Julian Keith
AUSTRALIA’S Socceroos have written another chapter in their rich history by winning through to a fourth successive FIFA World Cup – and their 3-1 win over Honduras at Stadium Australia will go down as one of the memorable moments in Australian football.
The Socceroos became one of just 11 nations to have qualified for the last four World Cups and extended their extraordinary home ground record at Stadium Australia (generic name Stadium Australia) to 10 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in their 12 competitive outings at the Olympic venue.
In a dramatic 24 hours:
- A full house of 77,060 packed Stadium Australia – the largest Socceroos attendance in Australia since the AFC Asian Cup Final – to see the second leg of the Australia v Honduras Intercontinental Playoff;
- The Socceroos team celebrated long into the night at the Stadium before attending a massive fan party at Martin Place the following day;
- Australia and the other 31 nations who qualified for the World Cup will now eagerly await the group stage draw on 2 December;
- The Socceroos mammoth qualifying journey came to an end, seeing them travel more than 250,000 kilometres and play 22 games – the most in history for a successful qualifier.
Captain Mile Jedinak’s clutch hattrick will go down as one of the greatest captain’s knocks in Australian sport and is the next in a line of golden Socceroos moments at Stadium Australia, which include:
- Australia v Uruguay, 2005: the John Aloisi moment;
- Australia v Iraq, 2013: Josh Kennedy’s soaring header;
- AFC Asian Cup Final Australia v South Korea, 2015: the Socceroos dramatic extra time victory;
- Australia v Honduras, 2017: the Jedinak hattrick.
The 2018 World Cup field is now finalised with Peru confirming their spot as the 32nd and final nation heading to Russia next year after a 2-0 win against New Zealand.
WHO MADE IT?
The 32 countries that will compete at next year’s World Cup finals in Russia are:
Europe: Russia (qualified as hosts, world ranking: 65), France (7), Portugal (3), Germany (1), Serbia (38), Poland (6), England (12), Spain (8), Belgium (5), Iceland (21), Switzerland (11), Croatia (18), Sweden (25), Denmark (19)
South America: Brazil (2), Uruguay (17), Argentina (4), Colombia (13), Peru (10)
Africa: Nigeria (41), Egypt (30), Morocco (48), Tunisia (28), Senegal (32)
Central America: Mexico (16), Costa Rica (22), Panama (49)
Asia: Iran (34), Japan (44), South Korea (62), Saudi Arabia (63), Australia (43)
