HANGZHOU: Australia beat China 2-0 on Tuesday to boost their chances of automatic World Cup qualification, but Saudi Arabia stayed in touch in Group ‘C’ with a goalless draw in Japan.

In Asian Group ‘B’, Son Heung-min’s South Korea remain top and favourites to progress, but they put in another toothless performance to be held at home for the second match in a row.

Australia’s victory leaves the Socceroos second in Group ‘C’ on 13 points with two to play, three points ahead of Saudi Arabia with a much better goal difference.

Japan are already guaranteed to finish top and progress to the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Australia host Japan and travel to Saudi Arabia for their final qualifiers in June, leaving the race for the second direct qualification place on a knife edge.

Jackson Irvine curled home the opener for Australia in Hangzhou in the 16th minute after sloppy Chinese defending.

Then a terrible blunder by goalkeeper Wang Dalei allowed Nishan Velupillay’s scuffed shot to squirm through his grasp and trickle over the line in the 29th minute.

The result leaves China bottom on six points, but they can progress to a further qualifying stage by finishing third or fourth.

Meanwhile, Indonesia moved into fourth on nine points courtesy of a 1-0 win over Bahrain.

Oxford United forward Ole Romeny scored his second goal in as many games to give Netherlands and Barcelona great Patrick Kluivert his first victory since becoming manager.

In Group ‘B’, South Korea drew 1-1 with second-placed Jordan in Suwon after registering the same scoreline against Oman last week.

Two wins would have seen South Korea qualify for the tournament with two matches to spare.

Now they face a tricky away trip to Iraq in June and a final home clash against Kuwait needing four points to be certain of progressing without having to rely on other results.

Jordan are three points behind South Korea but Iraq can leapfrog them and close the gap to one point at the top of Group ‘B’ if they beat Palestine in Amman later.

Lee Jae-sung put the hosts ahead in the fifth minute when he turned in Son’s corner unmarked from close range.

But that was as good as it got for the Koreans, who had the lion’s share of possession but lacked penetration in attack.

Jordan carried a threat on the break and equalised through Mahmoud Al Mardi’s deflected shot in the 30th minute.

In Saitama, Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard knew that the point gained in their 0-0 draw against Japan could prove invaluable.

“There are still two games, everything can happen,” said the Frenchman. “It’s a tough fight. We just have to think about the four points we got during these two games and we look to be better offensively.”

Renard led the Saudis to a famous victory over eventual winners Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and he returned for a second stint in October when Roberto Mancini was sacked.

Japan became the first team to qualify for next year’s World Cup when they beat Bahrain 2-0 last week.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025