Australia hosts China in Adelaide on Thursday as both sides look for their first wins in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
The Socceroos are fifth in Group C, with one point from two matches, while China are sixth and last after losing both matches.
After a shock 1-0 home defeat to Bahrain and a surprise 0-0 draw against Indonesia in September, Graham Arnold stepped down as Australia coach after six years in the role. Tony Popovic was quickly appointed.
“This campaign hasn’t started that well, but I know there’s enough time and enough games to really aim for that top spot to automatically progress,” said Popovic, who guided Western Sydney Wanderers to the Asian Champions League title 2014 led.
Popovic has promised improvements as Australia makes their sixth consecutive World Cup appearance.
“The team looked maybe a little flat,” he said. “I don’t think it would take much to change the way we play… we do it with the energy, we do it with the desire, and we do it with a speed and a dynamic type of game that I think that the players will enjoy it.”
China, who have been looking for a return to the World Cup since their first and only appearance in 2002, are in a worse position. A 7-0 thrashing in Japan was followed by a home defeat to Saudi Arabia, despite the visitors playing with ten men for most of the match. China has fallen to 91st place in the world rankings, its lowest in eight years, and will be without injured striker Wu Lei in Australia.
The top two teams in the group meet when Saudi Arabia hosts Japan in Jeddah. Japan then returns home to take on Australia five days later.
“Games await against two of the strongest teams in Asia,” said Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu. “As we have always done, we will prepare as best we can to win every match.”
Despite winning both matches so far, 7-0 against China and 5-0 against Bahrain, Japan has lost all previous three matches in Saudi Arabia.
“The hardest part is fighting the heat. Whether we can perform at our level will be crucial,” said Moriyasu.
The top two from each of the three groups of six teams will automatically qualify for the 2026 tournament, while the third and fourth places will advance to a fourth round to compete for two more spots.
In Group B, South Korea travels to Amman to face Jordan for the third time in 2024. The first was a 2-2 draw in the group stage of the Asian Cup and then Jordan won 2-0 in the semi-finals. Jurgen Klinsmann was subsequently dismissed as South Korea coach and succeeded by Hong Myung-bo.
South Korea will have to make do without captain Son Heung-min. The Tottenham Hotspur star has a hamstring injury, meaning the burden of scoring is likely to fall on Hwang Hee-chan, another English Premier League striker who plays for Wolverhampton.
Elsewhere in Group B, Iraq host the Palestinian team in Basra, while Oman meet Kuwait.
In Group A, Uzbekistan and Iran have won both matches so far and will meet in Tashkent. Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, is aiming for a first victory in the third round and hosts Kyrgyzstan while North Korea travels to the United Arab Emirates.
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AP Football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
John Duerden, The Associated Press
