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Australia was one of the first teams to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, gaining their place in June 2009.
2010 World Cup Qualifiers
Australia is now part of the Asian Qualifying Competition. Australia was in one of five groups of four, with other nations of China, Iraq and Qatar. The top two from each group went through to the Fifth - and final - round.
World Cup Tournament
In the world cup draw in December 2009, Australia was drawn in Group D, with Germany, Serbia and Ghana, in what has been described as a difficult draw, though it was probably not the worst group. Their opening match was against Germany - a rematch of Australia's first-ever World Cup encounter which was against West Germany in 1974.
- June 14 Germany v Australia - Australia lost 4-0
- June 19 Ghana v Australia - Australia drew 1-1
- June 24 Australia v Serbia — Australia won 2-1
Australia had a poor showing in the first game against Germany, with a red card given to striker Tim Cahill. The Socceroos redeemed themselves with a gutsy draw with 10 men against Ghana, with another of their gun strikers Harry Kewell being sent off. In their last match, they had an inspiring win against Serbia. They finished with 4 points, the same as in 2006, but missed out on progressing due to a poor goal difference.
>> see the 2010 Socceroos player squad
Related Pages
- Index to Australia at the World Cup