Australia puts forward in the 2026 World Cup Finals

Australia put forward the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year by defeating its guest Japan 1-0 on Thursday in Perth in the ninth round before the last group competitions.

Australia condemns its fourth victory in the qualifiers and the third to Melbourne City defender Aziz Beheich, who scored the only goal in the first minute of stoppage time after a pass from the English striker Middlesbrough Riley McGari in front of a large crowd of 57.226 spectators at the Optos Stadium.

It is the first victory for Australia over Japan since 2009, and its position in second place with 16 points strengthened four points behind the “blue samurai”, the first to qualify for the finals, with a difference of six points and a large difference of goals (+8 against -2) against Saudi Arabia, which later is a guest of Bahrain.

Australia will ensure its qualification if Saudi Arabia stumbles, but if the latter wins, the decisiveness is postponed to the last round when the two teams meet at a fiery summit in Jeddah on the tenth of June.

The first two teams in each of the three groups qualify directly to the World Cup, while the two direct seats are determined by Asia through the fourth round in a continental supplement in which the third and fourth place owners participate.

Australia has not qualified directly to the World Cup since 2014, after it needed to run an attachment to reserve its two cards in 2018 and 2022.