It means if the Socceroos finish third in Group B and can beat the other third-placed team in Asia’s other group – currently the United Arab Emirates – they will likely face Peru,Colombia,Chile or Uruguay on June 13 or 14 in a one-off clash for a spot at the World Cup.
Graham Arnold would have been hoping for Asia to land a kinder play-off opponent,such as Oceania’s best team or the fourth-placed side from CONCACAF,the North and Central American confederation.
But now that Asia’s play-off winners have been drawn to face CONMEBOL’s fifth-placed team,Arnold and his players will be even more desperate to avoid the intercontinental path completely and unseat either Japan or Saudi Arabia,who currently occupy the group’s top two positions.
The good news is their destiny remains firmly in their hands:they’ll need to not only beat Vietnam (home) and Oman (away) in the next international window,but most likely secure a result against Japan (home) or Saudi Arabia (away) to confirm a top-two spot and the direct qualification for the World Cup that comes with it.
Ordinarily,the third-place Asian play-off and the intercontinental play-off would take place over two legs each,home and away. But FIFA last week confirmed that both fixtures would be single-legged and staged at a neutral venue due to the scheduling challenges posed by the pandemic - so even if the Socceroos did happen to win their way through to a rematch with Uruguay,for example,there will be no repeat of the scenes from November 2005 at a jam-packed Stadium Australia,where the country’s 32-year World Cup drought was ended by John Aloisi’s famous penalty.
The Socceroos were forced down the intercontinental route last time under Ange Postecoglou,but managed to confirm their spot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia after getting past both Syria and Honduras.
Asked about the Socceroos’ position in qualifying earlier this week,Football Australia chief executiveJames Johnson said he was not concerned and remained confident that Arnold’s men will get to the World Cup directly.