5-0! The Oceania hegemon advanced ahead of schedule, and Australia's good luck made the national football team greedy

At 16:45 on March 26, Beijing time, the 4th round of Group I of the second group stage of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers Asian Zone: Australia VS Lebanon.

After the first 3 rounds of Group I, Australia won all 3 games and led with 9 points, scoring 10 goals and conceding 0 goals, Palestine ranked second with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss with 4 points, Lebanon ranked third with 2 draws, 1 loss and 2 points, and Bangladesh was at the bottom with 1 draw, 2 losses and 1 point.

In this battle, Australia qualified with a draw and advanced to the round of 18 in the third stage 2 rounds in advance.

Bangladesh is a fish belly in Asia, Palestine and Lebanon are between the second and third rates, and if the national football team replaces Australia and draws it to Group I, it will be no problem to qualify, and no matter how bad it is, it can also qualify second in the group.

Australia and Lebanon played in the 3rd and 4th rounds, and in the last round, Australia beat Lebanon 2:0 at home. Due to the domestic situation, Lebanon, like Syria, can only find a neutral venue at home, in order to avoid long-distance travel, Lebanon discussed with the Australian Football Association, simply in the fourth round of their own "home" to continue to play in Australia, the Australian side of course is unwanted, to avoid long-distance travel, but also to turn the away into home.

Yes, Australia's starting 3142 formation, Kusini and Duke partnered in the front, midfielders Goodwin, Metcalfe, Hrustic, Gesin Jones, midfielder Owen, three central defenders Rawls, Boggs, Souttar, goalkeeper Ryan. The starting eleven is worth a total of 21.55 million euros.

With the main force at its best, Australia is clearly not satisfied with a draw.

Lebanon started the 541 formation, center forward Boougil, midfielders Giraldi, Nader, Tanaish, Matuk, defenders Shaitu, Shalafudrin, Shure, Hamis, Nassar, goalkeeper Matar. The total value of the starting eleven is 2.775 million euros.

Many people have participated in the recent 0-0 draw with the national football team in the 2023 Asian Cup.

After the start of the game, Australia had a clear advantage. In the second minute, on the left side, Goodwin stepped forward and received a through ball from a teammate and crossed the bottom, and Kusini Yanji's shot hit the woodwork and scored from close range. Australia leads Lebanon 1-0.

Australia get off to a dream start!

In the 20th minute, in the face of Australia's attack, Tanaïsh made a mistake in clearing the header, and Metcalf stepped forward to get into the penalty area to take the ball and hit the goal, but the ball was saved by Lebanese goalkeeper Matar, and then his teammates who returned to defend protected the ball off the bottom line.

In the 30th minute, Goodwin crossed a low ball from the left flank, and Hrustic met the ball and kicked it away.

In the 43rd minute, Goodwin's cross came again, again on the left, and Souttar's header hit the woodwork and bounced off.

In the second half, Lebanon collapsed, or rather gave up.

In the 47th minute, Australia's forward free kick was driven by Goodwin, and Giraldi got the ball into his own goal in the confusion. Australia 2:0 Lebanon.

In the 48th minute, Goodwin took the ball on the left and scored with a volley. Australia 3:0 Lebanon.

In the 68th minute, Yazbek made a wonderful pass, and Aardier scored the goal. Australia 4:0 Lebanon.

In the 81st minute, Goodwin took advantage of a mistake in the Lebanese penalty area to score. Australia sealed the win 5-0 Lebanon.

At the end of the game, Australia started with 4 consecutive wins and accumulated 12 points, 10 points higher than Lebanon in third place, and later even if Bangladesh defeated Palestine at home, it was only 4 points, and there were 2 rounds left in the game, Australia has advanced to the third stage of the round of 18.