Tony Popovic hails Socceroos spirit after positive qualifying window

A gritty draw against Asian heavyweights Japan will hopefully give Australia belief they are building a foundation on the road to the 2026 World Cup, Socceroos coach Tony Popovic said.

Australia held the Samurai Blue 1-1 in Saitama on Tuesday to grab a vital point in the third phase of Asian qualifying and set up a crunch match with Saudi Arabia in Melbourne next month.

Following on from last week’s 3-1 win over China in Adelaide, Australia earned four points from the qualifying window, with Popovic enjoying a positive start in charge since replacing Graham Arnold.

Socceroos have ‘nothing to fear’ from Japan

Australia lost to Bahrain and drew with Indonesia in their first two group games.

“It was wonderful character from the group. They’re very resilient, a lot of changes, players coming in for the first time and I’m just proud of the group,” Popovic told reporters.

“Hopefully that gives the players confidence moving forward that we’re building a foundation and hopefully next camp in November we can add some more layers to our football.”

Australia are second in Group C, five points behind Japan, but level on points with third-placed Saudi Arabia and fourth-placed Bahrain, who played a 0-0 draw in Jeddah.

The top two qualify automatically for the 2026 finals in North America.

The Socceroos, who arrived very late to the stadium after their team bus was caught in traffic, were in position to take all three points in Saitama when they went 1-0 up courtesy of an own goal. But their lead was cancelled out late on when Cameron Burgess put the ball into his own net.

Australia made six changes to the side that beat China but were second best in midfield and toothless in attack, registering just one shot at goal, which failed to hit the target.

Popovic said Australia needed improvement across the board, not just up front. “It’s not just creativity. We need to improve all over the park,” he said. “We tried to play. They’re (Japan) excellent, you know, they win the ball quickly.

“We had half-moments (which) we just couldn’t capitalise on but that’s an area we need to improve. Moving forward, I’m sure we will.”