Surprise Victory for Bahrain as 10-man Australia Suffer Late Own Goal in World Cup Qualifier

On September 5, at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast, Bahrain pulled off a shocking 1-0 victory over Australia in the opening match of the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The winning goal came in the form of a late own goal from defender Harry Souttar, leaving the home crowd stunned.

The Bahrainis celebrated wildly after the final whistle, having beaten Australia, who are ranked 56 places higher, for the first time in eight attempts and made the perfect start to their bid to qualify for the Finals for the first time.

The Socceroos were already down to 10 men after the dismissal of Kusini Yengi, but the Group C contest still looked destined to end goalless until Abdullah Al-Khalasi was released down the left wing looking to get the ball into the box in the 89th minute.

Defender Al-Khalasi got his cross away from the edge of the area and it took a wicked deflection off centre-half Souttar which wrongfooted Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who watched helplessly as it went past him into the net.

The crowd of 24,644 who had turned out expecting a fifth straight Australia victory were stunned into silence and the efforts of the Socceroos to get back on level terms in six minutes of stoppage time proved fruitless.

Substitute Mitch Duke had the best chance to equalise from an Awer Mabil free kick two minutes from the final whistle, but the striker was unable to get his header on target from the centre of the box.

“It’s a learning curve for the players. But look at the end of the night, it was just wasn’t our night,” said Australia coach Graham Arnold.

“If you put one in the back of the net against these nations, they tend to fall apart a bit more. But we didn’t do that and kept them in the game. Obviously very tough, but you’ve got to give full credit to Bahrain.”

Australia, aiming for a sixth straight appearance at the World Cup Finals, dominated possession but had few clear chances and were frustrated throughout the contest by a well-organised and technically adept Bahrain side.

The Australian cause was not helped by the red card shown to striker Yengi, which reduced the home side to 10 men for the last 13 minutes.

Yengi got his foot too high when challenging Ali Haram for the ball and scraped his boot across the throat of the Bahrain midfielder, the dismissal confirmed by VAR.

In another Group C encounter, Japan cruised to a winning start as Hajime Moriyasu’s side thrashed China 7-0 at Saitama Stadium on Sept 5.

Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma gave Japan a two-goal lead at the interval, before Takumi Minamino hit a second-half brace. Junya Ito, Daizen Maeda and Takefusa Kubo added to the scoreline as Branko Ivankovic’s side were comprehensively outplayed.

Skipper Endo said the win “wasn’t easy” despite the one-sided scoreline.

“We came onto the pitch with positive energy. We got the first goal from a set piece, and then we played our own football and the goals kept coming. We got the three points, and it was a great game,” he said.

It was a night to forget for China, who squeezed into the third qualifying round thanks to a superior head-to-head record over Thailand.

“Japan are very strong. They are the top team in Asia and it’s not just Asia – they are a world-class team. We will work together and see if there is anything we can learn from this game,” said Ivankovic.

In the later Group B clash, Hong Myung-bo’s first game as South Korea boss since he was reappointed in July turned out to be disappointing after his star-studded side were held to a goal-less draw at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

The flat performance in front of over 59,000 fans churned out boos, as Palestine, ranked world No. 96 to the home side’s 23, secured a point in their debut at this stage of qualification.

Australia travel to Jakarta to face Indonesia in their second group match on Sept 10, while Bahrain head home to host Japan in Riffa on the same day. Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are the other two sides in Group C.

Also on the same day, South Korea will travel to Muscat to take on Oman in their Group B match.

The top two from each of the three groups progress directly to the 2026 Finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with the third and fourth-placed teams going into another round of qualifying. , AFP