Leaders-Mena magazine provided a live coverage for Tuesday’s game between Saudi Arabia and Australia in the final round of Group C of the AFC 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Fulltime: Saudi Arabia 1-2 Australia
Scorers: Abdulrahman Al-Oboud 19′ / Connor Metcalfe 42′, Mitch Duke 48′
Yellow cards:
Martin Boyle (Australia)
Abdeulrahman Al-Oboud (Saudi Arabia)
Lineups:
Saudi Arabia: Nawaf Al-Aqidi; Ali Majrashi (Saud Abdulhamid 62), Abdulelah Al-Amri, Hassan Kadesh (Hassan Tambakti 73), Nawaf Al-Boushal; Mohammed Kanno, Ziyad Al-Johani, Musab Al-Juwayr (Nasser Al-Dawsari 61); Abdulrahman Al-Oboud (Marwan Al-Sahafi 62), Firas Al-Buraikan (Saleh Al-Shehri 86), Salem Al-Dawsari
Australia: Mathew Ryan; Lewis Miller, Aziz Behich, Cameron Burgess; Milos Degenek, Mitchell Duke (Mohamed Toure 65), Aiden O’Neill (Anthony Caceres 90+6), Patrick Yazbek (Ryan Teague 77); Jason Geria, Connor Metcalfe (Riley McGree 65), Martin Boyle (Marco Tilio 77)
=========================================================================
90+8′ Second half ends.
90+6′ Substitution for Australia: Anthony Caceres replaces Aiden O’Neill
90+4′ Hassan Tambakti wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90+3′ Abdulelah Al-Amri wins a free kick in the attacking half.
90+1′ WHAT A SAVE! Abdulelah Al-Amri tries his luck with a left-footed shot from outside the box, but the goalkeeper makes a great save in the centre of the goal.
90′ The fourth official announces 7 minutes of added time.
89′ Referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim signals a free kick to Australia in their own half following a hand ball by Saleh Al-Shehri.
87′ Salem Al-Dawsari is caught offside.
86′ Substitution for Saudi Arabia: Saleh Al-Shehri replaces Firas Al-Buraikan
85′ A MISS! Salem Al-Dawsari’s right-footed shot saved in the bottom right corner by Mathew Ryan
82′ Penalty for Saudi Arabia, conceded by Jason Geria after a foul in the penalty area.
80′ Riley McGree wins a free kick for Australia in the defensive half.
77′ Nawaf Buashal wins a free kick for Saudi Arabia in the defensive half.
77′ Double Subs for Australia: Ryan Teague replaces Patrick Yazbek, Marco Tilio comes in for Martin Boyle
73′ Substitution for Saudi Arabia: Hassan Tambakti replaces Hassan Kadesh.
72′ Throw in for Australia.
71′ Australia’s Mohamed Touré is caught offside.
70′ Corner kick for Australia; conceded by Abdulelah Al-Amri.
69′ Hassan Kadesh wins a free kick for the Saudis in the defensive half.
68′ Mohamed Kanno tries his luck with a right-footed shot from outside the box, but Australia defense blocks the ball.
66′ Riley McGree wins a free kick for Australia in the defensive half following a foul by Nasser Al-Dawsari
65′ Double subs for Australia: Mohamed Touré replaces Mitch Duke; Riley McGree comes in for Connor Metcalfe.
65′ Marwan Al-Sahafi on the edge of the penalty area flashes a shot over the crossbar and instantly remonstrates with himself.
61′ Triple subs for Saudi Arabia: Nasser Al-Dawsari replaces Musab Al-Juwayr; Marwan Al-Sahafi comes in for Abdulrahman Al-Obud, Saud Abdulhamid replaces Ali Majrashi
58′ Martin Boyle wins a free kick for Australia in the defensive half.
54′ VAR Decision: No Red Card Ali Majrashi
54′ Match delayed.. VAR Checking Ali Majrashi’s Red card
51′ Ali Majrashi is shown the red card for a violent tackle.
(GOAL) Mitch Duke heads the ball from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Martin Boyle with a cross following a set piece situation.
48′ GOOAAL…. Australia double the score.
47′ Al-Oboud receives a yellow card.
47′ Connor Metcalfe wins a free kick for Australia on the left wing following a bad tackle by Abdulrahman Al-Oboud.
46′ WHAT A SAVE! Saudi Arabia’s goalie Nawaf Al-Aqidi produces a great save to deny Martin Boyle’s right-footed shot from the centre of the box in the centre of the goal.
46′ Second half begins.
Halftime
45+4′ First half ends.
45+2′ Salem Al-Dawsari strikes the ball with his right foot from outside the box but misses to the left.
45′ The fourth official announces 3 minutes of added time.
44′ Corner kick for Saudi Arabia; conceded by Patrick Yazbek.
(GOAL) Connor Metcalfe shoots the ball with his left foot from the left side of the box.
42′ GOOAAL… Australia level the score
41′ Martin Boyle wins a free kick for Australia in the defensive half.
38′ Corner kick for Saudi Arabia; conceded by Aiden O’Neill.
36‘ WHAT A SAVE! Ali Majrashi connects with Salem Al-Dawsari’s pass with a right-footed shot from the centre of the box, but the goalkeeper makes a great save to deny the Saudis from scoring.
34‘ Mohamed Kanno wins a free kick in the defensive half.
33′ WHAT A CHANCE! Musab Al-Juwayr ‘s right-footed shot from the centre of the box is too high.
33′ Australia’s Martin Boyle gets a yellow card for a bad tackle.
32′ Ziyad Al-Johani wins a free kick in the attacking half.
29′ Hassan Kadesh wins a free kick for Saudi Arabia in the defensive half.
27′ Cameron Burgess wins a free kick for Australia in the defensive half following a foul by Majrashi.
25′ Saudi Arabia win a throw-in in their half.
24′ Firas Al-Buraikan is caught offside.
(GOAL) Abdulrahman Al-Obud capitalizes on the goalkeeper’s rebound, striking the ball with his right foot from very close range to the bottom right corner.
19′ GOOAAL… Saudi Arabia score.
19′ Salem Al Dawsari connects with Al-Buraikan’s cross with a right-footed shot from the left side of the six yard box, but the goalkeeper makes a great save.
18′ The Green Falcons are darting this way and that across the edge of their attacking third of the pitch, playing some neat football as it happens; however, Australia’s defense is holding tight, blocking all their attempts.
17′ Corner for Australia; conceded by Abdulelah Al-Amri.
15′ Lewis Miller wins a free kick for Australia in the defensive half following a foul by Boushal.
15′ Fifteen minutes on the hour mark with the game still tied, though Saudi Arabia are in control with 81% possession.
12′ Lewis Miller wins a free kick for Australia in the defensive half following a foul by Firas Al-Buraikan.
10′ Throw in for the Green Falcons.
7′ Connor Metcalfe wins a free kick for Australia in the defensive half, following a foul by Ali Majrashi.
4′ Aiden O’Neill wins a free kick for Australia in the attacking half.
3′ Saudi Arabia are too eager to score and fall into an offside trap.
3′ Corner kick for Saudi Arabia; conceded by Cameron Burgess.
1′ Salem Al-Dawsari wins a free kick on the left wing.
1′ First half begins.
19:30 To leapfrog Australia into second place, the Green Falcons face a daunting challenge: securing a five-goal winning margin against the Socceroos due to their vastly superior goal difference. Notably, Saudi Arabia haven’t achieved such a victory margin since routing Palestine 5-0 in March 2021, and haven’t found the net more times in a single match since demolishing Cambodia 7-2 back in January 2017. Compounding the difficulty, the Saudis have managed an alarmingly low tally of just six goals throughout this entire third round of Asian qualifying – only Bahrain (5 goals) boasts a poorer attacking record among all Asian sides at this stage.
18:30 Possible lineups:
Saudi Arabia: Alaqidi (GK); Majrashi, Tambakti, Kadesh, Boushal; Kanno, Al-Johani, Al-Juwayr; Yahya, Al-Buraikan, Al-Dawsari
Australia: Ryan (GK); Circati, Degenek, Burgess; Miller, O’Niell, Teague, Behich; Boyle, Metcalfe; Borrello
17:30 Saudi Arabia’s head coach Herve Renard knows it’s an extremely unlikely outcome for his men, but he urged his players to go all in the last game of the Asian qualifier for next year’s global tournament. “The door is closed but we have to try to qualify even if it is through the window. If we are to qualify, everything must go very well; we have to score goals,” the French tactician told reporters.
16:30 The Green Falcons’ record against the Socceroos stands at two wins, five losses, and four draws in 11 matches across all competitions, with their last encounter was a goalless stalemate in November 2024 during these qualifiers.
15:30 If Saudi Arabia cannot defeat Australia by five goals or more, they will have another opportunity to qualify for the World Cup in the Fourth Round, featuring teams that finished third and fourth in their groups.
14:00 Saudi Arabia is currently third in Group C of the Third Round Qualifiers, three points behind second-placed Australia. Australia’s goal difference is +8, while Saudi Arabia’s is 0.
Based on the goal difference, Saudi Arabia would need to defeat Australia by five goals or more to overtake the Socceroos in second place and automatically qualify for the World Cup.
🟢 Matchday 🟢
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 🆚 Australia 🇦🇺
🕒 | 9 : 15 pm KSA
🏟️ | Alinma Stadium
🏆 | AFC World Cup 26 Qualifiers#GreenFalcons pic.twitter.com/1QAmKPRg4R— Saudi National Team (@SaudiNT_EN) June 10, 2025
Venue: Alinma Stadium (Jeddah)
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
