It probably got a bit more tense than it should have for a while, but all the disclaimers can now finally be set aside. The Socceroos no longer have “one foot in the door”, nor have they “all but qualified”. After their 2-1 win overSaudi Arabiain Jeddah, it’s official: Australia will be at the 2026 World Cup in North America.
Half a world away from home, the final whistle was mostly greeted by silence from the stands but nothing could contain the jubilation of the Australians. A campaign that began with a winless opening window against Bahrain and Indonesia has now ended with wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia and automatic qualification. Mission accomplished.
Taking a 19th-minute lead through Abdulrahman Al-Aboud, the host team threatened to make it interesting for a while. Given they needed to secure a miraculous five-goal win to snatch the Socceroos’ automatic qualification slot, one goal shouldn’t have been enough to trigger panic. But, considering it came just moments after Martin Boyle blazed wide with a chance that could have killed things off, Australian football’s natural inclination for cynicism was bound to stir.
But Connor Metcalfe’s first goal for his country on the stroke of half-time restored parity, as well as putting the hosts into a position where they now needed to win 6-1 to do the unthinkable. Then, after playing a magnificent pass to set up the opener, Mitch Duke soared to meet a Boyle free-kick three minutes into the second half to kill off any thoughts of a cataclysmic collapse. A match-winning goal and an assist for Duke was just reward for a devoted servant of the national team, who had only been given five hours’ notice of his call-up following Mathew Leckie’s injury in the A-League Men grand final. Maligned as he may be amongst fans who feel his time has passed, none can deny his role in this qualification.
An 82nd-minute penalty gave Salem Al-Dawsari a chance to give the portion of the 24,620 attendees who hadn’t already filed out of the stadium something to cheer, but even that would be denied. Maty Ryan dived to his left to add a signature moment to his 100th cap and ensure qualification would be secured with a win.
A breathtaking game of football that will go down in the annals of Asian football this was not. But given the stakes involved and the final result, few of a green and gold persuasion will care. Arriving in Jeddah with their five-goal safety net, the Australians took the field at the King Abdullah Stadium looking to grind the game out, to make their opponents suffer for every step they took towards an improbable comeback.
For a while, it looked like this approach was going to deliver results without much in the way of incident. Coach Tony Popovic and his staff have frequently spoken about being able to dictate the terms of games without the ball, and while the Green Falcons had over 80% of possession across the opening exchanges, this failed to produce an early attempt on Ryan’s goal.
But you’re cruising right up until you aren’t. And in the 19th minute, the host’s first shot, a close-range effort on an angle from Al-Dawsari, was deflected by Ryan into the path of Al-Aboud, who bundled the ball over the line for an opening goal that, after a lengthy VAR review, was allowed to stand. There still existed a four-goal cushion, but a crack in the Socceroos’ armour had now been exposed.
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Had the Saudis been able to go on and find a second at that point, to heap further pressure on the Australians and try to rally the supporters in the stands, then things may have got very interesting. A chance fell to Musab Al-Juwayr in the 33rd minute, the ball bouncing up invitingly for him after it was sent in from the left, only for his resulting effort to be blasted over the bar. From there, it was never in doubt.