Who do the Socceroos play next? Australia's World Cup opponent confirmed
Australia has advanced to the World Cup knockout stages for just the second time in its history after a historic 1-0 victory over Denmark in the group stages. Despite losing their first game 4-1 against France, the Socceroos bounced back with two victories over Tunisia and Denmark to advance for the first time since 2006.
'NOT RIGHT': Graham Arnold's scathing swipe before Socceroos game
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Matthew Leckie superb solo effort shocked the football world and helped the Socceroos join the famous 2006 side as the only Australian teams to make it out of the group stage at a World Cup. But the 2022 side have already gone one better than their 2006 counterparts, becoming the first Socceroos team to win two matches at a World Cup.
Who does Australia play in the World Cup round of 16?
And after high drama in Group D, A Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina topped their group with a 2-0 win over Poland. This set-up a clash with the Socceroos in the round of 16.
Argentina fans have taken over stadiums during their World Cup games in Qatar and Australia will be tasked with stopping Messi's dream of lifting a World Cup in what is surely his final tournament.
#Qatar2022 π¨π‡οΈ
β«οΈ Netherlands-USA
β«οΈ Argentina-Australia
β«οΈ France-Poland
β«οΈ England-Senegalβ Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 30, 2022
Argentina v Australia. We're finally about to see if Lionel Messi can do it against Stoke's Harry Souttar.
β Paddy Power (@paddypower) November 30, 2022
Absolutely unbelievable from Australia. Souttar absolutely immense again, a moment of pure magic from Leckie, but every single player in gold and green truly brilliant out there in the last two games. Some team π #AUS
β Jack Collins (@jackjcollins) November 30, 2022
Argentina advanced after a poor start to their own World Cup campaign. Needing a win against Poland, they bounced back from a penalty miss and dominated the European nation to secure a 2-0 win and advancing as group C winners.
Goals from Enzo Fernandez and young star Julian Alvarez sent the stadium into raptures.
What time is the Australia game against Argentina?
Australia will face Argentina at 6am (AEST) on Sunday morning December 4. If Australia is to advance past Argentina they will face the winner of the Netherlands or USA in the quarter-final on December 10.
If Australia are to spring another upset, they could face either Brazil or Spain the quarter-final on December 14 at 6am.
π Argentina, Australia and Poland join France, and advance to the knockout stages of the ongoing World Cup in Qatar!!! π¦π·π¦πΊπ΅π±π«π· pic.twitter.com/W2OrleK77E
β Globe Soccer Awards (@Globe_Soccer) November 30, 2022
What coach Graham Arnold said after the famous victory
Following the match, coach Graham Arnold said the team were already looking at the next game. βNo celebrations,β he told SBS. βAs I said to the boys, thatβs why we won after a great win against Tunisia.
βNo celebrations, no emotion. Sleep. No social media...Just so proud of the effort by the boys. Short turnaround but their effort was incredible.
β[It took] a lot of belief, a lot of hard work. These boys come in with a great mindset. Weβve been working on this for four and a half years. We have the belief, the energy and the focus. I could see in their eyes that they were ready tonight.β
Goalscorer Leckie also praised the effort from Australia having left their all out on the field for their country. "We always knew we could do it. We believed as a group," Leckie said. "We had our doubters. With our spirit, our belief, our work ethic and how close we are as a group, it shows on the pitch.
"That last 15, 20 minutes, we battled until the end. It didn't matter what they threw at us, we weren't conceding."
The FIFA World Cup 2022 is on SBS and SBS on Demand.
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