Australia on brink of World Cup as Indonesia end China hopes
Defender Aziz Behich was the home hero in front of over 57,000 in Perth, rifling into the corner in the 90th minute to give Australia a 1-0 win over already qualified Japan.
The crucial victory cemented the Socceroos' second place in Group C behind Japan with one game to play, with the top two finishers going straight to the World Cup in North America next year.
Saudi Arabia play at Bahrain later Thursday knowing they must win or Australia are through.
"We know there's room to grow and room to improve, but we've done something special tonight," said Popovic, who saw his team outplayed for long periods by an experimental Japan side.
If the Saudis win in Bahrain, the battle for second will go down to the wire next Tuesday, when Australia travel to Jeddah.
The Socceroos will be very much in pole position to qualify because of their far superior goal difference.
"We've all played a part in getting us to this point," added Popovic, who replaced Graham Arnold in September.
"We want to go to Saudi Arabia and really finish the job off."
Teams finishing third and fourth in the three Asian groups go into a further round of qualifying.
Also in Group C, Patrick Kluivert's Indonesia kept their hopes alive of reaching a first World Cup since the country's independence in 1945 with a 1-0 win over China.
That left Indonesia third in the group with a game to play and the victory was celebrated wildly at the end.
Ole Romeny scored the only goal, his controversial penalty just before half time following a VAR check leaving China rooted to the bottom of the group.
A sell-out crowd of 76,000 at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium was sent into raptures after the Oxford United striker tucked away his spot-kick.
The 45th-minute goal proved to be the winner after a VAR review when Ricky Kambuaya went down under minimal contact.
President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to win the World Cup, but this defeat means they have still only been to the tournament once, in 2002.
China have won just two of their nine games in this round of Asian qualifying, losing seven.
In contrast, Japan and Iran have already reached next year's showpiece in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
South Korea are guaranteed to join them on Thursday if they avoid defeat against Iraq in Basra.
Even if they lose, Son Heung-min's side will have another opportunity at home to Kuwait next week in Group B.
In Group A, Uzbekistan are on the cusp of their first World Cup.
© 2025 AFP
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