IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup qualifiers played on Tuesday
Australia book WC berth with win over Saudi as Oman deny Palestine
Australia sealed qualification for the World Cup on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in Jeddah while Oman kept their hopes of a place at the finals alive with a last-gasp 1-1 draw against Palestine in Jordan.
The Socceroos only had to avoid a five-goal defeat to confirm their appearance at a sixth consecutive finals and goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke earned the Australians a come-from-behind win to brush aside the Saudis.
Abdulrahman Al-Obud had given the home side a glimmer of hope when he netted from close range in the 19th minute but Metcalfe equalised with three minutes left in the half to extinguish Saudi dreams.
Duke then put the visitors in front in the 48th minute when he glanced Martin Boyle's free kick past Nawaf Al-Aqidi before Mat Ryan, making his 100th appearance for his country, saved a late penalty save to deny Salem Al-Dawsari an equaliser.
The win confirms the Australians as second-place finisher in Group C behind Japan, who secured their spot at the finals in March.
"It is special. It probably hasn't sunk in yet," said Tony Popovic, who took over as coach last September after Australia made a stuttering start to the third round of qualifying.
"It's been a very intense period since I've joined. We've built a good foundation now (but) we want to really get better, kick on and try and do something special at the World Cup."
Saudi Arabia took third place in Group C and will feature in a fourth phase of qualifiers in October alongside Indonesia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Oman.
The Omanis kept their hopes alive at the expense of Palestine as Issam Al-Sabhi's penalty deep into stoppage time earned the Gulf side a draw that kept them in fourth place in Group B.
A header by Oday Kharoub gave Palestine a 49th-minute lead and a second yellow card for Oman's Harib Al-Saadi had put Ihab Abu Jazar's side in control until the dying minutes, when Muhsen Al-Ghassani was brought down in the area.
Al-Sabhi stepped up to send goalkeeper Rami Hamada the wrong way to seal fourth place in the group for Oman and eliminate the heartbroken Palestinians.
Earlier in the evening, Japan crushed Indonesia 6-0 with Daichi Kamada scoring twice in the first half in Osaka as the Samurai Blue won Group C while Wang Yudong's late penalty had China finish their campaign with a 1-0 win over Bahrain.
Iran confirmed themselves as Group A winners with a 3-0 win over North Korea that came after Kye Tam was sent off for the visitors with 24 minutes remaining in Tehran.
Mehdi Mohebi, Mehdi Taremi and Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh were all on target in the last 16 minutes to guarantee first place for the Iranians, who had secured their berth in March.
Already-qualified Uzbekistan took second spot with a 3-0 win against Qatar in Tashkent while the United Arab Emirates claimed third ahead of the Qataris despite conceding a late goal to draw 1-1 with Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek.
South Korea completed their commitments in Group B with a 4-0 thrashing of Kuwait to ensure Hong Myung-bo's World Cup-bound outfit topped the standings with an unbeaten record.
Jordan, who qualified for their first World Cup on Thursday, finished second in Group B despite losing 1-0 to Graham Arnold's Iraq in Amman.
Depay equals scoring record as Dutch thrash Malta
Memphis Depay scored twice to equal the Netherlands' goal-scoring record as the Dutch hammered Malta 8-0 on Tuesday for a second successive World Cup qualifying victory.
Depay converted a ninth-minute penalty and fired home a powerful shot seven minutes later to match Robin van Persie’s record of 50 goals for the Dutch national team. Both achieved the tally in 102 appearances.
Substitute Donyell Malen also scored a double with captain Virgil van Dijk, Xavi Simons, Noa Lang and Micky van de Ven adding the other goals as the Dutch won a second Group G qualifier after beating Finland in Helsinki on Saturday.
Depay’s opener at the Euroborg stadium came after Justin Kluivert was clipped in the penalty area, followed swiftly by his 50th goal for his country.
That proved a much more impressive effort as the ball was pulled back from the byline for Depay to thrash it home from the edge of the area.
Van Dijk made it 3-0 after 20 minutes with an impressive shot from the edge of the area not dissimilar to Depay’s effort while Simons slid home the ball from an acute angle for the fourth in the 61st minute after the Dutch had squandered a plethora of chances.
But they made up for that with four goals in the last 16 minutes as substitute Malen took over the running of the game.
The Aston Villa attacker netted the fifth after Van de Ven pulled the ball back for him in the 74th minute before setting up Lang for the sixth four minutes later with a clever square pass that was perfectly timed.
Malen then netted his second in the 80th minute before Van de Ven, who had been marauding on the left flank most of the game, put the seal on the result in stoppage time with a volleyed strike as Malta failed to clear.
Dutch coach Ronald Koeman left out players who had been booked against Finland because he wanted no suspensions for their next tie at home against Poland in September, which could be the key game in the group.
Finland go top of qualifying group with 2-1 win over Poland
Goals from Joel Pohjanpalo and Benjamin Kallman earned Finland a 2-1 home win over Poland in Helsinki on Tuesday to send the hosts top of their World Cup qualifying group.
The home side took a 31st-minute lead when Polish keeper Lukasz Skorupski was dispossessed by Finland forward Pohjanpalo. Skorupski then fouled Robin Lod and Pohjanpalo converted the resulting penalty.
Finland doubled their advantage in the 64th minute when Oliver Antman's squared ball across the area was fired home by substitute Kallman but Jakub Kiwior bundled the ball into the net five minutes later to pull one back for Poland.
A serious medical emergency in the stands led to a long suspension of play in the 80th minute but Poland were unable to find another goal and Finland, looking to qualify for their first World Cup, held on to take all three points.
Poland's preparation had been overshadowed by Robert Lewandowski's decision not to play under current coach Michal Probierz after he was stripped of the captaincy, with Piotr Zielinski, currently injured, taking over.
Finland are on seven points after four games in Group G, one point ahead of the Netherlands who hammered Malta 8-0, but the Dutch have two games in hand. Poland are third, also on six points with three games played.
Uruguay near World Cup qualification with 2-0 win over Venezuela
Uruguay took a step closer to securing a 2026 World Cup spot with a 2-0 home victory over Venezuela at the Estadio Centenario on Tuesday, a victory which also snapped a four-match winless run in South American qualifiers.
Uruguay dominated much of the first half but struggled to break down a well-organised Venezuelan defence until Rodrigo Aguirre put the hosts ahead in the 42nd minute, heading in at the far post from a Maxi Araujo corner.
Giorgian De Arrascaeta doubled Uruguay's lead just two minutes into the second half, firing a superb shot into the top-left corner to seal a win that secures Marcelo Bielsa's side of at least an inter-confederation playoff berth.
In other qualifiers, Colombia led already-qualified Argentina 1-0 at halftime thanks to a Luis Díaz goal, while second-placed Ecuador can secure a World Cup spot if they avoid defeat in Peru.
In Sao Paulo, Paraguay will qualify with a win or a draw against Brazil, while the hosts can book their place in the tournament with a victory.
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