Australia at the FIFA World Cup

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For the women's team, see Australia at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Australian Peter Wilson with East German Bernd Bransch before their match at the 1974 FIFA World Cup

This article summarizes the results and overall performances of Australia at the FIFA World Cup.

Australia has qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals on five occasions: in 1974, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.[1] They have also attempted to qualify through to the FIFA World Cup, 15 times with their first attempt being in 1966 when they lost to North Korea.

In Australia's first appearance, representing OFC, a team made up entirely of amateurs secured a scoreless draw against Chile, though eventually departed from the 1974 tournament without a goal to show from their inaugural appearance. Australia made up for lost time at Germany 2006 and qualified for the Round of 16 before narrowly falling to eventual champions Italy. The German theme continued at South Africa 2010 although this time Australia, now representing the AFC, suffered a 4–0 loss against the European giants in a scoreline which ultimately scuppered their progress. A ten-man 1–1 draw against Ghana and a 2–1 win against Serbia saw Australia eliminated on goal difference, three goals off the Africans. Australia were to lose all three games in a tough group at Brazil 2014.

FIFA World Cup record[]

Australia's FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Pos Pld W D* L GF GA Squad Outcome Pld W D L GF GA Confederation
Uruguay 1930 Did not participate Did not participate
Kingdom of Italy 1934
French Third Republic 1938
Fourth Brazilian Republic 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962
England 1966 Did Not Qualify Play-off 2 0 0 2 2 9 CAF/AFC/OFC
Mexico 1970 Play-off 9 3 5 1 12 8 AFC/OFC
West Germany 1974 Group stage 14th 3 0 1 2 0 5 Squad Play-off 11 5 5 1 21 10
Argentina 1978 Did Not Qualify 4th 12 6 2 4 20 11
Spain 1982 2nd 8 4 2 2 22 9
Mexico 1986 Play-off 8 4 3 1 20 4 OFC
Italy 1990 2nd 6 2 2 2 11 7
United States 1994 Play-off 10 7 1 2 21 7
France 1998 Play-off 8 6 2 0 34 5
South Korea Japan 2002 Play-off 8 7 0 1 73 4
Germany 2006 Round of 16 16th 4 1 1 2 5 6 Squad Play-off 9 7 1 1 31 5
South Africa 2010 Group stage 21st 3 1 1 1 3 6 Squad 1st 14 9 3 2 19 4 AFC
Brazil 2014 30th 3 0 0 3 3 9 Squad 2nd 14 8 4 2 25 12
Russia 2018 3 0 1 2 2 5 Squad Play-off 22 14 6 2 51 18
Qatar 2022 To be determined in progress 14 11 2 1 37 6
Mexico Canada United States 2026
Total Round of 16 5/23 16 2 4 10 13 31 155 93 38 24 399 119
  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place Home venue

Record by opponent[]

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent Pld W D L GF GA
 Brazil 1 0 0 1 0 2
 Chile 2 0 1 1 1 3
 Croatia 1 0 1 0 2 2
 Denmark 1 0 1 0 1 1
 East Germany 1 0 0 1 0 2
 France 1 0 0 1 1 2
 Germany* 2 0 0 2 0 7
 Ghana 1 0 1 0 1 1
 Italy 1 0 0 1 0 1
 Japan 1 1 0 0 3 1
 Netherlands 1 0 0 1 2 3
 Peru 1 0 0 1 0 2
 Serbia 1 1 0 0 2 1
 Spain 1 0 0 1 0 3
  • Games against West Germany are included in statistics of Germany.

1974 FIFA World Cup[]

See also: 1974 FIFA World Cup

Group 1[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 East Germany 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 5
 West Germany 3 2 0 1 4 1 +3 4
 Chile 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2
 Australia 3 0 1 2 0 5 −5 1
East Germany 2 – 0 Australia
Curran Goal 58' (o.g.)
Streich Goal 72'		 Report
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: (Senegal)
Australia 0 – 3 West Germany
Report Goal 12' Overath
Goal 34' Cullmann
Goal 53' Müller
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: (Egypt)
Australia 0 – 0 Chile
Report
Olympic Stadium, West Berlin
Attendance: 14,681
Referee: Jafar Namdar (Iran)

2006 FIFA World Cup[]

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup Group F


Group F[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Brazil 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9
 Australia 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4
 Croatia 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2
 Japan 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1
Australia 3–1 Japan
Cahill Goal 84', 89'
Aloisi Goal 90+2'		 Report Goal 26' Nakamura
Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern
Attendance: 46,000
Referee: Essam Abd El Fatah (Egypt)
Brazil 2–0 Australia
Adriano Goal 49'
Fred Goal 90'		 Report
Allianz Arena, Munich
Attendance: 66,000
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)
Croatia 2–2 Australia
Srna Goal 2'
N. Kovač Goal 56'
Šimić Yellow card 32' Yellow-red card 85'
Šimunić Yellow card 61' Yellow card 90' Yellow-red card 90+3' (Note1)		 Report Goal 38' (pen.) Moore
Goal 79' Kewell
Emerton Yellow card 81' Yellow-red card 87'
Attendance: 52,000
Referee: Graham Poll (England)

Note 1: Šimunić was given three yellow cards in the match: the referee (Graham Poll) failed to send him off the pitch after the second yellow, and was only red carded after the third yellow.

Round of 16[]

Italy 1–0 Australia
Totti Goal 90+5' (pen.)
Materazzi Red card 50'		 Report
Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern
Attendance: 46,000
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)

2010 FIFA World Cup[]

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group D

Group D[]

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Germany 3 2 0 1 5 1 +4 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Ghana 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
3  Australia 3 1 1 1 3 6 −3 4
4  Serbia 3 1 0 2 2 3 −1 3
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria


Germany 4–0 Australia
  • Podolski Goal 8'
  • Klose Goal 26'
  • Müller Goal 68'
  • Cacau Goal 70'
 Report Cahill Red card 56'
Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
Attendance: 62,660
Referee: Marco Antonio Rodríguez (Mexico)[2]
Ghana 1–1 Australia
Gyan Goal 25' (pen.) Report
Attendance: 34,812
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)[3]
Australia 2–1 Serbia
Cahill Goal 69'
Holman Goal 73'		 Report Pantelić Goal 84'
Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Attendance: 37,836
Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)

2014 FIFA World Cup[]

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup Group B

Group B[]

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 3 3 0 0 10 3 +7 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Chile 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6
3  Spain 3 1 0 2 4 7 −3 3
4  Australia 3 0 0 3 3 9 −6 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
Chile 3–1 Australia
 Report Cahill Goal 35'
Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá
Attendance: 40,275
Australia 2–3 Netherlands
  • Cahill Goal 21'
  • Jedinak Goal 54' (pen.)
 Report
  • Robben Goal 20'
  • van Persie Goal 58'
  • Memphis Goal 68'
Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre
Attendance: 42,877
Australia 0–3 Spain
Report
  • Villa Goal 36'
  • Torres Goal 69'
  • Mata Goal 82'
Arena da Baixada, Curitiba
Attendance: 39,375

2018 FIFA World Cup[]

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group C

Group C[]

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Denmark 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 5
3  Peru 3 1 0 2 2 2 0 3
4  Australia 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
France 2–1 Australia
  • Griezmann Goal 58' (pen.)
  • Behich Goal 81' (o.g.)
 Report
  • Jedinak Goal 62' (pen.)
Kazan Arena, Kazan
Attendance: 41,279[4]
Referee: Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)
Denmark 1–1 Australia
  • Eriksen Goal 7'
 Report
  • Jedinak Goal 38' (pen.)
Cosmos Arena, Samara
Attendance: 40,727[5]
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
Australia 0–2 Peru
Report
Attendance: 44,073[6]

Goalscorers[]

See also: List of FIFA World Cup goalscorers
Tim Cahill, Australia's all-time top scorer and joint record player at World Cups in 2009.
Player Goals 1974 2006 2010 2014 2018
Tim Cahill 5 2 1 2
Mile Jedinak 3 1 2
Brett Holman 2 2
John Aloisi 1 1
Harry Kewell 1 1
Craig Moore 1 1
Total 13 0 5 3 3 2
Own goals scored for opponents

Most appearances[]

No Player Appearances World Cups
1 Mark Bresciano 9 2006, 2010, 2014
Tim Cahill 9 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018
3 Scott Chipperfield 7 2006, 2010
Jason Culina 7 2006, 2010
Lucas Neill 7 2006, 2010
Mile Jedinak 7 2010, 2014, 2018
7 Mark Schwarzer 6 2006, 2010
Brett Emerton 6 2006, 2010
Craig Moore 6 2006, 2010
Matthew Leckie 6 2014, 2018
Mathew Ryan 6 2014, 2018

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Country Info". FIFA. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Referee designations for matches 1-16" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 5 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  3. ^ "Referee designations for matches 17-24" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  4. ^ "Match report – Group C – France v Australia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Match report – Group C – Denmark v Australia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Match report – Group C – Australia v Peru" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
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