Despite World Cup expansion, this will be no cakewalk for Socceroos

Football is a game of fine margins, on and off the field. Just ask Graham Arnold, who wasThe meticulous Arnold spotted from a mile out that they might really matter on the road to the 2026 World Cup — so much that, in the lead-up to January’s Asian Cup in Qatar, he was talking not only about winning matches for the benefit of their hopes at that tournament, but to ensure they would continue rising up FIFA’s world rankings.It came off a bit weird of the time, but he was right.

In Riyadh, on the final match day of the AFC’s second qualifying round, Saudi Arabia were upset 2-1 by Jordan. As a result, they dropped down three places to No.56 in the world. Meanwhile, Iraq moved up three places to No.55. They are separated by 1.77 points. And so Iraq were in pot two with the Socceroos, and the Saudis slid down to pot three, which made them the most dangerous floater in the draw.

When FIFA announced the World Cup would be expanding from 32 to 48 teams, and Asia going from 4.5 direct slots to 8.5, it seemed as if all the tension would be drained from Australia’s qualification campaigns. It still may be that the Socceroos will continue their streak of World Cup appearances for a long time to come.

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