Kuala Lumpur: It was always going to be a battle for Australia who - for the second successive edition - had to earn their place in the Finals through playoffs.
Graham Arnold's side were drawn in Group D with defending champions France, Denmark and Tunisia, with all three teams ranked higher than the Socceroos.
Group stage results
vs France 1-4
vs Tunisia 1-0
vs Denmark 1-0
Australia kicked off their campaign against Kylian Mbappe's France and showed their determination by taking a ninth minute lead through Craig Goodwin.
It was an advantage they held for 18 minutes but there was no stopping France once Adrien Rabiot equalised in the 27th minute.
Olivier Giroud put France ahead five minutes later with Mbappe scoring the first of his eventual eight Qatar 2022 goals in the 68th minute.
Giroud netted his second in the 71st minute but despite the heavy defeat, Australia knew their fate was still very much in their own hands.
Victories over Tunisia and Denmark would take them through to the knockout stage for only the second time but to achieve this, the Socceroos had to do something previous Australian sides had failed to do - win consecutive matches at the FIFA World Cup.
Australia - having last appeared in the knockout stage in 2006 - were on a mission and Mitchell Duke's 23rd minute goal secured them victory over Tunisia.
That meant a place in the Round of 16 would be theirs with victory over Denmark, irrespective of how the Tunisia-France tie ended.
Another resilient Australian performance saw Mathew Leckie’s sensational 60th minute strike sealing the win and taking Australia through as the first Asian team into the Qatar 2022 knockout stage.
Round of 16
vs Argentina 1-2
Australia's reward for their group stage heroics was a last-16 clash against eventual champions Argentina.
The South American side had overcome the shock of losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in their opening clash to top Group C.
With Messi getting better with each match, Argentina were the overwhelming favourites going into the tie at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
The match looked to be following the script when Messi opened the scoring in the 35th minute - his third of the tournament - with Julian Alvarez adding Argentina's second in the 57th minute.
Australia, however, were far from done and roused themselves when Enzo Fernandez deflected Goodwin’s strike past goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the 77th minute.
That set the stage for a grandstand finish with both teams going close and the final outcome of the tournament could well have been different had Aziz Behich and Garang Kuol not been denied goals in the final minutes of the pulsating tie.
Australia coach Graham Arnold said, “I just hope everyone back in Australia really respects what we’ve done. I’ve got to be very, very proud of the boys. Just so grateful at the effort they’ve put in for me.
“Even when we’ve succeeded I think we’ve failed. I just want to win so badly, for the nation and for the game of football in Australia. Making the last 16 for me wasn’t enough, I wanted more. But that’s just me. I know a lot of other people might be happy with it but that’s the way I am.
“Again we’ve got a lot to look at in Australian football. It’s a sport that unites a nation, it’s one of the two teams that does unite the nation. You can see how crazy fans are about football."
“We need to spend money and get help from the government, to put some money into the game and help develop kids. One thing I would really love to see before I finish up completely in football is that the government build us a home.”
Source: AFC
