Socceroos legend Harry Kewell, the coach of Yokohama F. Marinos, fumed at officials when play resumed as he was making substitutions, leading to the conceding of a goal with a man down.

The South Australian scored two goals, and would have had a hat-trick of assists if his teammates - Harry Souttar in particular - converted more of his exquisite left-footed crosses.

Ever since Tim Cahill’s retirement in 2018, Australia have been searching for a dependable replacement up front.

Joe Gauci is not even two months into life at Aston Villa, one of the Premier League’s rising powers, and says he can already feel the growth in his game – thanks, in large part, to Emiliano Martinez.

With Riley McGree and Jordan Bos sidelined, and Keanu Baccus banned, Graham Arnold’s side will look a little different in Tuesday night’s rematch with Lebanon.

The Socceroos recorded a 2-0 win over Lebanon in their World Cup qualifier.

The scoreboard may have said they lost 2-0, but the diaspora found plenty to celebrate in Sydney’s multicultural hub Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes after the final whistle. On the music played, drumbeats echoing around western Sydney’s sporting theatre, reverberating out from Lebanon’s active support. The celebrations held up by a spirited Cedars performance on Thursday night. The scoreboard might have read a 2-0 win for the Socceroos, but in the finest traditions of sport, nobody left a loser. This was a world away from the war in Gaza that forced Lebanon to shift its home match to the Australian capital next week – geographically, and emotionally. Continue reading...

Australia beat the Cedars 2-0 in World Cup qualifierKeanu Baccus and Kye Rowles score first international goals Australia have now played three games on the road to the 2026 Fifa World Cup. They have emerged triumphant in all three games and after their 2-0 win over Lebanon, they already have one foot in the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying. But the victory over the Cedars in Sydney’s West has extracted a significant price on Graham Arnold’s side. Riley McGree and Jordy Bos limped from the CommBank Stadium surface before the half-time whistle on Thursday, throwing into doubt their availability for Tuesday’s return fixture against Lebanon in Canberra and also their status for club sides Middlesbrough and K.V.C. Westerlo. Two of the side’s key game-changers and creative outlets, their absence prevented any attempts to uplift what was a largely nondescript Socceroos win. Continue reading...

Australia claimed a 2-0 victory in their World Cup qualifier, but another dysfunctional performance made it a tough night at the office.

Socceroos play the Cedars in Sydney in first of two matchesKick-off at CommBank Stadium is 8.10pm AEDT / 11.10am EETAny thoughts? Email or Tweet @JPHowcroft Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v Lebanon from CommBank Stadium. Kick-off in Sydney for this 2026 World Cup qualifier is 8.10pm AEDT. It’s been a while, so let’s quickly recap. Continue reading...

Australia face Lebanon twice in the next five days and head into their third World Cup qualifier with an unblemished record, conceding no goals and scoring eight.

Several members of the Cedars squad have returned to familiar surrounds in western Sydney for this week’s World Cup qualifier Such is the size of the Lebanese community in western Sydney that this week’s visit of Lebanon to play the Socceroos in the latest round of World Cup qualifiers may at times feel like a home game for the Cedars; more Beirut than Blacktown. For 21-year-old Jackson Khoury, who this week earned his first call-up to the Lebanese national team, it quite literally will be. Khoury was born and raised in Baulkham Hills, a stone’s throw north of Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium where the two nations will meet on Thursday evening. Continue reading...

Coach argues government should help football like NRL and AFLSell-out crowds expected for World Cup qualifiers against Lebanon Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has escalated his grievances around a lack of support for football from the government, describing his team as “homeless” ahead of the first of back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against Lebanon on Thursday. The match at Commbank Stadium in Sydney is the third fixture in the team’s long qualification pathway towards the expanded 48-team World Cup in North America in 2026. Continue reading...

The Socceroos coach has taken another swing at government decision makers after the side trained on a field with rugby league posts for Thursday night’s World Cup qualifier.