Bahrain shocked Australia 1-0 after a past due personal intention from defender Harry Souttar inside the establishing suit of the 0.33 round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast on Thursday. The Bahrainis celebrated wildly after the very last whistle, having overwhelmed Australia for the primary time in seven tries and made the perfect begin to their bid to qualify for the finals for the first time. The Socceroos have been already all the way down to 10 guys after the dismissal of Kusini Yengi but the Group C contest nonetheless seemed destined to stop goalless until Abdullah Al-Khalasi was released down the left wing trying to get the ball into the box in the 89th minute. Defender Al-Khalasi were given his pass far from the threshold of the place and it took a depraved deflection off centre 1/2 Souttar which wrongfooted Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who watched helplessly as it went past him into the internet. The crowd of 24,644 who had became out looking ahead to a fifth directly Australia victory were taken aback into silence and the efforts of the Socceroos to get back on degree terms in six mins of stoppage time proved fruitless. Substitute Mitch Duke had the best danger to equalise from an Awer Mabil loose kick two minutes from the very last whistle but the striker turned into unable to get his header heading in the right direction from the centre of the container. “It’s a studying curve for the gamers,” stated Australia teach Graham Arnold. “But look at the end of the night, it become simply wasn’t our night time. “If you put one in the returned of the internet against these countries, they have a tendency to crumble a piece extra. But we didn’t try this and stored them in the game. “Obviously very tough but you’ve got to provide full credit to Bahrain.” Australia, aiming for a sixth immediately appearance at the World Cup finals, ruled ownership however had few clear probabilities and had been frustrated for the duration of the competition via a nicely-organised and technically adept Bahrain aspect. The Australian cause turned into no longer helped with the aid of the crimson card shown to striker Yengi, which decreased the home aspect to 10 guys for the closing 14 minutes. Yengi were given his foot too excessive when difficult Ali Haram for the ball and scraped his boot throughout the throat of the Bahrain midfielder, the dismissal confirmed through VAR. Australia tour to Jakarta to face Indonesia in their second organization match subsequent Tuesday, while Bahrain head domestic to host Japan in Riffa on the equal day. The pinnacle from each of the three organizations progresses without delay to the 2026 finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada with the 1/3 and fourth located groups going into some other round of qualifying.(Reuters) – Bahrain shocked Australia 1-0 after a overdue personal intention from defender Harry Souttar inside the establishing suit of the 1/3 round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup at Robina Stadium at the Gold Coast on Thursday. The Bahrainis celebrated wildly after the very last whistle, having beaten Australia for the first time in seven tries and made the suitable start to their bid to qualify for the finals for the first time. The Socceroos had been already down to 10 men after the dismissal of Kusini Yengi however the Group C contest nonetheless appeared destined to give up goalless until Abdullah Al-Khalasi become launched down the left wing looking to get the ball into the field within the 89th minute. Defender Al-Khalasi were given his move far from the brink of the region and it took a wicked deflection off centre half of Souttar which wrongfooted Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who watched helplessly as it went beyond him into the internet. The crowd of 24,644 who had became out watching for a fifth straight Australia victory were taken aback into silence and the efforts of the Socceroos to get again on degree terms in six minutes of stoppage time proved fruitless. Substitute Mitch Duke had the nice chance to equalise from an Awer Mabil loose kick minutes from the very last whistle however the striker was not able to get his header on target from the centre of the container. “It’s a studying curve for the gamers,” stated Australia coach Graham Arnold. “But have a look at the quit of the night, it became just wasn’t our night time. “If you put one in the lower back of the internet against these countries, they tend to fall apart a piece greater. But we did not do that and stored them in the sport. “Obviously very difficult however you have to give full credit score to Bahrain.” Australia, aiming for a 6th instantly look at the World Cup finals, ruled ownership but had few clean probabilities and have been frustrated at some stage in the competition through a nicely-organised and technically adept Bahrain facet. The Australian reason changed into now not helped through the pink card shown to striker Yengi, which reduced the home facet to ten men for the last 14 mins. Yengi got his foot too excessive when tough Ali Haram for the ball and scraped his boot across the throat of the Bahrain midfielder, the dismissal confirmed through VAR. Australia journey to Jakarta to face Indonesia in their 2d organization match next Tuesday, at the same time as Bahrain head domestic to host Japan in Riffa on the same day. The pinnacle two from each of the three companies progresses without delay to the 2026 finals within the United States, Mexico and Canada with the 1/3 and fourth placed groups going into any other round of qualifying.
