The 36-team Asian zone of the World Qualifying Tournament concluded its first two rounds with many of the seeded teams from Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Australia maintaining a clean sweep and leading their respective standings by six points, with only a matter of time before they make it out of the tournament. Many of Asia's top teams, including Australia from Oceania, have also been steadily making their way into the World Cup final rounds as the number of Asian spots has increased to 8.5.
Australia has only played in one World Cup final in the last century. Football Federation Australia broke away from the Oceania Football Confederation in 2006, opting to join the AFC in order to avoid beating South American teams in the intercontinental play-offs.
Since then, Australia has enjoyed real "perks", qualifying for five consecutive World Cups in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022, while squeezing out the rest of Asia.
Although there is a through slot for Oceania in the next World Cup, Australia remains in the AFC for the Asian zone World Cup qualifiers.
In the group, Australia is in the same group with Palestine, Lebanon, and Bangladesh. Australia is uniquely strong, defeating Bangladesh 7-0 at home in the first round, and defeating Palestine 1-0 on the road in the second round, with a total score of 8-0, 2 consecutive victories, 0 goals conceded, and a 6-point lead in the group standings.
Palestine, in the second slot of the same group, and Lebanon, in the third slot, were both dumped out by Australia, who were looking to lock up qualification two rounds ahead of schedule.
With the aforementioned strengths of Australia essentially locking up a spot in the tournament, the team will be advancing to the World Cup finals for the seventh time in its history, and it will be difficult for other teams to stop that trend.
Palestine, Lebanon and Bangladesh, who are in the same group as Australia, will compete for another promotion spot. From the first two rounds, second-ranked Palestine has limited strength. Meanwhile, the overall strength of Lebanon, the team of the last 12-team tournament, has dropped significantly. Facing the world's 183rd ranked fishbowl, Bangladesh played a 1-1 score and drew two consecutive matches. If nothing else, the three teams may fight fiercely in the final round before they have another exit spot.
Seeing Lebanon's performance in the third gear, the national football team was really unlucky not to be in the same group with them. Favorably, they got the strongest strength of Thailand's third gear, which led to the increased difficulty of getting out of the line.
Imagine if the national soccer team is grouped with Australia, Lebanon and Bangladesh, Australia is inevitable but they can win the other two opponents of Lebanon and Bangladesh with at least 80% probability of winning the top two places in the group.
According to the schedule, the national soccer team's next world qualifier will be a back-to-back match against Southeast Asian underdogs Singapore in March next year. How they perform will directly determine the team's prospects for advancement.
