Scoreboard watching awaits Socceroos in ranking chase.
Despite just 0.06 points seperating them on the FIFA rankings, Australia needs another South Korea slip up in coming World Cup qualifiers to overhaul them before the next phase of qualification.
With several slots in the next phase still up for grabs, the stakes are high across plenty of the final slate of matches in the second phase of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. One of the fiercest battles won’t be staged on the pitch at all, though. Well, at least the two belligerents won’t be on the pitch together.
With just two games still to play, Australia and South Korea remain locked in a dogfight to be ranked the third-best Asian side in FIFA’s official rankings come the conclusion of this phase of qualification, which will then determine seedings for the next phase of qualifiers commencing in September.
As it presently stands, the Koreans are ranked 23 in the world by the global governing body with 1563.99 ranking points, while the Socceroos slot in just one place behind them with 1563.93 points – a gap of just 0.6 points.
Presently ranked 18th and 20th in the world by FIFA, Japan and Iran are already set to serve as two of the highest seeds in the three, six-team groups that will contest the next phase with either Korea or Australia to fill the other top position in a group – avoiding those two Asian powers in the process.
The Teaguk Warrior require just a point from their remaining fixtures to mathematically seal qualification for the next round, joining already qualified Australia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan.
Despite having already punched their tickets, though, the Socceroos will need a bit of help if they’re going to leapfrog their rivals: Korea’s opponents Singapore and China both ranked respectively higher than Australian opponents Bangladesh and Palestine – meaning that if they win out they’ll guarantee themselves a higher ranking regardless of what the Socceroos do.
“Point 06, we're so close,” said Australia boss Graham Arnold. “But at the end of the day, we have to win our two games and we've got to then look at South Korea.
“They've got Singapore away and then they've got China at home. If there's some type of draw, we can go above. So the only thing I'm focusing on is ourselves and making sure that we're ready for these two games and putting in great performances that does everyone proud and excites the nation.
“We can’t control that at the moment, the rankings. At the end of the day, we're that close that we've got to win the two games.”
Perhaps providing a glimmer of hope to Australia, Korea remains in a state of flux following the sacking of Jürgen Klinsmann following the Asian Cup and having dropped points in a 1-1 draw at home against Thailand during the previous slate of fixtures.
U23 boss Hwang Sun-hong was initially placed in charge of the senior side on an interim basis but after that draw against the Thais and a disappointing AFC U23 Championship – where Korea failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 1984 - he has since departed the national team setup and commenced a second-stint in charge of K-League outfit Daejeon Hana Citizen.
In his place, Kim Do-hoon, a former Asian Champions League winner Ulsan Hyundai, will lead the side as its second interim boss in less than six months.
Kim has been out of work since 2022 after he reached a "mutual agreement" with Singaporean side Lion City Sailors after he was suspended for three matches for headbutting Tampines Rovers assistant coach Mustafic Fahrudin.
"Southeast Asian football has improved so much lately, and we shouldn't take Singapore lightly," said Kim.
"Their national team now has several players that I coached in Singapore. So I will share my scouting reports on them with my players now."