Socceroos land hosts United States in World Cup draw
Anna Harrington |
The Socceroos will take on hosts USA, Paraguay and one of Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo in next year’s World Cup group stage after avoiding football’s biggest guns in the draw in Washington DC.
Tony Popovic’s charges were drawn in group D for next year’s finals in North America, landing a match-up with Mauricio Pochettino’s world No.14 -ranked American side.
It meant Australia avoided the likes of world champions Argentina, European champions and world No.1 Spain, plus fellow top-four teams France and England, in the finals which will be hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.
US president Donald Trump was in attendance for the draw at the Kennedy Center on Friday (Saturday morning AEDT) where he also became the first recipient of FIFA’s newly created ‘Peace Prize’.
The Socceroos will now await confirmation of the venues and dates for their three matches on Saturday (Sunday morning AEDT).
Australia faced the United States, the world’s No.14-ranked team, as recently as October, suffering a 2-1 defeat, the first loss of the Popovic era, in Colorado.
The Socceroos have played the US four times, for one win, one draw and two losses.
Australia have not played world No.39 Paraguay since a 1-0 friendly win in 2010 but are unbeaten in five clashes — two wins, three draws — with the South American team.
The Socceroos won’t learn their final group stage opponents until late March, when the European play-offs are completed.
But they have dodged potential match-ups with the likes of Italy and Denmark, who are still yet to qualify.
In UEFA play-off path C, world No.25 Turkey tackle No.47 Romania and No.45 Slovakia take on Kosovo (No.80), before the winners of those ties face off in their play-off final for a spot in the World Cup.
It will be the biggest World Cup ever, featuring 48 teams and 104 games.
The top two teams from each of the 12 groups will advance, along with the eight best third-placed teams.
WORLD CUP FINALS DRAW
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, UEFA Playoff D
Group B: Canada, UEFA Playoff A, Qatar, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, UEFA Playoff C
Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, UEFA Playoff B, Tunisia
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group I: France, Senegal, FIFA Playoff 2, Norway
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, FIFA Playoff 1, Uzbekistan, Colombia
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
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UEFA Playoff A: Italy, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland
UEFA Playoff B: Ukraine, Poland, Albania, Sweden
UEFA Playoff C: Turkey, Slovakia, Kosovo, Romania
UEFA Playoff D: Denmark, Czech Republic, Ireland, North Macedonia
FIFA Playoff 1: DR Congo, Jamaica, New Caledonia
FIFA Playoff 2: Iraq, Bolivia, Suriname
AAP
