Caltex Socceroos skipper Mile Jedinak was furious after the side’s 2-2 draw with Thailand on Tuesday night in Bangkok.
Speaking after the game, the scorer of both Australia’s goals from the penalty spot said the team must rectify problems quickly after their third draw in a row pushed them out of the top two spots in Group B.
REPORT: Caltex Socceroos draw after thriller in Bangkok
“To come away here with less than three points is a real shame,” he told Fox Sports as a rain storm hit the Rajamangala stadium.
“We have to move forward but I think we need to assess what’s gone wrong here.
"I’m sure we’ll do that but we’ve got to rectify it quickly."
With Japan winning their game with Saudi Arabia, the Blue Samurai now go equal top of Group B with the Saudis.
Australia is now on nine points, a point behind.
Three points was expected and needed by Australia going into their final five qualifiers next year (of which three, handily, are at home).
In a see-saw game on Tuesday night, Australia took an early lead via Jedinak's penalty before two goals to Teerasil Dangda had the War Elephants dreaming of a huge upset.
But a third penalty in the game again scored by Jedinak got the Socceroos back into it just after the hour mark.
“We got into some really good positions but maybe in that final third we lacked that little bit of a cutting edge just to get them working," the Aston Villa midfielder said.
“We let them off the hook a few times and we allowed them to get out [of defence] too easily.
“And they got into our box and they score two. It’s a shame but that’s World Cup qualification for you.
“For us the biggest disappointment is we haven’t got the three points on the back of a solid week here, acclimatising and we knew what to expect."
He added: “We let ourselves down.”