Australia and India face off as both teams are looking to carry their cricket rivalry into the contest. After winning all three of their third-round matches and finishing first in their Asian qualification group in the second round, India qualified for the tournament for the second time in a row, while the Socceroos will be participating for the fifth time in this competition.
Preview (Australia vs. India)
With their impressive performance at the last World Cup, where they advanced to the round of 16, the Socceroos are coming into this tournament with higher hopes than when they punched their way into the 2023 Asian Cup years ago. Due to Graham Arnold’s ability to get the most out of this team, Australia has won their previous five competitive games against Asian nations, including a 2-0 victory against Bahrain last weekend. They have defeated their last three Asian opponents by a total score of 10-0. They have not lost to an opponent from that region since March 2022 (a 1-0 loss to Saudi Arabia).
Since their debut in this competition in 2007, the Socceroos have advanced past the group stage every time. Four years ago, they won all three of their group matches. The Australians are now rated 25th in FIFA’s Asia rankings. They are expected to challenge for the championship. They did so in 2015 when they hosted the tournament at home and finished second in Qatar. This was the Socceroos’ first big tournament loss in Al Rayyan when they were defeated 2-1 by Argentina.
India has qualified for consecutive Asian Cups for the first time in their football history. They gave up just one goal in the qualifying round’s third round. However, it seems that their manager, Igor Stimac, is less concerned. He wants to make sure his team advances to the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualification and is instead downplaying the significance of this competition. The Blue Tigers have only scored once in their first two games. are They are currently tied with Kuwait for the second-best spot in Group A of World Cup qualification. They are behind on goal differential.
Team News
Against Bahrain, Gethin Jones earned his first cap for the Socceroos. He started at right-back before Nathaniel Atkinson took his place late in the second half. John Iredale and Patrick Yazbek were not used as substitutes and are still vying for their maiden senior team debuts. Joel Silvera of Middlesbrough got his first career start for Australia last weekend. Mathew Ryan is still one cap behind Alex Tobin for fifth place all-time with 87. Joe Gauci made just his second appearance in goal for the national side and recorded his first clean sheet.
After a Craig Goodwin cross forced Bahraini defender Amine Benadi to give up an own goal, the Al-Wehda striker set up Mitchell Duke for his 12th goal for his country. The only players to remain in the starting lineup for both games were captain Sunil Chhetri, Nikhil Poojary, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Rahul Bheke, Lalengmawia Ralte, and Sandesh Jhingan. Stimac made numerous changes to the India starting 11 between their first and second World Cup qualifying match.
While Udanta Singh Kumam is two caps away from reaching 50. Vikram Partap Singh, Deepak Tangri, and Lalchungnunga all made their first senior appearances in their previous matchup against Qatar (a 3-0 loss). In their triumph over Kuwait in November of last year, Manvir Singh scored his sixth goal for his country. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu kept the score clean.
Australia 2-0 India
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