Match Report
The Subway Socceroos have defeated Japan 1-0 in front of over 57,000 people in Perth to move one step closer to automatic qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
A late stunner from Aziz Behich proved the difference as Australia defeated Japan in a Men’s ‘A’ International for the first time in ten games - since 2009.
The result means that - if Australia avoid defeat by a significant margin against Saudi Arabia next week - they will finish second in Group C, and therefore qualify for their sixth successive World Cup.
If Saudi Arabia fail to defeat Bahrain later tonight, the Socceroos will finish second irrespective of the result in their final qualifying game.
Head Coach Tony Popovic made three changes to the side who secured three points last time out against China PR. Alessandro Circati and Connor Metcalfe returned from injury while Aiden O’Neill slotted into midfield.
They replaced Jackson Irvine and Nishan Velupillay – who were unavailable due to injury - and Jason Geria, who dropped to the bench.
Japan started on the front foot. They had large spells of possession early in the half, restricting Australia to – at times – less than 20% of the ball.
Despite their possession, the visitors had very few clear-cut chances. One of those came in the 28th minute, when Yuito Suzuki’s run from inside his own half resulted in a shot that flew wide of Mat Ryan’s goal.
Yu Hirakawa’s fearsome strike from the edge of the area later in the half also went wide – this time to Ryan’s right – and Daichi Kamada’s similar effort was deflected wide not long before half-time.
Australia’s best chance of the half came after consecutive set pieces. Martin Boyle’s free-kick took a deflection that resulted in Australia’s first corner of the game in the 32nd minute. The resulting Ryan Teague delivery found the head of Connor Metcalfe, but he was not able to steer the ball on target.
