Bahrain
3rd in FIFA World Cup Qualifying - AFC2023 Fixtures
Football Australia chief executive James Johnson has backed Socceroos boss Graham Arnold to rebound from a winless start to the third phase of Asian qualification, saying the organisation would "put our faith" in the coach to engineer a turnaround.
From the Japanese juggernaut to numerical deficits not mattering, here's what we learnt from the third round of Asian qualifiers.
Australia were expected to ease past Bahrain on Thursday night, but what transpired instead evoked a familiar feeling for the Socceroos.
A 10-man Socceroos outfit has suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Bahrain on the Gold Coast in a disastrous setback to their hopes of direct World Cup qualification.
There is plenty to look forward to as the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup begins on Thursday.
18 teams are still in the hunt to reach the World Cup as the third round of Asian qualifiers kick off on Thursday.
Socceroos boss Graham Arnold says that his biggest conundrum heading into Thursday's World Cup qualifier is whether or not to start Bayern prodigy Nestory Irankunda.
Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia will renew their respective rivalries in the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers.
With the second round of the Asian qualifiers completed, 18 teams are still in the hunt to reach the World Cup.
Check out all the results and venues for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, including the knockout bracket.
WCQ - AFC Table
# | TEAM | GP | GD | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Japan | 2 | +12 | 6 |
2 | Saudi Arabia | 2 | +1 | 4 |
3 | Bahrain | 2 | -4 | 3 |
4 | Indonesia | 2 | 0 | 2 |
5 | Australia | 2 | -1 | 1 |
6 | China | 2 | -8 | 0 |
Team Leaders
Top Scorers
# | Player | Goals | M | A |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sayed Mahdi Ba.. | 2 | 5 | 0 | |
Mohamed Marhoo.. | 1 | 9 | 2 | |
Ibrahim Al Kha.. | 1 | 8 | 0 |
Top Assists
# | Player | Assists | M | G |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mohamed Marhoo.. | 2 | 9 | 1 | |
Komail Al-Aswa.. | 1 | 7 | 1 | |
Hazaa Ali | 1 | 5 | 0 |