SYDNEY – Australia coach Tony Popovic praised the character of his side after they rescued a precious point at the death in a “crazy” World Cup qualifying 2-2 stalemate in Bahrain.
The dramatic draw left the Socceroos second in Asian Group C behind runaway leaders Japan with four matches left and their fate in their own hands.
The top two go straight to the 2026 World Cup in North America. The third- and fourth-placed teams go into a further round of qualifying. But Australia are just a point ahead of Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and China, with all to play for.
Popovic’s side took the lead after just 38 seconds in Riffa through Kusini Yengi, only for Mahdi Abduljabbar to strike in the 75th and 77th minutes to put Bahrain 2-1 ahead.
Portsmouth striker Yengi struck again in the 96th minute for what could be a vital point.
“Crazy game,” Popovic said. “We showed a lot of character to come back and get an important point.”
He has overseen a win and three draws since taking over from Graham Arnold, who quit as coach in September after a slow start to the third qualifying phase.
The Socceroos were held 0-0 at home by the Saudis on Nov 14.
“We would have liked to have won the game against Saudi or here tonight, which would have put us in a much better position,” said Popovic, who took over an Australia side lying fifth in the standings. “But we’re second in the table – very different from where we were four games ago – and we have to look forward.
“Apart from Japan, everyone is taking points off each other and tonight was evidence of that again.”
Australia next face crunch qualifiers in March – at home to Indonesia and away in China.
“We’ve got to make sure that March is a very good window for us,” Popovic added.
In Group B, Son Heung-min said South Korea had themselves to blame and could learn from “inspiring” opponents Palestine after being held 1-1.
In what was nominally a home match for Palestine, they took a shock lead on 12 minutes in Amman when Zaid Qunbar pounced on a mistake by South Korea’s Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae.
Son levelled four minutes later with his 51st goal for his country and despite the visitors dominating after that, Palestine defended bravely to hold on.
“I think we made the match a bit difficult due to our mistakes, but even after conceding the goal, we managed to bounce back and quickly equalise,” Son told reporters.
“If we had converted all our chances into goals, we definitely could have won, so I feel a bit regretful about that.”
In Group A, four-goal hero Fabio Lima said the United Arab Emirates’ 5-0 thrashing of Qatar was his team’s finest performance in qualifying.
Iran and Uzbekistan secured wins over Kyrgyzstan and North Korea to maintain their grip on the automatic berths for the 2026 finals, but the UAE kept pace with their stunning victory over the continental champions. AFP, REUTERS