Heartbroken Socceroos stars return home after World Cup loss to Egypt

The Socceroos' biggest stars have begun touching down in Australia just days after the side was eliminated at the FIFA World Cup in heartbreaking fashion.

Images have been captured of Patrick Beach, Mohamed Toure and Connor Metcalfe arriving at Melbourne airport.

Australia progressed to the knockout stage of a World Cup for the second consecutive occasion - but fell to Egypt via penalty shootouts.

With their World Cup campaign sadly in the rear view mirror, the Socceroos' breakout stars will turn their eyes to their futures.

Lucas Herrington, Alessandro Circati, Nestory Irankunda and Jordan Bos were already the subject of interest from big clubs before the campaign kicked off.

Before the tournament even started, 18-year-old Colorado Rapids defender Herrington had attracted interest from Barcelona while Parma centre-back Circati had Serie A and La Liga clubs watching him closely.

Socceroos goalkeeper Patrick Beach (pictured) has touched down in Australia

Forward Mohamed Toure (pictured) also arrived back Down Under after Australia's heartbreaking Round of 32 loss

Connor Metcalfe (pictured) and his teammates have been forced to lament what might have been after the knockout match loss

All four of those players will have only increased their profiles, along with goalkeeper Patrick Beach, whose incredible breakout tournament shot him to stardom.

Feyenoord defender Bos has long been expected to earn a move to the Premier League or Bundesliga but will nervously await the results of scans on the left knee injured in a challenge against Egypt.

Circati, already playing in Serie A, is ready to take it all in his stride.

'With the World Cup being over now, you've gotta start putting things on the table, seeing what will happen,' the defender said.

'I don't know what my future is. I don't know if I'm staying at my club. I don't know - I haven't been in contact with anyone. I'll leave that for my agent to worry about.

'And then I just need to focus on myself, take some time off now. It's been a long season and a long World Cup as well, so we've just gotta refresh our heads.

'And all those talks - whether they're true or false - they'll all unravel themselves slowly.'

Herrington, expected to attract monster offers from high-profile clubs, is understandably keen to take a break before making the biggest decision of his career to date.

'It's hard to process anything now so I'll just take my mind off the game for a few weeks and just try and recover the best I can and just get back to the MLS season with Colorado,' Herrington said.

'That's all I've got my eyes on.'

How long Herrington will actually remain in the MLS is yet to be seen.

Melbourne City goalkeeper Beach is also keen to decompress before assessing his options on the table.

'I'm gonna take a few days now to understand all that's happened,' Beach said.

'This has been for me, just all about the World Cup for Australia and what we can achieve.

'There's interest out there of course but for me I'm just focused on getting back to Australia and having a little bit of time off and then I'll know more.

'There is interest. There's always interest. You could ask any of the boys, there's always interest with games at a World Cup and performances and stuff - but that's for me to know.'

Experienced defender Harry Souttar had a standout World Cup after years of struggles with injury and being out of favour at Leicester City.

Souttar will also take a break then 're-evaluate' his options.

'Obviously I've still got two years left on a contract there, so yeah, I'll certainly be going back,' he said.

'And we'll see what happens in the future, but I'm certainly not looking too far ahead.'