The Socceroos are back in Perth for the second time in twelve months and seeking to secure qualification for the 2026 World Cup. Australia’s men’s national team take on Japan on Thursday night, June 4, when victory can move them a step closer to a sixth successive appearance at the world’s biggest single-sport event.
Local trio Adam Taggart, Cameron Burgess and Alessandro Circati are in contention to start the qualifier at Optus Stadium, after which Australia travels to face Saudi Arabia five days later. This week’s game will be the seventh ‘A’ international hosted in Perth – here’s a rundown on how each of those previous games played out…
Perth’s first ‘A’ international took place on Sunday November 16, 1975, a little over a year after Australia’s historic World Cup debut in West Germany. The Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) opened a whirlwind six-games in 17-days tour of Australia with a scoreless draw against the Socceroos at Perry Lakes Stadium, watched by a crowd of around 6,000.
New national team coach Brian Green handed Ray Ilott his first international start, making the Ascot attacker the 246th player to be capped by Australia. 20-year midfielder Gary Marocchi (Cap #260), who’d made his international debut against South Korea earlier in the year, was introduced off the bench late in the game.
It would be almost two decades before the Socceroos returned to the west, this time to face off with Ghana under lights at the WACA Ground on Saturday June 24, 1995. The game was the final outing of the African nations three-game visit to Australia, the Socceroos having claimed the spoils from games in Sydney and Adelaide, each by a single goal.
Ghana stunned their hosts with the 32nd minute goal from Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mallam Yahya being all that separated the teams on the night. West Adelaide player Stan Lazaridis (Cap #394), formerly of Floreat Athena and who would soon join London club West Ham United, turned in a spirited 90 minute performance.
Australia faced neighbours Indonesia on Tuesday March 29, 2005, in a fundraiser and to show support for the victims of the previous years’ earthquake and tsunami in Northern Sumatra. Subiaco Oval was the venue as a crowd of 13,719 watched the green and gold emerge victorious 3-0 through a brace from Ante Milicic and a late strike by David Zdrilic. Stan Lazaridis played the opening 60 minutes of the stand alone friendly.
The first competitive ‘A’ international fixture to be played in Western Australia had the Socceroos run riot over Bangladesh to the tune of 5-0 on the evening of Thursday September 3, 2015. The full house signs were up early for the World Cup qualifier with a crowd of 19,495 squeezing into Perth Oval for what would be a totally one-sided encounter masterminded by Ange Postecoglou.
An early flurry from Tom Rogic and Mathew Leckie had Australia two-up inside 8 minutes. Rogic added a second before Nathan Burns got his debut international goal to round out an impressive first-half by the green and gold. The talismanic Aaron Mooy, who turned provider for almost all of the previous goals, finished off the scoring just after the hour.
The three points collected from Australia’s 2-0 defeat of Iraq on the evening of Thursday September 1, 2016, gave the Socceroos a dream start to the Second Round of qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia. The host nation’s dominance of the opening half was almost total but unfortunately they were held at bay by a resolute defence.
Australia eventually took the lead in the 58th minute thanks to a pin-point cross onto the toe of Massimo Luongo. Six minutes later Tomi Juric sealed the win by netting a loose ball at a corner. Centre-back Trent Sainsbury (Cap #574) played the full 90 minutes with fellow West Australian defender Josh Risdon (Cap #582) watching from the bench.
The Socceroos next visit to Perth was pencilled in for Thursday March 26, 2020, and a World Cup qualifier against Kuwait. However, the game was postponed at short notice due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation globally. Also postponed were Australia’s qualifier with Nepal of the same month plus June’s outings with Chinese Taipei and Jordan.
Palestine provided the opposition for a confident Socceroos outfit on Tuesday June 11 2024. Australia were already through to the next phase of qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup finals having swept through the Second Round of qualifiers with a dream record – played five, won five, goals scored 17, goals conceded 0.
The host nation were on the board after only 5 minutes when Kusini Yengi converted a penalty. Hometown hero Adam Taggart (Cap #553) netted at close-range and Yengi added his second before second half finishes from Martin Boyle and substitute Nestory Irankunda completed the 5-0 rout. Taggart was replaced after 65 minutes while the defensive trio of Cameron Burgess (Cap #633), Alessandro Circati (Cap #637) and Gethin Jones (Cap #639) played full games.