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Lastest News Nigeria, Politics, Business, Sport, Interview
Australia moved one step closer to the 2026 World Cup on Thursday, defeating a resolute Lebanon 2-0 thanks in part to its Scottish ties.
Before Hearts defender Kye Rowles added a second goal on minute 54, St. Mirren midfielder Keanu Baccus opened the scoring in front of a nearly full Parramatta Stadium in Sydney.
They scored their first goals for their country, Australia, and they went into the 48-team World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico undefeated.
The Socceroos lead Asian Group I with three wins out of three games. Earlier, they defeated Bangladesh 7 goals in a row before winning 1-0 on the road against Palestine.
Next week, they take on Lebanon in Canberra, who drew with both Bangladesh and Palestine. A win there would guarantee their advancement to the next round of qualifying.
It’s really fulfilling. Australian midfielder Connor Metcalfe stated, “Obviously, a win and a clean sheet are the most important things, but we can do much better. We won despite being overly careless and making too many simple errors.
From nine groups of four, a record eight direct places and one intercontinental playoff berth are up for grabs for Asian Football Confederation teams.
The top two finishers from each group advance to the 2026 final qualifying round.
Later on Thursday, South Korea and Japan, two more Asian heavyweights, will face North Korea and Thailand, respectively.
Japan hopes to win an eighth World Cup in a row, while Korea wants to win an eleventh. Kuwait takes face Asian champion Qatar in Doha, the home of the 2022 World Cup.
Resuming play for the first time since their heartbreaking quarterfinal loss at the Asian Cup in Qatar, Baccus gave Australia the lead via pure chance.
He broke free after intercepting a ball, running down the right, and curving in a looping cross that went past Mostafa Matar, the goalkeeper for Lebanon, who appeared to misjudge it.
and the game got underway, both teams had half-chances, but they were unable to take advantage of them, and Australia led 1-0 at the half.
However, nine minutes into the second half, Rowles made no mistake as he crashed in a half-volley after the ball bounced around in the box from a corner.
