A late own goal handed Bahrain their first-ever win over former Asian champions Australia in the third round of qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The Bahrainis celebrated wildly after the final whistle at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast on Thursday, having recorded their first-ever win over Australia in seven attempts and making a perfect start in their bid to qualify for the finals for the first time.
The Socceroos were already down to 10 men after the dismissal of Kusini Yengi, but the Group C contest still looked destined to end goalless until Abdullah Al Khalasi was released down the left wing looking to get the ball into the box in the 89th minute. Defender Al Khalasi got his cross away from the edge of the area, and it took a wicked deflection off centre half Souttar, which wrong-footed Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who could only watch helplessly as the ball went past him into the net.
The crowd of 24,644 who had turned out expecting a fifth-straight Australia victory were stunned into silence, and the efforts of the Socceroos to get back on level terms in six minutes of stoppage time proved fruitless. Substitute Mitch Duke had the best chance to equalise from an Awer Mabil free kick two minutes from the final whistle, but the striker was unable to get his header on target from the centre of the box.
Australia's Disappointing Performance
Australia, aiming for a sixth straight appearance at the World Cup finals, dominated possession but had few clear chances and were frustrated throughout the contest by a well-organised and technically adept Bahrain side. The Australian cause was not helped by the red card shown to striker Yengi, which reduced the home side to 10 men for the last 14 minutes. Yengi got his foot too high when challenging Ali Haram for the ball and scraped his boot across the throat of the Bahrain midfielder. VAR confirmed the dismissal.
“It’s a learning curve for the players,” Australia coach Graham Arnold said after the match. “But look, at the end of the night, it just wasn’t our night. If you put one in the back of the net against these nations, they tend to fall apart a bit more. But we didn’t do that and kept them in the game. Obviously very tough, but you’ve got to give full credit to Bahrain.”
Japan Cruises Past China
Australia travel to Jakarta to face Indonesia in their second group match on Tuesday while Bahrain head home to host Japan in Riffa on the same day. The Samurai Blue cruised to a winning start as they thrashed China 7-0 at the Saitama Stadium. Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma gave Japan a two-goal lead at the interval in the Group C clash before Takumi Minamino hit a second-half brace. Junya Ito, Daizen Maeda and Takefusa Kubo added to the scoreline as China were comprehensively outplayed.
Argentina Dominates in South America
Argentina are now cruising towards confirming their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup being staged in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Alexis Mac Allister, Julian Alvarez and Paulo Dybala were on target as Argentina tightened their grip on South America’s 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament with a 3-0 win over Chile on Thursday.
Liverpool midfielder Mac Allister swept in a low finish three minutes after half-time to break the deadlock at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires against a defensive Chile side. Former Manchester City striker Alvarez doubled the lead in the 84th minute with a thumping shot from outside the area before substitute Dybala put the seal on the victory with a late strike in stoppage time. It was another clinical victory for the reigning world champions, who are now cruising towards confirming their place at the 2026 finals being staged in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Lionel Scaloni’s team lead South America’s 10-team round-robin qualifying table by five points after seven games. The top six teams in the final standings qualify automatically for the 2026 finals in North America with the seventh-placed team advancing to a playoff.
Bolivia Takes Advantage of Altitude
In Thursday’s other qualifier, Bolivia reignited their campaign with a 4-0 drubbing over Venezuela in a game played more than 4,000m (13,100 feet) above sea level. Goals from Ramiro Vaca, Carmelo Algaranaz, Miguel Terceros and Enzo Monteiro handed Bolivia only their second win of qualifying and lifted them into seventh place in the standings.
The result was a vindication of Bolivia’s move to play Thursday’s game in El Alto – Spanish for “The Heights” – rather than at their usual home venue in neighboring La Paz, which is 3,600m above sea level. The thin air of El Alto clearly left Venezuela’s players struggling for energy against a Bolivian team aiming to qualify for their first World Cup since reaching the 1994 finals in the United States. Despite his team’s heavy loss, Venezuela coach Fernando Batista refused to dwell on the altitude issue after the game. “Out of 10 questions, eight are about altitude,” Batista said. “You won’t hear anything from me about it.”
The pick of Bolivia’s goals came from Vaca after just 13 minutes. The 25-year-old midfielder gathered the ball around 30 yards from goal, cut in from the left and unleashed a ferocious shot which flew into the top corner.
Looking Ahead
Venezuela, the only team from South America never to have qualified for a World Cup, remain well-placed to reach the finals despite Thursday’s loss. The ‘Vinotinto’ are fourth in the standings with nine points from seven games, trailing Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia. Venezuela host Uruguay next Tuesday in their eighth game of qualifying. South America’s qualifiers continue on Friday with second-placed Uruguay hosting Paraguay in Montevideo while struggling Brazil, who are 11 points adrift of leaders Argentina in sixth, face Ecuador in Curitiba. Third-placed Colombia, meanwhile, travel to Lima to face bottom-of-the-table Peru.
