Borrello: We’re going to Saudi Arabia to win

Subway Socceroos forward Brandon Borrello emphasised that the team were heading into their final game of FIFA World Cup 2026™ Third Round Qualifiers against Saudi Arabia with the intent to win the game and finish their campaign with three points.
 

If the team avoids a five-goal defeat against Saudi Arabia, they will automatically qualify for their sixth consecutive World Cup.

Borrello was speaking to media in Perth on Friday morning in the aftermath of the team’s 1-0 victory over Japan, where he also touched on the grit that he believed the team showed to get the historic result.

Business as usual

When we go to Saudi, it's business as usual. We haven't achieved anything yet, and our eyes are on the prize of qualifying for the World Cup. So we got our recovery in today and last night, we'll fly out tomorrow, and we'll get the job done.

Winning mentality

The boss spoke to us about moments, and it only took one moment for us to win the game, and we celebrated in that moment. Then it was straight back to the thought process of - we have to go to Saudi now and get a result, regardless of if they have to win by five. That shouldn't be the talk of the town. I think we're going there to win regardless. It’s obviously going to be a very heated game, I think, but we're up for the challenge.

Pre-game confidence

If I'm being honest, without sounding arrogant, our intention was to go and beat Japan regardless. That was the way we spoke. That was the language we used - we were going to win. And obviously, last night, we created a bit of history. It's been a while since we've beaten Japan, and we knew it was going to happen and the boss said, pretty much, if we believe in ourselves half as much as what he believes in us, that we'll go and win, so that's what we did.

True Blue Australia grit

The way we play, it was sort of like a reflection of that True Blue Australian grit. The way we play, especially as a nine now, you've got to love doing the work off the ball just as much as on the ball. Winning a game like that is just as satisfying as if we were to win 3-0. So it was just great. And then when everyone digs in, it leads into that culture of what we're trying to build. Teams are going to find it hard to beat us.

Qualifying any way possible

It would have been great if we qualified with three matches ago - but I don't think it matters how you qualify, as long as you do qualify. That’s football sometimes, and with our results going the way they've gone, we could have qualified earlier, we could have qualified later, but this is just our route, so we take every game as it is, and we'll celebrate as a team no matter what.

Match Details

Saudi Arabia v Subway Socceroos
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah
Kick-off: 9.15pm local / 4.15am AEST
Broadcast: Paramount+