Qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Germany was contested between twelve OFC members, and consisted of three rounds. As the two highest-ranked nations according to FIFA rankings, Australia and New Zealand were given direct entry to the second round, which also doubled as the 2004 OFC Men’s Nations Cup.
The remaining ten teams were split into two groups of five, with the top two in either group progressing to the second stage. Playing with home advantage in Honiara, the Solomon Islands finished top of Group A, unbeaten with ten points from a possible twelve. Their only draw came against Tahiti on the final day, who joined them in the second round after edging New Caledonia by a single point to the second spot. Vanuatu made relatively short work of Group B in Apia, also finishing unbeaten with ten points, winning all of their last three.
Fiji became the final team to qualify for the second round with a 4-2 victory over Papua New Guinea, to finish second in the group. The second round began with a replay of the previous three OFC qualifying tournament finals, as Australia edged out New Zealand 1-0 through a first half strike from Mark Bresciano. That gave Australia a decisive advantage in the race for the top two, and they secured top spot with wins over the remaining nations, aside from a 2-2 draw with the Solomon Islands on the final matchday.
New Zealand responded to their opening defeat with a 3-0 win over the Solomon Islands, but were on the wrong end of one of the greatest upsets in OFC history on matchday three. Previously winless Vanuatu shocked New Zealand 4-2 at Hindmarsh Stadium for their only victory of the second round, leaving the door ajar for someone else to sneak inside the top two. The Solomon Islands were the team to pounce, and secured their place in the OFC qualifying final after beating Vanuatu, Tahiti and Fiji, alongside the crucial 2-2 draw with Australia on the final day of group stage action.
Two first half goals from Mark Viduka all but sealed Australia’s spot in an intercontinental play-off for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ after 43 minutes of play in the first leg of the final round of OFC qualifying at the Sydney Football Stadium. Jason Culina, Tim Cahill, Scott Chipperfield, Archie Thompson, and Brett Emerton also got on the scoresheet as Australia romped to a dominant 7-0 lead over the Solomon Islands.
The heat and humidity of Honiara brought a much closer affair in the second leg, but Australia were still able to edge out a 2-1 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Lawson Tama Stadium. Henry Fa’arodo’s penalty was cancelled out by goals in either half from Tim Cahill and Brett Emerton as Australia secured an intercontinental play-off with a 9-1 aggregate win.
For the second consecutive qualifying campaign, Australia met South American giants and former FIFA World Cup™ winners Uruguay at the play-off stage. Dario Rodriguez scored the lone goal as Uruguay secured a 1-0 advantage in the first leg at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. With the second leg at home, Australia held hope though. Mark Bresciano levelled the tie with a goal inside the first 35 minutes at Telstra Stadium, but neither side could find another across 120 minutes in Sydney, forcing the play-off to a penalty shoot-out. Fans across Australia held their breath, but Mark Schwarzer stood tall, pulling off two shoot-out saves to end the nation’s 32-year wait for a second FIFA World Cup™ appearance, sending the Socceroos to Germany.
Australia won 4-2 in the shoot-out, in what will go down as one of the greatest moments in Australian sporting history. Becoming just the second OFC member to qualify for a FIFA World Cup™ after New Zealand in 1982, Australia were drawn alongside Brazil, Japan and Croatia at the 2006 tournament in Germany. The Socceroos fell behind to an early goal from Shunsuke Nakamura in their opening group match in Kaiserslautern, but pulled off an heroic late comeback in their first FIFA World Cup™ game since 1974.
With six minutes left on the clock, Tim Cahill came to the rescue with two goals, before John Aloisi added the icing on the cake in injury-time, helping Australia to a famous 3-1 victory, their first at a FIFA World Cup™, and the first by any OFC nation at the tournament.
They fought valiantly in their second group match against Brazil in Munich, but proved no match for the defending champions, conceding twice in the second half in a 0-2 defeat. That meant their final match against Croatia in Stuttgart would decide who would progress behind Brazil through to the knockout stages, and the Socceroos got off to a poor start when they conceded inside the first five minutes. Craig Moore brought them back level from the penalty spot, before Croatia retook the lead with a goal from Niko Kovac at the start of the second-half.
More late drama followed, when Harry Kewell grabbed the decisive equaliser for Australia with eleven minutes to play, rescuing a 2-2 draw to send the Socceroos into the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup™ for the first time.
Drama enveloped Australia’s round of sixteen clash with Italy in Kaiserslautern, but this time it didn’t go the way of the Socceroos. Having held out resiliently against the former world champions for over 90 minutes, a penalty was awarded to the Azzurri deep into injury-time, which Francesco Totti stepped up to convert and crush Australian hearts. Italy walked away with a 1-0 victory, whilst Australia’s memorable campaign came to an end.
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