World Cup – AFC Qualifiers – Group C – Indonesia v Australia – Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia – September 10, 2024 Australian players pose for a team group photo before the match
17:53 JST, October 14, 2024
Defender Kye Rowles vowed on Monday to “flip the script” as Australia look to win for the first time on Japanese soil when the two sides clash in World Cup qualifying.
Japanese Kaoru Mitoma (center) trains on Sunday ahead of the match against Australia at the Saitama Stadium.
The Socceroos are clear underdogs having never beaten Japan in Japan, with their last win against them coming in Melbourne in 2009.
Japan are the leading team in Asia at 16th in the FIFA rankings and are the top qualifying group in Group C with three perfect wins, 14 goals and not a single goal conceded so far.
“They’ve had our number for the last few years,” Rowles, who plays in Scotland, said on the eve of the match in Saitama.
“This match is extremely important, and especially as we are almost halfway through the qualifying process, we need to get the ball rolling,” he said.
“Hopefully we can flip the script a little bit and put in a good performance and get one back.”
Australia are a distant second in the group on goal difference from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain after one win, one draw and one defeat.
That victory, a 3-1 victory over China at home, came in their first match under Tony Popovic last week following Graham Arnold’s resignation as coach.
The top two from the three groups in the third leg of Asian qualifying will automatically reach the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Australia and Japan both reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup, with the Socceroos losing 2-1 to eventual champions Argentina.
