In the fierce competition of the 36-team Asian zone of the World Qualifying Tournament, strong teams such as Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia have won two consecutive rounds of the tournament, leading the standings with a six-point advantage, and are on the verge of leaving the tournament. With the Asian zone quota increased to 8.5, Australia and other top teams in Oceania are also steadily among the World Cup final round.
Looking back over the last century, Australia has only been to one World Cup final, and in 2006, the AFA broke away from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and opted to join the AFC as a way of avoiding a play-off against a South American team.
Since then, Australia has enjoyed "welfare" treatment, qualifying for five consecutive World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022), which in effect squeezes the competition from other Asian teams.
Despite Oceania having a through slot at the next World Cup, Australia has opted to stay in the AFC and participate in the Asian zone for World Cup qualifying.
In the group stage, Australia was grouped with Palestine, Lebanon and Bangladesh. With the advantage of strength, Australia won 7-0 against Bangladesh at home in the first round, and won 1-0 against Palestine on the road in the second round, with a total score of 8-0, two consecutive victories without conceding a goal, and leading the group with six points.
Palestine and Lebanon in the same group are slightly weaker and have been left behind by Australia. Australia is hoping to qualify two rounds ahead of schedule.
Australia's strong performance has virtually locked up a spot in the tournament, and with the team set to advance to the World Cup finals for the seventh time in its history, it is feared that it will be difficult for other teams to stop the trend.
Palestine, Lebanon and Bangladesh, who are in the same group as Australia, will compete for the other promotion spot. So far, second-ranked Palestine has limited strength, Lebanon's overall strength slipped in the previous Top 12 tournament, and they only managed a 1-1 draw against Bangladesh, who is ranked 183rd in the world. Unsurprisingly, the three teams will battle it out in the final round for a place in the tournament.
It is worth mentioning that the national football team failed to be grouped with the weaker Lebanon, but accidentally grouped with Thailand, the stronger Thailand increased the difficulty of the national football team to get out of the line.
Imagine if the national football team can be grouped with Australia, Lebanon and Bangladesh, although facing Australia is inevitable, the national football team still has at least 80% probability to win the first two places in the group.
According to the schedule, the national soccer team will face Southeast Asian underdogs Singapore in their next world qualifier in March next year, and the back-to-back matches will directly determine the team's prospects for advancement.
