With a last-minute stalemate in Jordan on Tuesday, Oman denied Palestine a chance to make their first appearance in a global final, while Australia advanced to the World Cup in North America the next year.
In order to secure the second automatic qualifying slot in Group C, Tony Popovic’s Socceroos, who entered the last matchday of the third round as overwhelming favourites to advance, defeated direct opponents Saudi Arabia 2-1 in Jeddah.
Instead, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia will have to settle for a spot in the fourth round. Japan had already taken the lead in the group. In the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium final, Herve Renard’s Saudi team knew that a victory of just five goals would be sufficient to unseat Australia in second place.
Abdulrahman Al-Aboud gave the home team the lead 19 minutes into the game, but Connor Metcalfe’s left-footed goal shortly before halftime gave the visitors the equaliser. Three minutes into the second half, Mitch Duke headed in from close range after Martin Boyle’s cross, giving Australia the lead.
After that, goalie Mathew Ryan stopped Salem Al-Dawsari’s late penalty kick to give Australia a historic win and guarantee the nation’s sixth consecutive World Cup attendance. The Palestinians lost to Oman 1-1 in Amman in Group B after giving up a penalty kick far into injury time.
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