"Looking at the make-up of the squad, there still isn’t a lot of goal scoring threats there.

"We have very few players like Daniel Arzani.

"There is nothing to lose in taking him along.

"I don’t think he takes a spot of a player who would be a starting player, he takes a spot of a player who would be on the fringes anyway."

Cahill has only played 157 minutes of club football with Melbourne City and Championship side Millwall since the A-League season started in October.

But the lack of game time is offset by the two crucial goals scored for the green and gold in November's World Cup playoff against Syria to help on their path to Russia.

Arzani, who recently said he was keen to nutmeg Paul Pogba, is yet to make his debut for the Socceroos, but is expected to get his first cap against Czech Republic.

The youngster shot to prominence after a stunning season with City in the A-League, scoring two goals and laying on three assists.

Australia begin their World Cup campaign with a match against France in Kazan on June 16, before taking on Denmark and Peru.