Minute-by-minute: Join Jonathan Howcroft for live updates from the first of the Socceroos’ two matches on home soil against the Cedars
Kusini Yengi warms up before the Socceroos face Lebanon in the first of two World Cup qualifiers in Australia. Kick-off at Commbank Stadium in Sydney is 8.10pm. Follow for live scores and updates.Kusini Yengi warms up before the Socceroos face Lebanon in the first of two World Cup qualifiers in Australia.
Kick-off at Commbank Stadium in Sydney is 8.10pm. Follow for live scores and updates.Australia’s selection stocks are hardly overflowing, and the challenges facing Graham Arnold are not being helped by the old club vs country argument rearing its head again.If Josh Nisbet makes his international debut tonight the 1.6m Mariner will become the shortest Socceroo in history. I presume. I don’t know if there’s a list of heights somewhere, but he’d have to be at the bottom, right? He’s tiny. Even if he doesn’t get a cap tonight hopefully Nisbet will spend some time in the vicinity of the 1.98m Harry Souttar for a quick photo op.Lebanon will be led out tonight by 36-year-old Hassan Maatouk, his country’s most capped player and record goalscorer. Only two members of the starting XI ply their trade outside Lebanon: Bassel Jradi at Bangkok United, and Omar Chaaban at AFC Wimbledon.The big selection news for the Socceroos is that Adam Taggart and Kusini Yengi will start up front together as dual prongs in a rejigged 4-4-2, while Kye Rowles shifts from the middle to the left of defence.🇦🇺 v 🇱🇧 - 21.3.24 - 8:00pm AEDTto play the Socceroos in the latest round of World Cup qualifiers may at times feel like a home game for the Cedars; more Beirut than Blacktown.We are in stage two of the AFC qualification process for the 2026 World Cup in North America.The surviving 36 include the top 26 ranked teams for the first time, and they have been drawn into nine groups of four. The top two in each group progress to stage three, as well as qualify directly for the 2027 Asian Cup., and it would be a major upset if that in turn did not lead to a spot in the bloated 48-team finals.exiting the Asian Cup at the quarter-final stage in February. It was a tournament that ended with an agonising defeat to South Korea, a result that snapped an eight match unbeaten run. It also highlighted that while the Socceroos are clearly capable of dismissing the continent’s weaker sides they lack the guile to overcome sterner tests. With the limited talent at Graham Arnold’s disposal it’s hard to see that pattern changing any time soon. Lebanon were on a plane home from Doha even earlier this year after failing to make it out of their Asian Cup group. In four matches in 2024 they have scored only one goal, contributing to a run of just one win in nine outings – and that required a 93rd minute penalty to force a result against Jordan. But while tonight’s result might not be in dispute for long, the occasion should still be one to celebrate. Sydney has a large and passionate Lebanese population, for whom the opportunity to show their colours should make for a great spectacle. I’ll leave it there for now, but if you’d like to get in touch while I’m on, please fire all communication to
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