In briefAustralia will secure a place in the knockout rounds with a win or draw against Paraguay in their final World Cup group stage match.Defender Jason Geria says Australia will be playing for the win. <\/p>\n
The Socceroos will be looking to bounce back from their heartbreaking loss to the USA<\/a> and secure their place in the knockout rounds when they take on Paraguay in their final FIFA World Cup group match.<\/p>\n Currently second in Group D, Australia can seal a place in the Round of 32 with a win or a draw in Santa Clara, near San Francisco, at 12pm Friday (AEST), which you can watch live and free on SBS or SBS On Demand<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before the tournament, Paraguay were considered the Socceroos’ most beatable opponent with a FIFA ranking of 37, but after they defeated T\u00fcrkiye last week the stakes have been raised.<\/p>\n The biggest question is what the starting line-up will look like after Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe, who both scored in Australia’s opening win over T\u00fcrkiye<\/a>, started on the bench for the 2-0 defeat to the USA.<\/p>\n The Socceroos looked flat in their opening half against the USA, conceding twice before half-time. <\/p>\n Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n They improved dramatically after the break, with substitutes Irankunda, Metcalfe and Cristian Volpato injecting fresh energy into the game and helping swing momentum Australia’s way. <\/p>\n Coach Tony Popovic’s team selection came under scrutiny after the defeat<\/a>, and it will be interesting to see whether he returns to the starting 11 that defeated T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n Paraguay star to miss the match<\/p>\n The Socceroos have been handed a boost with the absence of Paraguay star Miguel Almir\u00f3n, who was sent off in his team’s 1-0 win over T\u00fcrkiye on Saturday <\/a>(AEST).<\/p>\n The midfielder became the first player to receive a red card under FIFA’s new rule banning players from covering their mouths during confrontations with opponents<\/a>, a measure introduced to stamp out abusive comments.<\/p>\n Paraguay are a defence-first side, relying on quick transitions rather than patient build-up play. Their backline stood firm against T\u00fcrkiye, despite the side being reduced to 10 men for the second half.<\/p>\n Fernando Romero is the only Paraguayan to play in the A-League. He worked under Popovic and alongside Socceroos Jason Geria, Paul Izzo and Nishan Velupillay at Melbourne Victory.<\/p>\n Romero provided some insight into the mood in Paraguay’s camp heading into the match.<\/p>\n “Right now, the spirits have risen again,” he told the Australian Associated Press in an interview translated from Spanish.<\/p>\n “We were very sad and we were very afraid to lose again in that second game and go out of the World Cup very quickly.<\/p>\n “So this game [against T\u00fcrkiye] returned the hope of the people again. They saw the team we saw during the qualifying rounds for the World Cup again. So now people are hopeful again.<\/p>\n “This game against Australia, for sure it’s going to be a game of life or death.<\/p>\n “The one who wins goes on and the one who loses goes back to their country.”<\/p>\n It’s worth pointing out that the Socceroos could progress even if they lose, but it depends how the rest of the groups perform.<\/p>\n What’s at stake?<\/p>\n Australia and Paraguay are level on three points after one win each, with the Socceroos sitting second in Group D on overall goal difference.<\/p>\n A draw would be enough for Australia to remain second and qualify for the Round of 32, where they would face the runner-up from Group G \u2014 Belgium, New Zealand, Iran or Egypt.<\/p>\n A defeat would likely still see the Socceroos progress as one of the tournament’s eight best third-placed teams, but it would almost certainly mean a far tougher Round of 32 opponent \u2014 the winner of either Group E, Group I, or Group K.<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n As the standings currently sit, that means they would face Germany, France or Portugal.<\/p>\n Socceroos defender Jason Geria said Australia would be playing for the win against Paraguay. <\/p>\n “I think you’re cheating the game in a way if you’re looking to just call a truce with 10 minutes to go. That doesn’t seem right in my opinion,” Geria said.<\/p>\n “Yeah, we could both progress with a point, that’s evident, but I don’t think it’s in us to just concede or just take the foot off the gas.<\/p>\n “We want to win every game, regardless of who the opponent is or what the situation is.”<\/p>\n Australia v Paraguay head-to-head record<\/p>\n Australia and Paraguay have met five times, all in friendlies. The Socceroos hold the head-to-head record, with two wins and three draws. Their last match-up was a 1-0 home win for the Socceroos in Sydney in 2010.<\/p>\n When is kick-off?<\/p>\n The match kicks off at 12pm Friday AEST at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. <\/p>\n \u2014 With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press. <\/p>\n You can watch all 104 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026\u2122 live, free and exclusive on\u00a0SBS<\/a>, SBS VICELAND and\u00a0SBS On Demand<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the latest from SBS News, download our app<\/a> and subscribe to our newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In briefAustralia will secure a place in the knockout rounds with a win or draw against Paraguay in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":757884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-757883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}