Australia's hopes of direct qualification to next year's World Cup rely on the Socceroos getting all three points in Thursday's qualifier against Saudi Arabia in Adelaide.
Australia, who have three wins and four draws from their seven matches to date, are precariously placed in their group, currently three points behind both Japan and Saudi Arabia with three matches left.
A loss to in Adelaide would put them in an almost impossible position to finish in the top two, which means they would need to go through two sets of playoffs to make the tournament in Russia next year.