The Australians had previously only advanced from the group once, when they were defeated by the subsequent world champions in the round of 16.
Prior to 2006, the Australian national football team had only been able to win a World Cup once, in 1974. However, they had qualified for every tournament since the second World Cup in Germany.
In 2006, they beat Croatia and Japan and reached the round of 16, where they were only eliminated by the Italians, who later became world champions, after a controversial penalty in the 93rd minute. Since then, the group stage has been the last stage for them in All tournaments.
However, this year By defeating the Tunisians and the Danes They again made it to the top 16, where the Argentines are waiting for them. However, getting to the World Cup was not easy for them either, since they had to go through the largest number of qualifiers among the participants.
The Australian team started the Asian Qualifiers ranked 43rd in the world, joining them in the second round. He played eight matches here (against Kuwait, Jordan, Nepal and Taiwan) and won them all.
In the third round, they played ten more matches, and here they finished third in their group behind Saudi Arabia and Japan, so instead of qualifying directly, they had to decide in one match with the third-place team from the other group, the United Arab Emirates, which team could go to the Intercontinental Alternative Qualifiers.
They won 2-1 and, after a 0-0 tie in the already mentioned playoff, beat Peru with 11 points and qualified for the World Cup. Thus, they had to play a total of twenty matches to qualify for the World Cup. (Had Peru qualified, they could have qualified after nineteen matches).
After such precedents, it is no wonder that after Wednesday advances Thousands celebrated in the streets of Australiaeven though it was only 4:30 in the morning when it went off.
group d
France
3
2
0
1
6
3
3
6
Australia
3
2
0
1
3
4
-1
6
Tunisia
3
1
1
1
1
1
0
4
Denmark
3
0
1
2
1
3
-2
1
Denmark
den
0
Tunisia
TUN
0
France
FRA
4
Australia
Australia
1
Tunisia
TUN
0
Australia
Australia
1
France
FRA
2
Denmark
den
1
Australia
Australia
1
Denmark
den
0
Tunisia
TUN
1
France
FRA
0
Cover Photo:
Australian fans in the stands after their country’s national team won 1-0 during the World Cup Group D third round match between Australia and Denmark at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah on November 30, 2022. MTI/EPA/Rolex Della Pena
