Socceroos coach Tony Popovic is brimming with confidence Australia can beat Japan for the first time since 2009 and earn automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

The arch rivals will lock horns in front of more than 50,000 fans at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Thursday night, and there’s plenty on the line for the Socceroos.

While Japan (20 points) have already qualified for the World Cup, Australia (13 points) and Saudi Arabia (10 points) are locked in a fight for the second automatic qualifying berth.

If Australia beat an understrength Japan, it will almost certainly be enough to snare a World Cup berth, barring a huge loss in the vicinity of five goals to Saudi Arabia in Jeddah next Tuesday.

The Socceroos’ last win over Japan was a 2-1 victory in a World Cup qualifier at the MCG in 2009.

Since then, Japan have won six and drawn four of their 10 matches against Australia. 

Australia are desperate to turn the tables.

The Socceroos came close in October, when they snatched a shock lead on enemy territory, only for Japan to fight back for a 1-1 draw.

Popovic feels his side is now ready to snare all three points. 

“When that whistle blows, I’m very confident the players will go out there and execute in a very calm, composed manner, with confidence of winning the game,” Popovic said. 

“I think the growth in development and the way the team has evolved is clear.

“We all see that, we understand there is a lot more growth in us, but we are a much better team than we were in October.

Jackson Irvine of Australia celebrates a goal against Indonesia in Sydney. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

“We set that as a target to be in this position, that we can qualify automatically.

“We just need to finish the job off and we know that we can take a major step by winning. 

“It’s been a long time since Australia has beaten Japan, but I have a lot of confidence that this group can do that.”

Japan have brought across a youth-laden squad missing the likes of regular stars such as Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion), Daizen Maida (Celtic), Reo Hatate (Celtic), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Junya Ito (Reims) and Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon).

Despite that, Popovic is wary of the threat they pose, and is taking nothing for granted.

Australia are also missing a host of players, with Jackson Irvine (foot), Craig Goodwin (foot), Mathew Leckie (hamstring), Nishan Velupillay (ankle) and Nestory Irankunda (hamstring) among a lengthy unavailable list.

© AAP