The Socceroos have learned who their opponents will be in the final round of qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
In the AFC draw which took place earlier this evening, Australia have been placed with the following teams in Group B:
AUSTRALIA
JAPAN
SAUDI ARABIA
UAE
IRAQ
THAILAND
Beginning on the first of September, Ange Postecoglou’s side will play each team both home and away, with the top two sides from the group earning automatic qualification onto football’s grandest stage, while third place enters a play-off scenario.
Having climbed into the top 50 of the FIFA world standings, Australia was able to dodge the Asian region’s highest ranked team in the form of Iran, who were drawn in Group A.
Aiming to enter the tournament for a fourth consecutive time the Socceroos have stormed through the qualification stages so far, winning seven out of eight games, scoring 29 goals and conceding just three, including the recent demolition jobs of Tajikistan and Jordan.
The full fixture list for the Socceroos’ final round of World Cup qualifiers is as follows:
2016
1/9 v IRQ (H)
6/9 v UAE (A)
6/10 v KSA (A)
11/10 v JPN (H)
15/11 v THA (A)
2017
23/3 v RQ (A)
28/3 v UAE (H)
13/6 v KSA (H)
31/8 v JPN (A)
5/9 v THA (H)
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