The Socceroos will recommence their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign this Thursday at AAMI Park when they host Vietnam in their seventh game of the third round of qualifying.
Graham Arnold has selected an experienced squad but has also included the uncapped trio of Joel King, Kye Rowles and Marco Tilio.
The Aussies beat Vietnam 1-0 the first time these two teams met and while Vietnam took it up to Australia on that occasion, the Socceroos would expect to be able to deal with Vietnam on home soil.
After winning their first three games of this round of qualifying, which doubled as the tail end of an 11-match winning streak – the record for a team in a single qualifying campaign – the Socceroos recorded a loss (Japan away) and two draws (Saudi Arabia home and China away) in their last three games.
In the eyes of some, these results derailed the qualifying campaign and scuppered any chance of finishing in the top two of their group which would mean automatic qualification to Qatar 2022.
The alternative route to qualifying for the Socceroos is finishing third in their group, beating the third place finisher in the other AFC qualifying group in a one-off game, which is currently United Arab Emirates.
If they are to get through UAE, they are set to play the fifth-place team in CONMEBOL qualifying, currently Peru but also potentially Colombia, Chile or Uruguay. Put simply, this path is to be avoided at all costs, so this is how the Socceroos qualify for their fifth straight World Cup automatically.
Current ladder
Saudi Arabia 16
Japan 12
Australia 11
Oman 7
China 5
Vietnam 0
Game 7 results and summary
Australia kick off this round of qualifying with a 2-0 win over Vietnam. Japan account for China 3-1 at the Saitama Stadium while Saudi Arabia grind out a 2-1 win over Oman.
(Photo by Mohamed Farag/Getty Images)
Ladder of potential qualifiers after Round 7
Saudi Arabia 19 points
Japan 15
Australia 14
Oman 7
China 5
Game 8 results and summary
Japan host Saudi Arabia in a crucial top-of-the-table clash with a cagey affair ending in a 1-1 draw thanks to a late equaliser from Saudi Arabia. Vietnam pick up their first win of the campaign with a 1-0 win over China. The Socceroos narrowly get past Oman with a 1-0 win showing tremendous resolve.
Ladder of potential qualifiers after Round 8
Saudi Arabia 20 points
Australia 17
Japan 16
Game 9 results and summary
In an absolutely crucial game for the Socceroos, at home they host Japan at a yet-to-be confirmed venue and eke out a 2-1 win over the Blue Samurai to clinch their place at the World Cup. Elsewhere Oman account for Vietnam 2-0 and Saudi Arabia beat China 3-0 having already qualified.
Ladder of top 3 after Round 9
Saudi Arabia 23 points
Australia 20
Japan 16
Game 10 results and summary
In a series of dead rubbers, Oman beat China 2-1 at home, already qualified Australia and Saudi Arabia play weakened teams with Saudi Arabia scoring a convincing 2-0 win and Japan dispatch Vietnam 5-0.
In summary Saudi Arabia and Australia qualify automatically as two of the 32 teams to compete for World Cup glory in Qatar starting November this year while Japan will now attempt to qualify through a series of one-match playoffs.
The two pivotal games in this scenario are Japan-Saudi Arabia on 1st February and Australia-Japan on 24th March. Provided these results go in the Socceroos favour they should be okay to book their spot in Qatar.
Perhaps qualifying for a fifth-straight World Cup in this manner papers over the bigger cracks in Australian football. However the game is in a perilous position at the moment and not qualifying for the World Cup provides further ammunition for the naysayers to pile on the game.
Alternatively, history tells us for those few weeks when the Socceroos are toiling away trying to get out of their World Cup group, a large portion of the Australian public get behind the team and non-football people come along for the ride.
It all needs to start with a win over Vietnam on Thursday night.
Nathan Cirson
Roar Pro
Agree that Arnold would go. Mat Ryan being captain and still only 29 as a goalkeeper won’t go. But they may shake up the squad and bring in some younger players looking to give the 2023 Asian Cup a good crack!
Nathan Cirson
Roar Pro
Great thought Grem! Don’t know what sport would be second-most popular worldwide but football really is different to any other sport. I know the WC places open up from 2026 but so many Asian countries are getting better all the time so continual improvement is needed.
Bazza
Guest
If the Socceroos cannot qualify from this group then they don’t deserve to be the finals of the World Cup. The table doesn’t lie. Some may think that the Socceroos are ‘wack’ as the youth say and so if they do scrape through they will probably be degraded by the European and South American heavyweight teams anyway which is historically what has happened. Astonishingly the Socceroos have only ever won 2 matches at the finals of the World Cup so it seems unlikely that they would be serious contenders and get to the latter stages this year. However if the Socceroos do not at least qualify for the finals the players and coaches will have to take the blame for such an appalling embarrassment for the nation. I would imagine in such circumstances Arnold would have to go immediately as would the Captain and almost all of the team. In any event this is the last World Cup where qualifying for the finals will be an achievement as the finals are being expanded to ridiculous levels so merely qualifying for the finals will mean very little from 2026 onwards.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
Calculate all you want, we are heading for the playoffs no matter what. Socceroos wont beat Oman away and wont beat Japan they also wont beat Saudi.
chris
Guest
There's an article right there
Tony Hodges
Roar Rookie
TBH somewhere in the top 36 and qualifying for every WC feels about right for where Australian football should be, all other things being equal. If we can get out the group stage every now and then, even better!
Tony Hodges
Roar Rookie
Would this more simply be said as Australia win everything from here except maybe the last one?
Pro Rel NSD
Guest
Top 35 out of all nations is pretty good. Lets hope we make it through.
Tom
Guest
if Australia national soccer team can’t win next 3 games like Vietnam , Oman and Saudi Arabia. It had better than save that spot for someone else for the world cup because if you can’t beat a weak team, how can you beat a heavy way teams of Europe? Big jokes From Tom -Sydney
Grem
Roar Rookie
Just a bit of mathematics... I don't know if this is of interest, but we all are concerned about Australia's position in world football. We'd love to see us performing better. The fact is there are over 200 teams to compete against and our fifa ranking of 35 puts us in the top 15% of nations. That sounds pretty good to me, who would have loved an ATAR of 85. Our cricket team plays in a world of perhaps 20 teams and their ranking of 3 places them in the top 15%! No-one in the media or public is too concerned about that! Having written that, I still want us to play better than we have been and qualify again. Our public and team expect us to be in the top 20 like we were once before.
Grem
Roar Rookie
I will take and sign off on your predictions right now. Let's hope!