World Cup preview: Australia
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Australia are fast becoming a fixture at the World Cup, with Russia 2018 set to be their fourth consecutive appearance at the biggest tournament in football.
The Socceroos had a few scares en route to booking their place on the plane, but they will now be hopeful of repeating their achievement from 12 years ago and making it through to the knockout rounds.
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Bert van Marwijk‘s side will once again be underdogs for the most part, particularly after a turbulent buildup to the tournament, but they are no longer newcomers on the grandest stage and may fancy their chances of upsetting the odds.
Here, Sports Mole previews Australia’s 2018 World Cup campaign.
GROUP
Australia will not have been too upset when they were drawn in Group C alongside France, Peru and Denmark, with second place seemingly up for grabs between three teams.
Euro 2016 runners-up France will, of course, be favourites to top the pile with the wealth of talent at their disposal, but Australia may fancy their chances against the Peruvians and the Danes – both of whom also needed a playoff to qualify for the tournament.
The fixture list has served up Australia’s toughest fixture – on paper at least – as their opening tie, though, which means that they may be playing catch-up from the start if results go as expected.
AUSTRALIA FIXTURE LIST
June 16: France vs. Australia (11am, Kazan Arena, Kazan)
June 21: Denmark vs. Australia (1pm, Cosmos Arena, Samara)
June 26: Australia vs. Peru (3pm, Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi)
HOW THEY QUALIFIED
Australia’s 22-match qualifying campaign began back in June 2015, and they initially made light work of their opening group stage with seven wins from their eight outings, topping the standings ahead of Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Bangladesh.
No team scored more than the Socceroos during that phase either, but things got tougher after that as they were drawn alongside Japan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq and Thailand in the second group stage.
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It all started well enough with back-to-back victories against Iraq and UAE, but four consecutive draws followed before defeat in their penultimate group game against Japan left them in trouble.
A dramatic late victory over Thailand on the final day was ultimately not enough to leapfrog Saudi Arabia in the second automatic qualifying spot as Australia were condemned to the playoffs on goal difference, where they came up against Syria.
Once again they did it the hard way, with veteran Tim Cahill grabbing a priceless brace in the second leg of their playoff – including an extra-time winner – to seal a 3-2 aggregate triumph.
Australia still had an intercontinental playoff to negotiate, though, finally sealing their place as the 31st team at the tournament with a 3-1 triumph over Honduras – all of the goals coming in the second half of the home second leg.
RECENT FORM
Australia will be pleased with their final preparations for this summer’s tournament, having thrashed Czech Republic 4-0 and sealed a dramatic late win over Hungary in their two warm-up matches.
The Socceroos needed a 92nd-minute own goal for the latter win – having previously conceded an 88th-minute own goal to make the score level again – but the triumph secured back-to-back victories for the first time in a year.
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Alarm bells may have been ringing when Australia kicked off World Cup year with a 4-1 defeat to Norway, but a respectable goalless draw with Colombia followed four days later.
That result should give Australia confidence ahead of their showdown against Peru, and they will also be hopeful that their success against European opposition earlier this month bodes well for their meetings with France and Denmark.
SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Brad Jones (Feyenoord), Mat Ryan (Brighton), Danny Vukovic (Genk).
Defenders: Aziz Behich (Bursaspor), Milos Degenek (Yokohama F. Marinos), Matthew Jurman (Suwon Samsung Blue Wings), James Meredith (Millwall), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney), Trent Sainsbury (Grasshopper Zurich).
Midfielders: Jackson Irvine (Hull City), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa), Robbie Kruse (VfL Bochum), Massimo Luongo (QPR), Mark Milligan (Al-Ahli), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield), Tom Rogic (Celtic), Tim Cahill (Millwall).
Forwards: Daniel Arzani (Melbourne City), Tomi Juric (Luzern), Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin), Andrew Nabbout (Urawa Red Diamonds), Dimitri Petratos (Newcastle Jets), Jamie Maclaren (Hibernian).
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