Australia Football History :
The Australia national association football team is governed by the Football Federation Australia (FFA). The Down Under team’s fortune has got wings since they parted ways with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2006 and joined the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).
Officially known as Socceroos, the Australian national football team has represented the country in the FIFA World Cups of 1974, 2006 and 2010. With the team having qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, this becomes their fourth appearance in the apex tournament from the time they started playing international football. They played their first international match against New Zealand and eventually lost in the 1922 tour of New Zealand.
Despite their association with the Oceania Football Confederation of more than 40 years, FFA decided that if Australian football needs to grow, they have to step out and join the international governing committees. The step was taken as there was no significant improvement in the soccer technique and the limited competition further restricted their advancement. This was the reason they weren’t able to even qualify for the FIFA World Cup up until 1974 and then took a long break of more than three decades to again feature in a World Cup tournament in 2006.
Australia Success Story :
The Australian soccer team hasn’t had any success in major tournaments but their surprising win against Uruguay in the 2006 play-offs gave the fans something to cheer about. The game was played in the Stadium Australia and 82,698 spectators became witness of this match which started with a goal in the first half from Australia and ended with another goal from Uruguay in the second half. There was no goal conceded in the extra time from either side, thus a penalty shootout was considered and Australia outplayed Uruguay in the penalty shootout to win the match by 4-2. This win made Australia the first country ever to qualify for the FIFA World Cup via a penalty shootout.
In the FIFA Confederations Cup, they stood as runners-up in 1997 and finished third in the 2001 Cup. In their long playing years of the OFC Nations Cup, they were crowned champions four times in the years 1980, 1996, 2000 and 2004 and were second-best in the years 1998 and 2002.
Australia squad |
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| Goalkeepers: | Mat Ryan (Club Brugge/Belgium) Mitch Langerak (Borussia Dortmund/Germany) Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United) Mark Birighitti (Newcastle Jets) |
Defenders: | Ivan Franjic (Brisbane Roar) Matthew Spiranovic (Western Sydney Wanderers) Curtis Good (Newcastle United/England) Bailey Wright (Preston North End/England) Jason Davidson (Heracles Almelo/Netherlands) Luke Wilkshire (Dynamo Moscow/Russia) Alex Wilkinson (Jeonbuk Motors/Korea Republic) Ryan McGowan (Shandong Luneng/China PR) |
| Midfielders: | Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace/England) Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory) James Holland (Austria Vienna/Austria) Massimo Luongo (Swindon Town/England) Adam Sarota (FC Utrecht/Netherlands) Oliver Bozanic (Luzern/Switzerland) Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar) Mark Bresciano (Al Gharafa/Qatar) Josh Brillante (Newcastle Jets) |
Forwards: | Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls/USA) Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus/Japan) Tom Rogic (Melbourne Victory) Dario Vidosic (Sion/Switzerland) Tommy Oar (FC Utrecht/Netherlands) James Troisi (Melbourne Victory) Ben Halloran (Fortuna Dusseldorf/Germany) Adam Taggart (Newcastle Jets) Matthew Leckie (FSV Frankfurt/Germany) David Villa |
Australia’s performance in all the FIFA World Cups :
| World Cup Year | World Cup Hosting Nation | FIFA Qualification | Quarter Final Birth | Semi Final Birth | Third Place Secured | Reached Final | Title Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | South Africa | Yes | No | – | – | – | – |
| 2006 | Germany | Yes | No | – | – | – | – |
| 2002 | South Korea | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1998 | France | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1994 | United States | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1990 | Italy | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1986 | Mexico | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1982 | Spain | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1978 | Argentina | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1974 | West Germany | Yes | No | – | – | – | – |
| 1970 | Mexico | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1966 | England | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1962 | Chile | Did not participate | Did not participate | – | – | – | – |
| 1958 | Sweden | Did not participate | Did not participate | – | – | – | – |
| 1954 | Switzerland | Did not participate | Did not participate | – | – | – | – |
| 1950 | Brazil | Did not participate | Did not participate | – | – | – | – |
| 1938 | France | Did not participate | Did not participate | – | – | – | – |
| 1934 | Italy | Did not participate | Did not participate | – | – | – | – |
| 1930 | Uruguay | Did not participate | Did not participate | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 19 World Cups | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |