OSAKA: Australia secured their spot at next year’s World Cup in North America, whereas Oman prevented Palestine from maintaining their chances of making history with a late equalizer in Jordan on Tuesday.
Tony Popovic’s Socceroos entered the third round’s decisive match day as strong favorites for advancement but managed to secure their place with a crucial 2-1 victory over rival team Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, claiming the second automatic qualification spot in Group C.
Saudi Arabia has to settle for a spot in the fourth round, along with Indonesia. Japan had already ensured their position as the group leaders.
Herve Renard’s team from Saudi Arabia entered the crucial match at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium aware that they needed to secure a victory with a five-goal difference to surpass Australia and claim second place.
The hosts were given the perfect start when Abdulrahman Al-Aboud opened the scoring 19 minutes in, however, the visitors pulled level just before half-time through Connor Metcalfe’s left-footed strike.
Australia quickly took the lead when Mitch Duke headed the ball home from near the goal line after meeting Martin Boyle’s cross just three minutes into the second half.
Goalkeeper Mathew Ryan subsequently stopped Salem Al-Dawsari's last-minute penalty, securing an impressive win for Australia and ensuring the nation's continuous presence in six consecutive World Cups with flair.
In Group B, Palestinians had their hopes shattered as they gave up a penalty right at the end of stoppage time, resulting in a 1-1 tie with Oman in Amman.
Palestine, who were hosting their matches at a neutral location, went ahead after 49 minutes at King Abdullah II Stadium as Oday Kharoub directed Adam Kaied’s corner kick into the upper part of the net with his head.
Al-Saadi received his second yellow card in the 73rd minute, leaving Oman with only 10 players on the field.
Nevertheless, the visitors managed to claim an invaluable point in the 97th minute when Issam Al-Sabhi converted a penalty after Ahmad Taha fouled Muhsen Al-Ghassani.
This outcome indicates that Oman ended up in fourth place within their group, taking the spot from Palestine, and hence progressed to the subsequent stage of qualification.
The leading two squads from each of the three divisions will directly qualify for the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, whereas the ones finishing third and fourth will advance to the play-off stage.
Happening in October, this event features two groups consisting of three teams each. The winners will secure one of the two spots available for next summer’s tournament. Competing countries include Oman, UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia.
Kamada stars for Japan
On Tuesday earlier, Daichi Kamada of Crystal Palace found the back of the net two times for Japan whereas Lee Kang-in from Paris Saint-Germain contributed with a goal for South Korea. In this manner, these powerful nations from Asia concluded their World Cup qualification journeys triumphantly.
Japan romped to a 6-0 thrashing of Patrick Kluivert’s Indonesia in Osaka, while South Korea cruised to a 4-0 win over Kuwait in Seoul where fans were treated to a late appearance by their idol Son Heung-min.
FA Cup champion Kamada scored two goals in the opening half for Japan, with Takefusa Kubo, Ryoya Morishita, Shuto Machino, and replacement Mao Hosoya adding to their tally against Indonesia, who ended up in fourth place in Group C.
Iran and Uzbekistan have already qualified for next year’s finals from Group A, just like Jordan and South Korea from Group B, who both sealed their spots last week with one match remaining.
Jeon Jin-woo along with goals from the European-based trio Lee Kang-in, Oh Hyeon-gyun who plays for Belgium’s Genk, and Lee Jae-sung hailing from Germany’s Mainz secured the victory.
Son from Tottenham, who has been battling an injury, was brought on as a replacement at the 75th minute.
Iraq secured third place in the group after achieving a 1-0 win over Jordan in Amman, as the host nation had already guaranteed their spot for their inaugural appearance at the World Cup.