Australia, Saudis keep World Cup hopes alive as South Korea stutter again

hockey25 March 2025 16:29| © AFP
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Players of Australia © Gallo Images

Australia beat China 2-0 on Tuesday to boost their chances of automatic World Cup qualification, but Saudi Arabia stayed in touch in Group C with a goalless draw in Japan.

In Asian Group B, Son Heung-min's South Korea remain top and favourites to progress, but they put in another toothless performance to be held at home for the second match in a row.

Australia's win, hot on the heels of their 5-1 win over Indonesia last week, leaves the Socceroos second in Group C on 13 points with two to play.

They are three points ahead of Saudi Arabia with a much better goal difference.

Japan are already guaranteed to finish top and progress to the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

But with Australia having to host Japan and travel to Saudi Arabia for their final qualifier in June, the race for the second direct qualification place could go right to the wire.

Jackson Irvine gave Australia the perfect start in Hangzhou when he curled home in the 16th minute after sloppy Chinese defending.

Then a terrible blunder by goalkeeper Wang Dalei gifted Tony Popovic's side a second in the 29th minute.

Nishan Velupillay's scuffed shot looked easy to gather, but the Chinese captain let it squirm through his grasp to trickle over the line.

The result leaves China bottom on six points, but they can progress to a further qualifying stage by finishing third or fourth.

South Korea drew 1-1 with second-placed Jordan in Suwon after registering the same scoreline against Oman in Goyang last week.

Two wins would have seen South Korea automatically qualify for the tournament with two matches to spare.

'EVERYTHING CAN HAPPEN'

Now they face a tricky away trip to Iraq in June and a final home clash against Kuwait in their final two fixtures needing four points to be certain of progressing without having to rely on other results.

Jordan are three points behind South Korea but Iraq can leapfrog them and close the gap to one point at the top of Group B if they beat Palestine in Amman later.

Lee Jae-sung put the hosts ahead in the fifth minute when he turned in Son's corner unmarked from close range.

But that was as good as it got for the Koreans, who had the lion's share of possession but lacked penetration in attack.

Jordan carried a threat on the break and equalised through Mahmoud Al Mardi's deflected shot in the 30th minute.

In Saitama, Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard knew the value of the point gained via their 0-0 draw against Japan.

"There are still two games, everything can happen," said the Frenchman.

"We have to go to Bahrain, Australia will receive Japan and we will receive Australia in the last game.

"It's a tough fight. We just have to think about the four points we got during these two games and we look to be better offensively."

Renard led the Saudis to a famous victory over eventual winners Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and he returned for a second stint in October when Roberto Mancini was fired.

Japan became the first team to qualify for the World Cup when they beat Bahrain 2-0 last week.