The Matchday 9 clash in the third stage of the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament between Australia and Japan will take place on June 5 at Optus Stadium in Perth. Australia vs. Japan: prediction and betting odds, statistics.
Kassem Matar Al Hatmi (Oman)
Matches – 9 (International matches, 2024/25);
Yellow cards shown (including second yellows) – 33;
Average yellow cards per match – 3.7;
Red cards shown – 4;
Penalties – 22%.
Heading into Thursday’s clash, Australia trail Japan by seven points in the 2026 World Cup qualification standings. Japan have already secured their spot at the tournament, and in Perth, they are expected to take the initiative, boasting significantly more attacking options than Australia.
Before their March victories over Indonesia (5:1) and China (2:0), Australia had gone three matches without a win. Since autumn, Australia have managed only three victories in eight fixtures. Their continued presence in the top two has been largely helped by rivals dropping points, rather than consistent attacking performances. They will be without their captain Anthony Popovic for the June fixtures, with the FC St. Pauli midfielder still sidelined due to injury.
Japan have dropped just four points in eight matches during this qualification campaign, scoring 24 goals and conceding only two. Back in March, the squad confirmed their place at the 2026 World Cup. Takefusa Kubo (2+4), Takumi Minamino (3+0), Hidemasa Morita (3+1), and Koki Ogawa (4+0) are all among the top 20 scorers in the Asian qualifiers. Japan have won each of their last six away matches, scoring at least three times in five of those games.
The 1:1 draw between Australia and Japan in October brought an end to a three-match winning run for Japan. Even with qualification already secured, the visitors are expected to control possession. The market value of the Japan squad is more than eight times that of Australia, which is likely to be evident in the pattern of play.
| Team |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Played
Matches played
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
Goals
Goals
|
Points
Points
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
Japan
|
1:1
|
0:0
|
-:-
|
2:0
|
7:0
|
8 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
24:2
|
20 | |
|
2
Australia
|
1:0
|
0:0
|
5:1
|
0:1
|
3:1
|
8 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
13:6
|
13 | |
|
3
Saudi Arabia
|
0:2
|
-:-
|
1:1
|
0:0
|
1:0
|
8 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
4:6
|
10 | |
|
4
Indonesia
|
0:4
|
0:0
|
2:0
|
1:0
|
1:0
|
8 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
8:14
|
9 | |
|
5
Bahrain
|
0:5
|
2:2
|
0:2
|
2:2
|
0:1
|
8 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
5:13
|
6 | |
|
6
China PR
|
1:3
|
0:2
|
1:2
|
2:1
|
-:-
|
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
6:19
|
6 |
|
T. Popović
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
Line-up
|
|||
Mathew Ryan
|
gk. | 9 | -4 |
|
Aziz Eraltay Behich
|
df. | 12 | 0 |
Cameron Robert Burgess
|
df. | 10 | 0 |
Lewis Miller
|
df. | 8 | 2 |
Alessandro Circati
|
df. | 3 | 0 |
Miloš Degenek
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Aiden Connor O'Neill
|
mf. | 8 | 0 |
Connor Isaac Metcalfe
|
mf. | 7 | 0 |
|
Ryan Graham Pun Teague
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
|
Brandon Joel Gaetano Borrello
|
fw. | 6 | 1 |
|
Martin Callie Boyle
|
fw. | 5 | 2 |
|
Substitutes
|
|||
Joe Anthony Gauci
|
gk. | 5 | -1 |
Paul David Izzo
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
Kye Francis Rowles
|
df. | 8 | 1 |
|
Jason Kato Geria
|
df. | 6 | 0 |
|
Kai Clifton Trewin
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
Riley Patrick McGree
|
mf. | 5 | 0 |
|
Patrick Yazbek
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
|
Anthony Richard Cáceres
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Mitchell Thomas Duke
|
fw. | 11 | 2 |
|
Adam Jake Taggart
|
fw. | 5 | 1 |
|
Daniel Arzani
|
fw. | 3 | 0 |
|
Marco Tilio
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
H. Moriyasu
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
Line-up
|
|||
|
Kosei Tani
|
gk. | 1 | 0 |
Koki Machida
|
df. | 10 | 0 |
Tsuyoshi Watanabe
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
Hiroki Sekine
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
Daichi Kamada
|
mf. | 10 | 3 |
Kaishu Sano
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
Yuito Suzuki
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
|
Joel Chima Fujita
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
Yu Hirakawa
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
Yuki Ohashi
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Substitutes
|
|||
|
Zion Suzuki
|
gk. | 10 | -2 |
|
Keisuke Osako
|
gk. | 2 | 0 |
|
Ayumu Seko
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Kota Takai
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
Wataru Endo
|
mf. | 10 | 1 |
Ryoya Morishita
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
Takefusa Kubo
|
fw. | 9 | 3 |
|
Keito Nakamura
|
fw. | 8 | 2 |
Shuto Machino
|
fw. | 1 | 0 |
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