Australia will play against China in Adelaide on Thursday as both teams look for their first wins in the third round of Asian qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
The Socceroos are currently in fifth place in Group C, having earned one point from two games. China is in sixth and last place after losing both of their matches.
After a surprising 1-0 loss at home to Bahrain and a surprising 0-0 draw with Indonesia in September, Graham Arnold resigned as Australia’s coach after six years. Tony Popovic was quickly hired to take his place.
“This campaign hasn’t started the best, but I know there’s enough time and enough games to really be aiming for that top spot to go through automatically,” Popovic, who previously led Western Sydney Wanderers to the 2014 Asian Champions League title, said.
Popovic has promised to make improvements as Australia aims for its sixth straight World Cup appearance.
“The team maybe looked a little bit flat,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll take too 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 dynamic type of play that I think the players will enjoy.”
China, looking to return to the World Cup for the first time since its only appearance in 2002, is in a more challenging situation. They faced a heavy 7-0 loss in Japan and lost at home to Saudi Arabia, even though the visitors played with 10 men for most of the match.
China has fallen to 91st in the world rankings, its lowest position in eight years, and will be without injured star forward Wu Lei in Australia.
The top two teams in the group will compete when Saudi Arabia hosts Japan in Jeddah. Japan will then return home to face Australia five days later.
“We have games against two of the strongest teams in Asia awaiting,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said. “As we’ve always done, we’ll prepare the best we can to win each match.”
Despite winning both of their games so far, 7-0 against China and 5-0 against Bahrain, Japan has lost all three of their previous games in Saudi Arabia.
“The hardest thing is the battle against the heat. Whether we can perform to our level will be key,” Moriyasu said.
The top two teams from each of the three six-team groups qualify automatically for the 2026 tournament, while the third- and fourth-place teams will move on to a fourth round to compete for two more spots.
