Five-goal Australia, Iraq Advance In Asia World Cup Qualifying
Zeeshan Mehtab Published March 26, 2024 | 09:49 PM
Australia and Iraq were in rampant goalscoring form on Tuesday as they both cruised into the next stage of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, while Son Heung-min's South Korea are on the brink of joining them after beating Thailand
Hong Kong, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) Australia and Iraq were in rampant goalscoring form on Tuesday as they both cruised into the next stage of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, while Son Heung-min's South Korea are on the brink of joining them after beating Thailand.
Australia handed out a 5-0 drubbing to Lebanon in Canberra in Group I while Iraq progressed from Group F after brushing aside the Philippines by the same score in Manila.
In Group C, Son scored as South Korea look favourites to go through after a 3-0 win against Thailand in Bangkok, while China got their qualifying hopes back on track with a 4-1 win against Singapore.
Park Jin-seob and Lee Jae-sun joined the Tottenham Hotspur star on the scoresheet and South Korea now need only a draw in Singapore in June to go through.
Australia's Craig Goodwin led his side to a fourth straight qualifying victory with two goals in a man-of-the-match performance, together with strikes from Kusini Yengi, John Iredale and an own goal.
"When I knew Craig Goodwin younger, he didn't believe in himself like he does these days," Australia coach Graham Arnold said of the 32-year-old, who also created the opener for Yengi and whose free-kick led to the own goal.
"He's a top-quality player, but he's a fantastic person and a great leader.
"His delivery, set pieces, is fantastic and his finishing, it's just got better and better as he gets older."
Palestine, their supporters in Gaza reeling from the Israel-Hamas war, gave themselves a great chance of going through with Australia by beating Bangladesh 1-0 in Dhaka.
Palestine just need a draw with third-placed Lebanon in their next match in June to guarantee their progress from Group I.
- Captain Wu double -
Aymen Hussein's 14th-minute penalty set Iraq on their way against the Philippines, ranked 139th in the world.
Amir Al Ammari's goal and a second from centre-forward Hussein gave the visitors a 3-0 half-time lead.
They completed the job with second-half strikes from Zidane Iqbal and Zaid Tahseen to make it four wins out of four in qualifying.
Indonesia beat Vietnam 3-0 in Hanoi in the group's other game.
In Tianjin, China moved into second place in Group C behind South Korea after hammering Singapore 4-1 thanks to new captain Wu Lei's double, Fei Nanduo's second-half penalty and a late goal from Wei Shihao.
Wu took over the armband from Zhang Linpeng who was left out of the starting line-up by coach Branko Ivankovic.
Zhang had quit the national side after China threw away a two-goal lead in the 2-2 draw in Singapore last week, only to make an abrupt U-turn.
Wu put China ahead in the 21st minute, running on to Zhang Yuning's through ball before deftly chipping the onrushing Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny.
But the lead lasted only seconds as Singapore broke down the right straight from the restart with Ryhan Stewart crossing for Faris Ramli to power a header past Wang Dalei.
Fei restored the lead from the spot on 65 minutes.
China finished the match with 10 men after Li Yuanyi was given a straight red card for a foul in the 79th minute.
But Wu cut in from the left and lashed home five minutes from time before Wei scored the fourth.
The top two from each of the nine Asian groups will advance to the third round of 2026 World Cup qualifying.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Interior Minister removes Director, Assistant Director over complaints at Passpo ..
Meter tampering, gas theft main reasons behind over billing in Balochistan: Tara ..
JUI-F chief expresses concerns about state of democracy in Pakistan
Four terrorists involved in suicide attack on Chinese in Besham arrested
SIC chief asks PTI leaders to resign from assemblies
Pakistan working tirelessly to eradicate polio from country: PM
IHC Justice Sattar dismisses pleas moved by FIA, PEMRA and PTA in audio leaks ca ..
Gillespie, Kirsten feature in 48th edition of PCB Podcast
Security forces kill four terrorists in Tank
Fake immoral video of Ducky Bhai's wife goes on viral on social media
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 29 April 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 29 April 2024
More Stories From Sports
-
Naz Club Khalabat clinches trophy in District Volleyball Championship 2024
50 minutes ago -
Table Tennis League kicks off
2 hours ago -
Pakistan's Ashab wins Rochester Proam Squash
2 hours ago -
Chief Minister KP to open Inter-Madrasa, Special Games on Tuesday
3 hours ago -
Iranian Consulate Peshawar to sponsor Tradition Kabaddi, Zurkhaneh, Kosti-Pehlwani: Arbab Naseer
4 hours ago -
Gillespie, Kirsten feature in 48th edition of PCB Podcast
5 hours ago
-
New Zealand skipper Williamson set for sixth T20 World Cup
8 hours ago -
President's Cup matches washed out
24 hours ago -
Rana Mashhood congratulates hockey players
24 hours ago -
Inter Club Athletics Championship on Wednesday
1 day ago -
Babar, bowlers help Pakistan level series 2-2 against New Zealand
2 days ago -
England clinch third successive Women's Six Nations Grand Slam
2 days ago