The Subway Socceroos travel to take on Saudi Arabia knowing that if they avoid defeat by five goals or more, they will finish second in Group C and automatically qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
The coaching staff and players this week have emphasised their intent is not simply to qualify, but to win, and walk away from Third Round qualification with as many points as possible.
If Australia defeat Saudi Arabia, it will be their first win against that opposition since 2017, when they won 3-2 in a World Cup qualifier in Adelaide. They have only won in Saudi Arabia once. However, they have never been defeated by Saudi Arabia by more than one goal.
Read our preview of the match that could see Australia seal World Cup qualification below.
- READ MORE: Tony Popovic names Subway Socceroos squad to face Japan and Saudi Arabia
- READ MORE: Squad Notes: Six Socceroos return while two players earn maiden call-up
The Squad
Tony Popovic made eight changes to the squad that picked up six points against China PR and Indonesia in the last international window.
Paul Okon-Engstler and Kasey Bos, as well as goalkeeper Paul Izzo and defender Kai Trewin are in the running to become Subway Socceroo #650 if they are to take the pitch against Saudi Arabia.
There are likely to be changes to the starting eleven for this game due to the different nature of the match. Patrick Yazbek and Riley McGree made a difference when they were introduced at half-time and may be considered for starting duties, although Head Coach Tony Popovic emphasised McGree's lack of match fitness at the post-match press conference.
Mitchell Duke is another player who may be considered to start after winning a number of fouls against Japan on Thursday evening.
Mathew Ryan is set to make his 100th appearance for the national team if he starts as expected.
The Opponent
Saudi Arabia are currently sitting third in Group C in the Third Round Qualifiers. They are three points behind Australia, who are in second. Australia have a goal difference of +8, compared to Saudi Arabia's goal difference of 0.
This means that - due to goals scored - Saudi Arabia will need to defeat Australia by five goals or more to leapfrog the Socceroos in second and automatically qualify for the World Cup.
If they are unable to do so, they will have another chance at World Cup qualification in the Fourth Round, which will be contested by teams that finished third and fourth in their group.
Under these circumstances, it is fair to expect that Head Coach Herve Renard will send his team out in an attacking and open style in front of a raucous home crowd. If they can score early, they will look to ride a wave of momentum to pull off an improbable feat.
In order to do that, however, they will need to almost double the amount of goals that they have scored in their nine games of Group C so far. They have built their qualification campaign on the back of a sturdy defence, having only scored a total of six goals. Three of their nine games have been scoreless draws.
Veteran Salem Al-Dawsari may be the key for the home side if they are able to get the job done. He is approaching a century of appearances for his national team, and, with 25 goals to show for it, he will be instrumental in their efforts.
Last Time Out
Last time these sides met, it was a scoreless draw in Melbourne in November. In a game of few chances, Australia looked the most likely to score, but were unable to put the decisive effort away.
The previous time that the teams met in Jeddah was back in 2022, where Saudi Arabia won 1-0.
The last time that Australia defeated Saudi Arabia was in June 2017 thanks to a Tomi Juric brace and a goal to Tom Rogic. Mathew Ryan was in goal that day and Aziz Behich came off the bench in the second half.
FIFA World Rankings
Australia: 26
Saudi Arabia: 58
Head-to-Head ('A' Internationals)
Played: 11
Wins: 5
Draws: 4
Losses: 2
Insights
- Australia have failed to score a goal across their last three men’s internationals against Saudia Arabia (D2 L1) after scoring at least two goals in each of their previous five meetings (W4 D1); furthermore, they haven’t defeated Saudi Arabia outside Australia since a 3-2 win at Craven Cottage in September 2014.
- Australia are undefeated across their last eight men’s World Cup Qualifying fixtures outside Australia (W5 D3); however, their last defeat in such a fixture was a 0-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in March 2022 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
- Saudi Arabia are undefeated in their last four men’s internationals (W3 D1) and have won their last two in a row; in fact, they have kept a clean sheet in each of those four games and have conceded just one goal across five games in 2025.
- Lewis Miller (Australia) has made 10 take-ons in men’s internationals in 2025, twice as many as any other Socceroos player, while Cameron Burgess (18) has made twice as many clearances as any other player for Australia this year.
- Mat Ryan (99) is set to become the third player to play 100 men’s internationals for Australia behind Mark Schwarzer (109) and Tim Cahill (108); Ryan has made seven saves and conceded just one goal across his last two games against Saudi Arabia.
Australia form guide: W-W-W-D-D
Saudi Arabia form guide: W-W-D-W-L
What They Said
Tony Popovic
You can't say it yet [that we’ve qualified]. We need to do a job in Saudi. We are in a great position, but we need to finish it off.
We respect our opponent very much. We understand the difficulty, but we are playing for a World Cup position, and we believe in ourselves. The approach, the attitude, the mentality is to win. I didn't say it will be easy. We had a nil-nil draw in the first match. So we know how good our opponent is, how good Saudi Arabia plays, and at home, with their home support, we know that makes it more difficult. But that's also exciting. These are the moments that you want as a footballer. These are the moments you want as a nation. And you know, we're excited. We embrace the challenge. We want to go to the World Cup.
If we approach the game, which I know we will, with a mentality of respecting the opponent, but also knowing that we must look to win the match. With this approach, I'm confident that we can work hard once more, we can achieve our goal of winning the match and then qualifying automatically.
Mat Ryan
I've been fortunate enough to be part of a few campaigns now, and it's no easy task to qualify the nation for a World Cup. To be in the position we are right now - being a strong one, to go and have it right on our fingertips right now - it gives meaning to us footballers as to why we want to play. It’s the most fulfilling and purposeful thing, when you've got that success at your fingertips, and you obviously want to take that final last step to go and achieve it.
Jason Geria
We have to approach this game as if we haven't qualified. That's the reality of the situation. We haven't qualified yet. They have a big task ahead of them if they're to qualify in the second automatic spot, but I think we're all approaching this game as if we have to win. That’s going to be the mindset from the start of the game, regardless of not conceding whatever amount of goals. Even though that's the task for them, I still think we're going there to win. We’re here to win. The coaching staff and all the players expect nothing less.
Connor Metcalfe
We know what we're going to be up against. We've played them before. We've played them in in Jeddah before as well, and it's going to be a tough game. In the conditions as well, it's probably going to be close to 40 degrees, with 50,000 fans screaming. It’s going to be difficult, but I think we're all mentally prepared for it, and what you need to do in the days leading up to that game to adjust to that.
Daniel Arzani
I think the game is going to play out very, very differently from the Japan game. They've got a different identity as a country with the way they want to play as well. It’s going to be a very different game in a lot of ways, but I do think that there is going to be more space to exploit them as well, because obviously they're going to be a little bit kamikaze given the situation, because they need to come out and get a big result. I think it's just natural that there'll be more space going forward, but we also need to be really disciplined defensively and make sure we don't give them a sniff.
Brandon Borrello
When we go to Saudi, it's business as usual. We haven't achieved anything yet, and our eyes are on the prize of qualifying for the World Cup. So we got our recovery in today and last night, we'll fly out tomorrow, and we'll get the job done.
Aziz Behich
We've still got another important game to go now, away in Saudi [Arabia]. We want a good result there as well. This obviously is nice, but we want to be that team that has expectations of winning every game we go out to, so full focus is on that.
MATCH DETAILS
Saudi Arabia v Subway Socceroos
Tuesday 10 June 2025 / Wednesday 11 June 2025 AEST
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah
Kick-off: 9.15pm local / 4.15am AEST
Broadcast: Paramount+