With Asian World Cup Qualifying heating up, Australia will welcome Indonesia to Sydney for a crucial contest on Thursday.
The hosts currently hold the second and final automatic qualifying spot for next year’s competition but only lead the visitors and the other three teams in the group by a single point.
Match preview
© Imago
Australia return to action for the first time in 2025 on Thursday aiming to strengthen their bid to reach the 2026 World Cup for a sixth straight appearance on the global stage.
After reaching the final 16 in 2022, the Socceroos began their latest bid in the second round of Asian qualifying and booked a third-round group spot by advancing with a perfect record, winning all six games in Group I while scoring 22 goals and not conceding.
Then entering their third-round group in September hoping for a top-two finish and subsequent World Cup group-stage spot in 2026, they experienced a tougher start, losing to Bahrain and drawing with Thursday’s visitors before Tony Popovic took over as manager from long-serving boss Graham Arnold.
The Socceroos have since gone unbeaten in their last four outings, albeit only winning the first of those against China, before going on to share the points in draws with Japan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain late last year, with Kusini Yengi drawing them level in injury time against the latter with his second goal of the game.
Now sitting second in Group C after six of their 10 games, but with Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and China all a single point behind, Australia will hope to bounce back to winning ways in their first game of the year on Thursday and strengthen their position in the top two.
Their visitors, meanwhile, head to Sydney hoping to leapfrog the hosts and take a top-two spot for themselves heading into the final three outings, in their bid to reach a first-ever World Cup next year.
Indonesia began their latest qualifying campaign in the first round and cruised through with a 12-0 aggregate beating of Brunei, before advancing to the third round with a second-placed group finish having earned 10 points from their six matches.
Then on the back of three straight draws, including their stalemate with Australia, and consecutive defeats, the Merah Putih moved into contention for second place with a 2-0 home victory over Saudi Arabia in mid-November thanks to a brace from Marselino Ferdinan.
Now most recently on the back of an unsuccessful ASEAN Championship bid late last year and under the new management of Patrick Kluivert, Indonesia also play their first football of 2025 hoping to move into Group C’s top two and ahead of their hosts.
- L
- D
- W
- D
- D
- D
- L
- W
- W
- D
- L
- L
Team News
© Imago
Australia are without several important players heading into the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers, with defender Harry Souttar and midfielders Massimo Luongo and Riley McGree unable to feature due to long-term injuries.
Kusini Yengi should continue to lead their attack, having moved onto six goals in 11 caps for the Socceroos with a brace against Bahrain last time out, while Martin Boyle may join Craig Goodwin in support of the front man.
Elsewhere, Anthony Caceres and Aiden O’Neill will compete to join Jackson Irvine in midfield, while Kye Rowles and Milos Degenek could line up in a back three alongside Ipswich Town’s Christian Burgess in the absence of Souttar and Hayden Matthews.
Indonesia are without midfielder Egy Maulana due to an injury, while defenders Asnawi Mangkualam and Elkan Baggott are also not involved in the latest squad.
Marselino Ferdinan should again take up an attacking midfield role, having netted five international goals including two in their win over Saudi Arabia last time out in qualifying.
He could support the strike pairing of Rafael Struick and Ramadhan Sananta, while 31-year-old Joey Pelupessy will hope to earn a debut in midfield, having been called up to the national team for the first time after declaring for the Merah Putih recently.
Australia possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Rowles, Degenek, Burgess; Miller, O’Neill, Irvine, Behich; Goodwin, Yengi, Boyle
Indonesia possible starting lineup:
Paes; Idzes, Hubner, Ridho; Walsh, Haye, Pelupessy, Arhan; Ferdinan; Struick, Sananta
We say: Australia 2-0 Indonesia
The two nations drew in their first meeting last year and are only separated by a single point in third-round qualifying, but we see Australia coming out on top on Thursday thanks to home advantage and the superior quality in their squad.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
