Struggling Australia and Saudi Arabia play a crucial Asian World Cup qualifier

Australia hosts Saudi Arabia in a crucial World Cup qualifier at Melbourne on Thursday while Japan and South Korea can take a big step towards North America in 2026 when the third round of Asian qualifying reaches the halfway stage.

With only the top two teams from each of the three groups of six progressing automatically to the expanded 48-team tournament, Australia and Saudi Arabia both have only five points from four Group C games, five behind leaders Japan.

The sputtering form of the two teams has already resulted in coaching changes since the third round began. Graham Arnold stepped down as Socceroos head coach in September and was replaced by Tony Popovic while Saudi Arabia fired Roberto Mancini in October after a 0-0 draw with Bahrain in Jeddah.

Herve Renard is back in Riyadh to take over the Saudi team for a second spell.

“I believe we can qualify; otherwise, I wouldn’t be here,” Renard, who left Riyadh in March 2023 to take over the French women’s national team, told local media. “I know the players well. We’re not in an ideal situation, but it’s far from hopeless. We still have six games remaining, four of them away.”

Renard led Saudi Arabia to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, topping a qualification group above Japan and Australia. It then defeated eventual champion Argentina 2-1 in its opening game in Qatar before losing its next two games and finishing last in its group, failing to qualify for the knockout rounds.

“Many of these players were part of the squad that qualified for the 2022 World Cup,” Renard said. “They must draw on that experience, keep their spirit high, and do everything necessary to reach the 2026 World Cup.”

Saudi Arabia is hoping that a coaching change can produce the same upturn in results that Popovic delivered for Australia in his first two games in October, with a win over China at home followed by a 1-1 draw in Japan.

Those were the first points that Japan, which has appeared in every World Cup since 1998, dropped in qualification. The Samurai Blue is expected to beat Indonesia despite playing in front of an expected 78,000 fans in Jakarta, before traveling to China.

“If you look at the FIFA rankings and the games in the World Cup qualifiers so far, you might think that the advantage is with Japan,” said coach Hajime Moriyasu. “But we are playing both games away and I think it will be tough.”

In Group B, leaders South Korea has recovered from a disappointing opening-game draw with the Palestinian team to win three consecutive games. Victory in Kuwait will see the South Koreans go five or six points clear of third place.

Captain and star Son Heung-min missed the victories over Jordan and Iraq due to a hamstring injury and has been short of minutes for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

“At this point, I have absolutely zero plans to push him hard,” South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo said. “I will figure out ways to use him efficiently. As soon as he joins the team, I will sit down with him and discuss his playing time. It’s really important for us to see a healthy version of Son Heung-min.”

Iraq and Jordan are level in second place in Group B — three points behind — and meet in Basra.

In Group A, Iran and Uzbekistan are six points clear of the rest of the group and face respective away games against North Korea and Qatar.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer