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Graham Arnold led Australia to the last 16 in Qatar, but lost 2-1 to eventual champions Argentina.
Like Japan, Australia also achieved a 100% win rate in the second round of 2026 World Cup qualifiers without conceding a goal.
“Whatever the draw, we knew this qualifying round was going to be a challenge,” said Alexander-Arnold.
“I think we have to accept these challenges and our mentality, belief and camaraderie are critical to achieving our qualification goals.”
China has only made it to the World Cup once, in 2002, and head coach Branko Ivankovic knew his team would be in the same group as them.
“We are the toughest group to play against in this round,” he said.
“But we want to be a tough rival for any team. Of course, we had three strong teams at the last World Cup – Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia.”
2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers third round draw results:
Group A: Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea
Group B: South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Kuwait
Group C: Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia
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