In this blog we will be taking a comprehensive look at the Australia national football team and their chances at the FIFA World Cup. Are you a supporter of the Australia football team? Check out betting tips and odds at LV BET Sportsbook and place your bets on your favourite team.
Australia has qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals on six occasions: in 1974, 2006, 2014, 2018 and now 2022. In Australia’s first appearance, representing OFC, a team made up entirely of amateurs secured a scoreless draw against Chile, though they eventually departed from the 1974 tournament without a goal to show from their inaugural appearance. Australia made up for lost time at Germany 2006, as they qualified for the Round of 16 before a narrow defeat at the hands of the eventual champions, Italy. The performance in 2006 is still the best in the history of the Australia national football team as that is the only time they progressed to the knockout stage.
Read on to learn more about:
- Australia football team FIFA World Cup history
- Australia road to Qatar
- Australia squad
- LV BET betting tips on Australia
Australia at the FIFA World Cup
Like most of the other national teams, Australia do not have great success participating in the FIFA World Cup – from a possible 15 tournaments they qualified to participate in six, and from that six they only managed to reach the round of 16 once.
In total, Australia won just two games in the 16 games played. The victories came against Japan in the opening match of the group stage in 2006 when Japan was leading 1-0. Still, in the 84th and 89th minutes, Cahill scored twice before Aloisi netted the third in less than 10 minutes for the Australia national team. The other victory came in 2010, in the final game against Serbia – Cahill opened the score, and Holman doubled the lead, and in the closing stages, Pantelic got one back to make it 2-1, and that is how it ended.
Tim Cahill is Australia’s all-time top scorer and joint record player at World Cup appearances. Cahill scored a total of five goals after appearing in nine games in four different World Cups.
One of the biggest games for the Australia national football team was against Croatia when the Aussies had to get a draw to make it through and they did it in style. You can watch the highlights and how the drama unfolded here
Australia successes and failures at the previous FIFA World Cup
The Australia football team haven’t had a very good campaign when compared to other countries, but in their own right, Australia have made it to the Round of 16 once, which is considered the best performance at a World Cup. It was their second appearance at a World Cup, and Group F was very competitive, with all four teams up for a fight. The Australia football team started it off with a victory over Japan after going behind. In the second game against the favourites, Brazil, Australia lost out 2-0, and in the last game against Croatia, they secured a 2-2 draw to put them in a commanding position to progress through to the knockout stage. The Australia squad was pinned against Italy, and during the game, Australia held their own pretty well, keeping Italy at arm’s length. As it was heading to extra-time, Italy were awarded a Penalty which Totti converted, ending Australia’s hope of making it to the quarter-finals.
The worst appearance for the Australia national football team was in 2014, when they lost all three games and conceded three goals in each game. The group consisted of the Netherlands, Spain, Chile and Australia. Australia against Chile started off slow, conceding twice in the space of two minutes, but they fought back and got one back through Cahill in the 35th minute. In stoppage time, Beausejour ended any hopes of a comeback for the Australia national team. Against the Netherlands, the game was more competitive, Robben scored, which was cancelled out a minute later by Cahill, in the second half, Jedinak scored a penalty, but Van Persie equalised four minutes later, and Depay scored the third to give the Netherlands their second victory. In the last game, Spain beat Australia 3-0 to end the campaign.
Australia’s road to the Qatar 2022 World Cup
Australia was one of the last few countries to make it to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar as they had to go through a playoff first. In the third round of group B, the Australia team came in third after Japan. Which then set them up against the United Arab Emirates to confirm who will make it to the Final, Australia managed to win the game thanks to Ajdin Hrustic’s goal in the 84th minute. The final game was against a solid Peru side, and it ended up in a draw, and penalties ensued. The penalty shootout was all about Andrew Redmayne’s tactics on the line in his bid to distract the opposition penalty takers. You can watch the full highlights here.
Who will Australia play against at the Qatar 2022 World Cup?
Australia will be competing in Group D in the FIFA World Cup next November. The other teams competing in the group are; France, Denmark and Tunisia.
The outright favourites to progress to the next round are France being the defending champions, but most of the teams that win the World Cup have had a track record of getting eliminated from the next tournament in the group stage. Denmark has shown drastic improvement recently, so it will be a very competitive group.
The fixtures for the Australia national football team are as follows:
- France vs Australia 22 November 2022 20:00 AI Wakrah Sports Complex
- Tunisia vs Australia 26 November 2022 11:00 AI Wakrah Sports Complex
- Australia vs Denmark 30 November 2022 16:00 AI Wakrah Sports Complex
Australia squad for the World Cup in Qatar
Australia do not have a wide array of World Class players, but they have great unity within their camp that will do whatever it takes to win another game for their national team. Some of the most well-known players are Mathew Ryan, who plays as a goalkeeper, and Aaron Mooy, who played in the Premier League with Huddersfield some years ago.
Other promising players are Ajdin Hrustic, Awer Mabil and Tom Rogic, who will be in the middle of the action for their Australian national team.
Leading his men to the World Cup will be Graham Arnold, it is his second stint after taking over in 2006 after the FIFA World Cup in Germany, where he served as assistant coach with Guus Hiddink. The Australia national football team players will surely be directed by a great and experienced manager to give them a good chance in the group stage.
Where to see FIFA World Cup 2022 matches in Australia?
All around Australia, there will be places where you can enjoy a nice meal whilst watching the Australia National team in action. Kick-off times will vary depending on the fixture, but all will be played in the late or early afternoon.
You will be able to watch all the action unfold in all FIFA World Cup license holders as well as bars and restaurants that own the rights to show the matches.
For more information, please visit the official FIFA website here.
Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 tickets — prices, sale dates and tournament stages
For more information regarding ticket sales and accessibility tickets, please visit the official website here.
All tickets are sold in Qatari riyal (QAR) to both residents of Qatar and International fans.
| FIFA World Cup round | Category I | Category II | Category III |
| Opening match | 2,250 | 1,600 | 1,100 |
| Group phase | 800 | 600 | 250 |
| 1/8 final | 1,000 | 750 | 350 |
| Quarterfinal | 1,550 | 1,050 | 750 |
| Semifinal | 3,480 | 2,400 | 1,300 |
| Match for 3rd place | 1,550 | 1,100 | 750 |
| Final | 5,850 | 3,650 | 2,200 |
Betting tips and odds on Australia National team
Group D consists off France who are the defending champions, as well as Denmark, Australia and Tunisia.
The favourites to win the group are France as 2/5 (1.40), followed by Denmark who are at 3/1 (4.00) to win the first group in their history. The third favourites are Australia at 10/1 (11/1) followed by Tunisia at 14/1 (15.00).
Bets on Australia National Football team at LV BET
The opening match couldn’t be bigger for the Australia national team as they face FIFA 2018 World Champions, France. The defending champions are the favourites at 1/4 (1.25) to win, whilst Australia are at 10/1 (11.00) to get off to a brilliant start.
We hope that you have enjoyed reading a detailed overview of the Australia national team as well as their chances going into the Qatar FIFA World Cup. Thank you for your support.