Aziz Behich was the hero as the Socceroos all but sealed qualification to the 2026 World Cup after defeating Asian heavyweights Japan 1-0 at Optus Stadium.
Defending for the vast majority of the match and seemingly happy to leave Perth with a draw, a dangerous ball across the penalty area needed a composed finish and just days after lifting the A-League championship, Behich came up with the 90th-minute winner, an indelible moment in Socceroos history.
It is the Socceroos’ first win against Japan for 16 years.
Only a highly unlikely swing in goal difference between Australia and Saudi Arabia will now deny Tony Popovic’s side an automatic qualification spot for North America 2026.
Popovic shook up his starting line-up from the 2-0 victory over China, bringing in Aiden O’Nell, Connor Metcalfe and Alessandro Circati but stuck with the 3-4-3 shape.
Already guaranteed top spot in Group C, and despite rolling out a significantly weakened line-up, the Blue Samurai controlled the majority of the match but were unable to penetrate Australia’s stubborn low block.
To the chagrin of nearly 60,000 Perth punters who turned up hoping to see an expansive performance, Popovic must have left any ambition of controlling possession back on the east coast, ostensibly satisfied with a draw with ten gold jerseys behind the ball for a large part of the 90 minutes.
The manager went to his bench at half-time, bringing on Patrick Yazbek and Riley McGree, with the changes not indicating much of a strategic shift. Brandon Borrello, one of the few players with plausible hopes of finding the back of the net, was withdrawn in favour of the dependable but not clinical Mitchell Duke, essentially pulling the shutters with time ticking down in Perth.
The introduction of live wire Daniel Arzani could have raised fans’ hopes but the Victory star wasn’t given much of an opportunity to come up with an unlikely match-winning play.
While far from adventurous, Popa’s plan was always to keep Australia in the game until a chance like the one Behich buried popped up and the former Melbourne Victory manager has just about done the job he was brought in very late in the qualification cycle to do: get Australia to North America.
Popovic, who has only been in the job since September 2024, took over from Graham Arnold at a very tenuous stage of the campaign with the Socceroos’ qualification hopes up in the air as Arnie’s impact started to wane.
He has now proved his critics wrong and made history with an elusive victory against the standard setters in Asia, regardless of how stylishly or not it may have come about.
