Australia suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat to Bahrain at home in the opening match of the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying on Thursday.
At the same time, South Korea was held to a 0-0 draw by the Palestinians in Seoul.
Despite having lost all six previous matches against Australia, Bahrain won thanks to an own goal from Harry Souttar just a minute before the end on the Gold Coast.
A cross from Abdulla Al-Khalasi hit Souttar and went past goalkeeper Mat Ryan.
Australia controlled much of the game but went down to 10 players when Kusini Yengi received a red card for a dangerous tackle in the 77th minute.
“It’s not the way that we want to start our campaign, a loss at home, but we have to go away and improve,” Australia winger Craig Goodwin said. “We have to look at the positives. This is the first game, there are nine games to go.”
Bahrain is currently in second place in Group C, behind Japan, which defeated China 7-0 in Saitama.
Japan took control with first-half headers from midfielder Wataru Endo and winger Kaoru Mitoma. Takumi Minamino then scored twice quickly, with Junya Ito, Daizen Maeda, and Takefusa Kubo also adding goals, making it a tough night for China.
The 18 teams still in Asian qualification are split into three groups of six. The top two teams from each group will qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup, while the six teams finishing in third and fourth will move on to the fourth round for a chance at two more places.
