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Australia's path so far on the road to the Qatar World Cup has been far from smooth, with COVID-19 a major disruption to the qualifying process.
FIVE KEY MOMENTS IN AUSTRALIA'S WORLD CUP QUALIFYING CAMPAIGN
* THE GLOBAL COVID-19 PANDEMIC EMERGES
Australia's path to the Qatar 2022 World Cup was only three games old when the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown the world in March 2020. After that the virus continued to create chaos even when matches resumed in June 2021. Australia had to play several home matches at neutral venues and even when they did get home in November last year, COVID-19 issues created player unavailability dramas for the remainder of the campaign.
* MOOY'S CHINA MOVE
With the retirements of key figures such as Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak before the campaign had kicked off, expectations were high English Premier League midfielder Aaron Mooy would be Australia's star turn towards Qatar. Things began well with a goal in the first match of Australia's qualifying against Kuwait in September 2019. In August the following year however Mooy announced a move from English club Brighton to China's Shanghai Port, a switch which has coincided with a COVID-19 pandemic that has all but shutdown the Chinese Super League for the past two years. It has meant a limited amount of games for the 31-year-old who has also endured a personal tragedy with the death of his brother during the campaign, limiting Mooy's impact for the Socceroos.
* AZIZ BEHICH'S UNFORTUNATE OWN GOAL IN SAITAMA
Australia headed to Saitama in October 2021 for their clash with old rivals Japan on the back of a record-breaking 11-match winning run and aiming to take a stranglehold on an automatic qualifying berth. After falling behind to the Samurai Blue, Ajdin Hrustic's free-kick appeared to have secured Australia a vital point on the road. Then in the 85th minute the unfortunate Aziz Behich couldn't prevent steering the ball into his own net and Japan stole a vital victory. From that point Australia's campaign derailed, winning just one of their remaining fixtures to miss out on automatic qualification.
* HARRY SOUTTAR'S KNEE INJURY
Scottish-born defender Harry Souttar was a shock selection for Graham Arnold ahead of the clash with Nepal in Canberra in October 2019. The 198cm centre back quickly became a crucial part of the Socceroos' plans however, offering a goal-scoring threat at set-pieces while forming a strong pairing alongside Trent Sainsbury. On a rainy night at Sydney's Commbank Stadium last November however, Souttar ruptured his ACL in a goalless draw against Saudi Arabia. The injury ruled him out of the remainder of Australia's campaign and left his teammates visibly distraught, winning just one of their remaining group matches without him.
* ARNOLD'S COVID-19 BREACH
Approaching two must-win games against Japan and Saudi Arabia last March, a Socceroos squad already missing several key players due to injury or COVID-19 was further unsettled when head coach Graham Arnold was caught out breaching NSW government isolation rules. Arnold was supposed to be self-isolating when he took a walk in Sydney's northern beaches days before the clash with Japan in Sydney. The embarrassing situation led to a hefty fine from Football Australia for Arnold and just added further chaos to an already unsettled build-up before the Socceroos were defeated by two late Japanese goals at Accor Staidum, all but ensuring they would miss an automatic berth at Qatar 2022.
