A late personal purpose handed Bahrain their first-ever win over former Asian champions Australia within the third spherical of qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Bahrain has surprised Australia with a 1-0 win courtesy of a late personal purpose from defender Harry Souttar within the opening match of the third spherical of Asian qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The Bahrainis celebrated wildly after the ultimate whistle at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast on Thursday, having recorded their first-ever win over Australia in seven makes an attempt and making an ideal begin of their bid to qualify for the finals for the primary time.
The Socceroos had been already right down to 10 males after the dismissal of Kusini Yengi, however the Group C contest nonetheless seemed destined to finish goalless till Abdullah Al Khalasi was launched down the left wing trying to get the ball into the field within the 89th minute.
Defender Al Khalasi obtained his cross away from the sting of the world, and it took a depraved deflection off centre half Souttar, which wrong-footed Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who may solely watch helplessly because the ball went previous him into the online.
The group of 24,644 who had turned out anticipating a fifth-straight Australia victory had been surprised into silence, and the efforts of the Socceroos to get again on stage phrases in six minutes of stoppage time proved fruitless.
Substitute Mitch Duke had the very best likelihood to equalise from an Awer Mabil free kick two minutes from the ultimate whistle, however the striker was unable to get his header on the right track from the centre of the field.
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A late Harry Souttar personal purpose presents Bahrain with a dramatic opening day win in Gold Coast!#AsianQualifiers | #AUSvBHR pic.twitter.com/oG5orkjVQ3
â #AsianQualifiers (@afcasiancup) September 5, 2024
âItâs a studying curve for the gamers,â Australia coach Graham Arnold mentioned after the match. âHowever look, on the finish of the evening, it simply wasnât our evening.
âIf you happen to put one behind the online in opposition to these nations, they have a tendency to crumble a bit extra. However we didnât try this and saved them within the recreation.
âClearly very powerful, however youâve obtained to provide full credit score to Bahrain.â
Australia, aiming for a sixth straight look on the World Cup finals, dominated possession however had few clear possibilities and had been annoyed all through the competition by a well-organised and technically adept Bahrain aspect.
The Australian trigger was not helped by the purple card proven to striker Yengi, which decreased the house aspect to 10 males for the final 14 minutes.
Yengi obtained his foot too excessive when difficult Ali Haram for the ball and scraped his boot throughout the throat of the Bahrain midfielder. VAR confirmed the dismissal.
Australia journey to Jakarta to face Indonesia of their second group match on Tuesday whereas Bahrain head dwelling to host Japan in Riffa on the identical day.
The Samurai Blue cruised to a successful begin as they thrashed China 7-0 on the Saitama Stadium.
Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma gave Japan a two-goal lead on the interval within the Group C conflict earlier than Takumi Minamino hit a second-half brace.
Junya Ito, Daizen Maeda and Takefusa Kubo added to the scoreline as China had been comprehensively outplayed.
The highest two groups from every of the three teams progress on to the 2026 finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada with the third- and fourth-placed groups going into one other spherical of qualifying.
