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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
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Joey Lynch at Adelaide Oval

Australia 3-1 China: 2026 World Cup qualifier – as it happened

Tony Popovic Socceroos World Cup China Australia Joey Lynch Socceroo Graham Arnold Harry Souttar Mat Ryan
Craig Goodwin (right) strikes from range to give Australia a 2-1 lead.
The Socceroos get their new era under coach Tony Popovic off to a winning start with a critical come-from-behind victory over China in Adelaide. Photograph: Mark Brake/Getty Images

We’ll leave you with Paul Williams’s match report on a crucial win for the Socceroos.

Updated

A bit of fire from Ivankovic at the end of his press conference when one of the travelling Chinese journalist reads of several stats that painted Hu Hetao’s performance tonight in a poor light. The coach cutting a defiant figure.

Player of the match Craig Goodwin spoke to Network 10 after the game.

China coach Branko Ivankovic, speaking through a translator, is asked about his side being without a point after games against Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.

“Like we mentioned in the press conference before, we’ve played against Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Japan in our last four games. They are all the top teams in Asia. It was a tough game, we need to be more excellent and better so we can pick up points. And we were close to a point in this game. So what we need to do now is to carry on. Our target has always been the top four of this group so we can play in the next stage of qualification. So what we need to do is keep our passion and fight for our next game, which is really important. The real fighting is just about to start.”

Your intrepid guide to today’s game is at the ground, so no quotes off the telly from me. Instead, stand by for some quotes from the press conferences.

Updated

Really can’t overstate how important that comeback was for Australia. Yeah, it wasn’t the greatest performance in the world by any stretch of the imagination but they got the win. The amount of air that was let out of their tyres when China went ahead was palpable and with a trip to Japan on the agenda, that would have been magnified exponentially had they not been able to come back.

Instead, they can now head to Tokyo with a win under their belts and – with a game against Saudi Arabia at home to come next month – some kind of margin for error against a side that has looked a class above in Asian qualifying.

Full Time! Australia 3-1 China

A wave of relief hits the stadium as Men At Work’s “Down Under” wrings out across Adelaide Oval. Thanks to goals from Miller, Goodwin, and Velupillay, the Socceroos are on the board in the third phase of Asian qualification. Exhale.

Updated

90+ Mins: Goodwin makes his way off to a heroes ovation in the aftermath of the goal, replaced by Ajdin Hrustic.

Goal! Australia 3-1 China. Nishan Velupillay (90+)

A goal on debut for Velupillay! What a moment for the kid!

The Socceroos knock the ball around the penalty area and after O’Neill’s effort is blocked to his feet, the Melbourne Victory attacker controls the ball, swivels, and picks out the top corner.

Updated

90 Mins: Velupillay with a neat little move to beat his marker and burst down the right flank. He opts to play an early ball to the back post – not the worst idead in the world given the players were headed there – but can’t find Bos.

90 Mins: Confirmation that Craig Goodwin has been named player of the match as the fourth official indicates there will be five added minutes.

88 Mins: Switch of play from left to right sees Goodwin tee up Miller for a first-time, side-footed effort but he can’t keep his shot down.

88 Mins: Back-to-back chances for Bos and McGree on the left but neither are able to beat the defenders in front of them and trouble Wang.

86 Mins: Bos gets down the left but carries the ball out before he’s able to get his cross in.

The linesperson keeps their flag down, though, erring on the side of caution with VAR on play, and the crowd gets to give a small cheer after Goodwin puts the ball into the net just in case. But it’s not a goal.

84 Mins: The thoughts of Rob Haigh on the emails as the Socceroos inch closer to a vital win: “Thrown in at the deep end is an understatement, but if they finish with 3 points then all well and good. These players know they’re in a tournament now and nothing is a given, they’ve to step up to the plate.”

83 Mins: A Socceroos debut for Nishan Velupillay, who comes on to replace Duke.

Mark that one down wherever your store your trivia: Velupillay the first debutant of the Popovic era.

81 Mins: Miller gets bundled over on the right, winning a free kick that Goodwin can swing in from a promising position. China is able to head clear.

78 Mins: Substitution for China, Liu Yang comes on for Li Lei.

77 Mins: The crowd figure is in and it’s a new Socceroos’ record at Adelaide Oval: 46,291 in attendance. AFC regulations prevented Football Australia from selling standing room tickets on the ground’s hill, meaning it couldn’t challenge the all-time football record at the venue.

Updated

76 Mins: Tonight’s game represents the early kickoff for today’s Asian qualifiers.

Later tonight Jordan will host South Korea, group A leaders Uzbekistan will host Iran, Qatar meets Kyrgyzstan, Oman hosts Kuwait, the UEA clashes with North Korea.

Bahrain is set to welcome Indonesia to Riffa, Saudi Arabia and Japan have a heavyweight showdown in Jeddah, and Iraq plays Palestine.

75 Mins: Another change for Australia, as Jordy Bos makes his return from injury as a replacement for Behich.

73 Mins: China are showing more urgency as they go chasing something from this game.

A loss tonight would make it three on the bounce in this phase of qualification and almost drive a stake through their hopes of qualification already at this early stage. They’ve been given absolutely no favours with their draw, playing Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Australia first up.

72 Mins: China puts hearts in South Australian mouths as the ball gets whipped in from the lift. It clears everyone waiting for it, though, and Australia clears.

68 Mins: Two changes for China, Wei off for Cheng Jin and Zhang comes off for Lin Liangming.

66 Mins: Wang Shangyuan goes into the referees book.

65 Mins: A Mexican wave has broken out at Adelaide Oval. That probably merits another seven years without a game if you ask me.

60 Mins: Confidence is starting to return for the Socceroos now that they’ve got the lead, McGree finding a yard of space to send a shot across the face of goal.

58 Mins: Behich wins a corner on the left that Goodwin swings onto the head of Geria. It loops off the newly introduced defender’s head and goes just wide.

56 Mins: This is the second time in as many games that China has taken the lead only to subsequently fall behind. Last time out, however, it was a 90th minute goal from Hassan Kadesh that lifted Saudi Arabia to a 2-1 win. We’ve still got plenty of football to play here.

55 Mins: Just as they did after Miller opened the scoring, China quickly move up the other end and try to find an immediate response. Zhang’s long range effort is charged down and Australia eventually scramble it away.

Goal! Australia 2-1 China. Craig Goodwin ('53)

Craig Goodwin you star!

The hometown hero with an absolute thunderbolt of a goal to put Australia ahead. He receives a pass from Irvine in the middle of the park and drives forward and, with space opening up in front of him, blasts a shot from outside the box with that wonderful left foot of his that beats Wang.

Updated

51 Mins: The ball spills out to Baihel on the right but his resulting shot is well wide.

50 Mins: With a wall of Chinese shirts still in front of them, sloppy errors that the players are much better than continue to haunt the Socceroos, with Goodwin lofting a ball over the head of an intended recipient and out for a China throw in.

The thoughts of the email inbox at halftime!

Patrick O’Brien: “China are playing 6-2-2 when defending. Even a good Australian side would find it hard to unpick that lock!”

Phil Withall: “I’ve a feeling it’ll take something special for Australia to get anything from this game now, let alone a win.

“The Chinese have a defensive set up that is looking very solid, a bank of five seems to be always present, with numbers quickly coming in to support. Need someone to find something special or the World Cup dream is pretty much over.”

Rob Haigh: “Well, in the light of Arnold’s resignation, the job remains in the same place: difficult bordering on impossible because, if Oz dont get the win here, Japan will finish the job.”

Second Half

We are back underway at Adelaide Oval

Changes for China, too, as Behram Abduweli enters the fray in place of the goalscorer Xie.

Updated

Australia’s players are making their way back into the pitch and it looks like we’re set for a double change. Irankunda and Deng look to be making way for Riley McGree and Jason Geria – the former returning after missing the last window through injury and the latter making his first appearance for the Socceroos since his lone cap in 2017.

Miller’s goal, officially recorded at 45+2, ended a 207 minute wait for the Socceroos to open their account in this phase of qualification.

Xie’s goal was also the first time an opponent had put the ball into their net during this phase of qualification – the goal conceded against Bahrain an own goal from Souttar – but the defence has not looked the kind of assured unit its reputation in Asia would suggest they should be against a side like China.

The stats at halftime tell a tale of domination: Australia seeing 81% of possession and sending in eight shots to China’s two.

That tale would be a false one, though.

Both sides will head into the break with only one shot on target -- their goals -- to their name, with the longstanding struggles that the Socceroos have had with the ball when asked to get past a low block showing no signs of abating even with the switch from Arnold to Popovic in the dugout.

It’s definitely not one for the neutrals, as neither side has been good.

Updated

Half-time: Australia 1-1 China

Miller’s late goal has the hosts level heading into the halftime break after Xie had the visitors ahead in the 20th minute. A massively important goal for the Socceroos, who were looking increasingly bereft of confidence after falling behind and struggling to break down their opponents defence.

45+ Mins: China are having their best spell of the game, winning another corner and then one more for good measure. Irankunda boots the latter way to end the half.

45+ Mins: After a VAR check of Miller’s goal sends a shiver through the spine of every Australian watching, China promptly add to the tension by going right up the other end and launching a rare attack.

Souttar slides in to prevent Zhang getting a shot off and the resulting corner is cleared away.

Goal! Australia 1-1 China - Lewis Miller (45+)

Australia’s difficult relationship with creating chances from open play continues but set pieces are always there for them!

After Behich wins a free kick on the left, Goodwin drives a ball into the top of the six-yard-box and Miller rises up through a mass of players to nod it home.

Updated

45 Mins: A cry of play forward from the crowd as the Socceroos continue to knock the ball around plenty but not do much to create anything actually threatening.

45 Mins: Irankunda goes down in a bit of pain and is taken off by the trainers before quickly coming back on.

42 Mins: A Socceroo shot! That is sliced way off target for a goal kick…

Goodwin slides a pass through for Duke but he can’t make proper contact with his effort.

39 Mins: Hustle and bustle from Goodwin as the Socceroos try to get something going quickly but it ends with a cross floated in from the right in Duke’s vague direction that is claimed comfortably by Wang.

Updated

38 Mins: Irankunda twice can’t control the ball at the top of the penalty as the Socceroos launch another attack at this wall of Chinese defenders. The teenager’s explosive talent is well established by now but he’s having an off night.

36 Mins: Li goes sliding in and hacks down Miller, earning himself a yellow card that, on first look, looked like he could be at risk of more.

35 Mins: You can see what the Socceroos are tyring to do in the final third, the patterns they’re trying to play in the final third, it’s just not working for them right now. One imagines that we’ll be seeing a few changes at halftime.

32 Mins: The Socceroos are still seeing all of the ball but they’re moving it slower than they were before Xie’s opened the scoring. As if the wind has been taken out of their sails.

31 Mins: Duke looks to be ok, he’s waved back on and play resumes.

30 Mins: Duke is down after colliding with Li Lei, the trainer has been called for.

27 Mins: Miller has time to tee up a cross from the right flank but sends it straight at the first defender and it’s cleared away. Frustrating times for the hosts.

25 Mins: Pretty much a worst case scenario for the Socceroos, who did all the early running – they’ve had 81% of the ball – but couldn’t find a breakthrough and now find themselves down a goal.

The pressure that has surrounded this team has ratcheted up another level.

Goal! Australia 0-1 China. Xie Wenneng ('20)

The commentators curse strikes and China takes the lead.

Deng can’t clear away a long ball forward, pushed off it by Zhang Yuning and watching on as the attacker knocks it down to Zie Wenneng. The Shandong Taishan attacker promptly brushes past Souttar and Rowles and guides a shot beyond Gauci and into the bottom corner of the net.

It’s effectively the first time China have looked threatening all night. And now they’re ahead.

Updated

19 Mins: We’re getting a good opportunity to see what early principles of play Popovic has looked to impart, given that China aren’t showing much impetus to get forward at all.

16 Mins: Not the cleanest bit of play as Duke drops to receive the ball but after some miscommunication between he and Irvine almost turns it over. Australia gather themselves and get forward.

15 Mins: A quarter of an hour into the Popovic era and the Socceroos look as if they’re playing with a bit more purpose getting into the final third – looking to create patterns of play with the wingers drifting inside and then hitting the fullbacks getting forward.

12 Mins: Route one football from China sees attacker Fei Nanduo get in behind but he’s closed down by Rowles before he can get a shot or a pass off.

11 Mins: After a short delay for Miller to go off and get a cut treated, Goodwin swings in a low free kick that the Australians can’t make proper contact with.

9 Mins: With Goodwin and Irankunda drifting into the half spaces from their position on the wings, there’s plenty of space for the wingbacks to run into. Miller does so on the right and wins a free kick.

6 Mins: Socceroos again seize on the second-phase of the corner by Miller can’t put a shot on target.

5 Mins: The corner falls to O’Neill on the second-phase, who has his shot blocked by Wei Shihao. It’s checked by the VAR but play continues.

4 Mins: Wang Dalei punches clear the free kick. The Socceroos keep the bal and advance into the area, with Goodwin’s ball in cleared for a corner.

3 Mins: Just as Cornthwaite predicted, Goodwin has started this game on the right. He wins a free kick he can swing in early.

2 Mins: Early press from China as the Socceroos seek to play out from the back and the hosts haven’t yet been able to play through it.

Kick Off!

For the first time since 2017, the Socceroos are in action in the South Australian capital.

The national anthems have been sung and replace by generic rock, kickoff is imminent here at the Adelaide Oval.

The Opta predictor has come out in favour of the Sokkahroos. Prediction.

Against my better judgment, I’ll let James Paraskevas tempt fate on the email line.

"I am predicting a comfortable, easy 2-0 victory for Australia. China will pose no problem at all and will barely register a shot on target in the entire game.”

Using one’s head, something like this is a reasonable expectation. But having been in the stands at Gelora Bung Karno as the Socceroos failed to beat an Indonesian outfit they should have beaten, too, I’m a little but gunshy.

Had the chance to chat with Rob Cornthwaite, who played for Popovic at Western Sydney, before the game and he mooted the idea of the new coach having his wingers switch sides during the course of the game – left winger Goodwin moving to the right and Irankunda switching to the left – which would allow them to cut inside – into what are called the half spaces – and shoot on their preferred foot. Will be interesting to follow along.

Also interesting to see Popovic go with Miller in his first game in charge. It will be the right back’s first minutes for the Socceroos since his disastrous appearance off the bench in the Asian Cup quarter-finals, where he gave away the penalty and free kick that saw South Korea equalise and then take the lead against Australia.

The 24-year-old has been seeing the field pretty regularly with Hibernian in Scotland this season, which has perhaps given him the edge over the other natural right back in the side, Jason Geria.

Further up the pitch, it looks like Irvine will be playing a deeper-lying midfield role in front of the three centrebacks, which is a similar role to what he plays as skipper of St Pauli in the Bundesliga. Arnold preferred to use him further up the field in his sides but if he’s capable of doing it week in and week out for current Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler during St Pauli’s push for promotion and retain that position now that they’re in the top-tier, one would think he’s going to be good at it.

There was always a sense that there was going to be some kind of statement made by Popovic in his first side and going away from Ryan in favour of Gauci is certainly that. The 24-year-old hasn’t played a lot of football himself in recent times (having the best keeper in the world in Emiliano Martínez in front of you will do that) but he did feature in Aston Villa’s 2-1 win over Wycombe in the League Cup late last month.

If Popovic is making a statement about game time and form here – which would appear the most likely explanation – Izzo’s late arrival into camp may have come back to bite him, given he’s playing every minute of every game with Randers.

And speaking of home support, four of the seven South Australians in the squad start for the Socceroos tonight: Deng, Irankunda, Goodwin, and Gauci.

As one might expect, a big cheer goes up from the crowd when Irankunda, who left Adelaide United to join Bayern Munich in the offseason, is introduced.

Updated

Tony Popovic speaking on the coverage, asked about the speed and dynamism he’s promised to bring to the side.

“We’ve been working off few things in training, in terms of being a bit more dynamic with the ball going forward. But [also] not losing those special traits that Australians always have in being hard to beat and working hard for each other.

“We’ve already spoken as a group, and I think the players are well aware of what it means to play for Australia. And you know, I want the players to enjoy the occasion as well. There’s always expectation and pressure applied when you play for your country, but we also have to make sure that we enjoy these moments in front of great support.”

Starting XIs

A huge call from Popovic and new goalkeeping coach Frank Juirc in their first starting XI, dropping skipper Mat Ryan in favour of Adelaide local Joe Gauci. The veteran custodian has been an unquestioned number one under Arnold but hasn’t played a competitive minute at club level since making the move to Serie A side Roma and this appears to have cost him his starting role.

It also looks to be a change in shape for the Socceroos, moving away from the four-man defensive front in favour of what looks to be a back-five. Thomas Deng accompanies Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles in the centreback positions, while Lewis Miller and Aziz Behich occupy the flanks. Aiden O’Neill and Jackson Irvine – who wears the armband in Ryan’s absence – occupy the midfield slots while Nestory Irankunda, Craig Goodwin – two South Australians – and Mitch Duke lead the line.

On the Chinese side, Ivanković will be without longtime stalwart Wu Lei for the clash after the 32-year-old withdrew with injury. Jiang Guangtai, who represented China at their MD-1 press conference yesterday, also starts; the 30-year-old was born in Liverpool to a mother of Cantonese Chinese descent and represented the Three Lions at youth level before switching to represent the land of his heritage. He’s also one of three players in the Chinese squad that play for Kevin Muscat at Shanghai Port, jokingly saying yesterday that, deep down, he was sure the former Socceroo would be rooting for him tonight.

Before we get into a deeper look at what to expect from Popovic, it’s worth looking at the overall bigger picture at play for the Socceroos.

After the opening two games of the third phase of Asian qualification, Australia finds themselves sitting second-bottom of Group C after the opening two fixtures – a position that would obviously see them fail to advance to the 2026 FIFA World Cup if qualification ended today but also fail to progress to the added rounds of qualification that have accompanied the World Cup’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams.

Thus, a win tonight is critical. Especially with a game against Japan in Saitama waiting next week, the three points on offer against China will be vital if the Socceroos to make up ground on the Samurai Blue, who top the group with six points, and second-placed Saudi Arabia and their four points.

The Saudis will play back-to-back games in Jeddah this month, against Japan this evening and then Bahrain next week. And given that Roberto Mancini’s side haven’t looked all-too-convincing themselves so far – held to a draw with Indonesia at home in their opening game – and will need to travel to Melbourne to face Australia in November, Popovic’s side could suddenly begin to ratchet up the pressure on them in a hurry if they took care of business tonight.

Of course, beyond the machinations and scenarios that come with the nerd stuff, the Socceroos could really use an opportunity to shift the narrative. A win over China with a good performance – the margin of victory, once secured, probably second to that performance – would not only serve as a rally around the flag moment for the Australian public in the new Popovic era but also give the players a much-needed morale boost after a difficult few weeks.

Fortunately for them, tonight’s opponent in China is the only nation that sits lower than they in the group, languishing in sixth after being hammered 7-0 on the road in Japan in their opening fixture before then going down 2-1 to a ten-player Saudi Arabia in Liaoning in the following days.

That result against the Samurai Blue saw the team savaged at home, with Shanghai-based outlet The Paper saying that the team had hit “rock-bottom” in the “disastrous defeat” and that the “incompetence” of coach Branko Ivanković had been a “contributing factor to this crushing defeat.” Fans on Weibo went even further, with some even going as far as to say that the team should be disbanded, writing “there is no point in spending the most money on this useless project.”

Preamble

Hello from Adelaide Oval, everyone, as we prepare not just to follow what shapes as a vital World Cup qualifier for Australia’s men as they take on China, but also put a book-end on a month in Australian football that feels like it’s had about six week’s worth of developments packed into it.

I’m Joey Lynch, and here’s the basic rundown of what’s happened. Deep breath.

Exactly a month ago a blunt Socceroos outfit was being held to a 0-0 draw with Indonesia at the Gelora Bung Karno, days after they had been consigned to a shock 1-0 defeat against Bahrain on the Gold Coast – just the team’s second defeat in a “live” home World Cup qualifier since 1981. Ten days later came the announcement that Graham Arnold was resigning as coach of the side and four days after that, Tony Popovic was being unveiled as the new mentor. Across the weeks that followed the former Socceroos defender staged a cleanout of the side’s support staff to bring in his own people – highlighted by assistants Hayden Foxe and Paul Okon – and then named his first 26-player squad for this month’s qualifiers against China and Japan, which will take place in Saitama next week.

Since then, Popovic has been forced to grapple with some new challenges that come with moving from the domestic to the international realm. Connor Metcalfe and Massimo Luongo dropped out of the 26 after picking up injuries with their clubs, replaced by Luke Brattan and Patrick Yazbek. Those in the squad have been arriving in dribs and drabs across recent days – goalkeeper Paul Izzo only touching down in Adelaide yesterday morning after confronting delays in his journey from Danish club Randers – limiting the amount of time that could be spent on the training track and in the film room instilling new tactics and ideas.

But now, 20 days since he was introduced as Socceroos boss, the Popovic epoch can properly begin. Exhale.

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