The Socceroos play China tonight and take the field for the first time under new coach Tony Popovic in a World Cup qualifier at Adelaide Oval. Popovic has been working with the team for just 16 days after previous coach Graham Arnold announced his resignation last month.
Socceroos play China context
Australia is in Group C of the third round of World Cup Qualifiers. Each Group has six teams and plays a round-robin style tournament. The top two teams in each group qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
to this third and crucial round of qualifying, first losing to Bahrain 1-0 and then being held goalless in a 0-0 draw with Indonesia.
The Socceroos’ match against China presents an opportunity to get their World Cup campaign back on track. China have lost both of their games so far to Japan (7-0) and Saudi Arabia (2-1).
What if the Socceroos don’t qualify in this round?
If Australia doesn’t make the top two, they head to the fourth round which consists of the third and fourth-placed teams from each third-round group.
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The six teams in the fourth round will be split into two groups of three, with the winner of each group earning a spot. Then, all eight of the AFC’s spots at the 2026 World Cup will be occupied.
There is a last-ditch opportunity for a team to qualify for the FIFA play-off tournament, but that’s a position the Socceroos won’t want to find themselves in.
What they said
Popovic, at a press conference earlier today, said: “The limited preparation? Of course, everyone talks about that. But that is international football, for the players and the staff. So we just look at it as finding solutions to the problems that may occur, do it in a really positive manner, do it with a lot of belief that we have, and then we execute.”
How to watch
You can watch the match from 8:00pm AEDT on Channel 10 and Paramount+.
