Australia qualified for its sixth straight World Cup on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia.
The Socceroos, needing just to avoid defeat by five goals to advance to the 2026 tournament, came from behind with goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitchell Duke to win after Abdulrahman Al Oboud had put the hosts ahead after 19 minutes.
In Asia’s third round of qualification, the top two from each of the three groups of six progress automatically to next summer’s World Cup. Jordan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Japan and South Korea have also qualified for the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Earlier, Japan and South Korea ended successful campaigns on a high with emphatic home victories over Indonesia and Kuwait, respectively.
In Osaka, Daichi Kamada scored after 15 minutes to set Japan, preparing for an eighth consecutive World Cup, on its way to a 6-0 victory.
Takefusa Kubo added a second five minutes later and Kamada extended the lead just before the break. Soon after the restart, Ryoya Morishita and Shuto Machino piled on and Mao Hosoya made it six.
South Korea, which has qualified for an 11th straight World Cup, sealed the top spot in Group B after beating Kuwait 4-0.
Jeon Jin-woo scored after 33 minutes at Seoul World Cup Stadium and Lee Kang-in added a second soon after the restart. Oh Hyeon-gyu and Lee Jae-sung also got on the scoresheet.
The six teams that finish third and fourth advance to another stage to play for Asia’s two remaining automatic places.
Oman took the last remaining place with a 1-1 draw against the Palestinian team and join Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia in the fourth round, which will take place in October.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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