The first match of Australia’s Asian Cup campaign will take place on Saturday at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium. The match will be between India and Australia, two countries that have created a healthy rivalry in the sport of cricket.
After finishing first in their Asian qualification group in the second round with a perfect record, the Socceroos will be making their sixth consecutive appearance at the tournament. Meanwhile, India qualified for the event for the second year in a row after winning all three of their matches in the third round. If you are interested in sports betting, then you can earn some money through betting on your favorite teams on Orbit Exchange.
Preview of Australia vs India match
Australia
The Socceroos are coming into this tournament with higher expectations than they did when they punched their ticket to the 2023 Asian Cup years ago, after shocking many observers at the last World Cup and making it into the final 16.
The Australians have won their previous five competitive matches against Asian countries, led by Graham Arnold’s effective use of this roster. previous weekend, they defeated Bahrain 2-0. Since a 1-0 loss to Saudi Arabia in March 2022, they have gone undefeated against Asian opponents, scoring a total of 10-0. Since their debut in 2007, the Socceroos have never lost a group stage match. In 2017, they won all three of their group matches.
The Australians are expected to challenge for the championship, building on their performances at home in 2015 and their previous position as runners-up in Qatar (2011). They are now ranked fourth in Asia according to FIFA (25th). For the Socceroos, losing a big tournament match in Al Rayyan to Argentina in the round of 16 in 2022 was a first.
India
After allowing only one goal in the third round of qualifying, India became the first footballing nation to qualify for back-to-back Asian Cups. Igor Stimac, their manager, is more concerned with getting his team to the third round of 2026 World Cup qualifying than with the significance of this competition.
As of right now, the Blue Tigers are tied with Kuwait for second place in Group A in the World Cup qualification, but they trail in goal differential after scoring only once in their opening two matches. India experienced tremendous success last year, taking home the InterContinental Cup, the South Asian Federation Football Championship, and the Tri-Nation Series.
Even though they had a history of poor performance at this competition, the Blue Tigers did manage to get past the group round of the Asian Cup once, in 1964, when they finished in second place.
As a result of Bahrain’s successful execution of a penalty kick in the 91st minute of their final group stage encounter, India were unable to proceed to the round of sixteen. This disappointment occurred four years ago. They defeated the Socceroos 7-1 in a friendly match that took place in December of 1956. This was the last occasion that the Blue Tigers were victorious over the Socceroos on an international level.
Updates on the Team
Australia
John Iredale and Patrick Yazbek remained on the sidelines as substitutes, while Gethin Jones made his debut for the Socceroos and played as the starting right back. However, he was later replaced by Nathaniel Atkinson in the second half of the match against Bahrain.
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Mathew Ryan has joined Alex Tobin in seventh place on the all-time caps list, with both players having 87 caps. Last weekend, Joe Gauci made his second appearance in goal for the national side and managed to keep a clean sheet. Samuel Silvera, a player for Middlesbrough, started for Australia for the first time in his career.
After Al-Wehda striker Craig Goodwin set up Mitchell Duke for his 12th international goal, Bahraini defender Amine Benadi scored an own goal after receiving a cross from Goodwin.
India
Nikhil Poojary, Sandesh Jhingan, Rahul Bheke, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Lalengmawia Ralte, and captain Sunil Chhetri were the only players to retain their starting positions in both of India’s World Cup qualification matches, as Stimac made a plethora of changes to the starting eleven.
While Vikram Partap Singh and Deepak Tangri will be looking for their debut caps, Lalchungnunga made his senior debut in their last match against Qatar (a 3-0 loss), while Udanta Singh Kumam is only two caps shy of reaching 50.
In their November triumph over Kuwait, Manvir Singh scored his sixth international goal and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu kept a clean sheet.
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Predicted Lineups
A potential starting lineup for Australia would include: Gauci; Atkinson, Souttar, Burgess, Bos; McGree, O’Neill, Irvine, Goodwin; Duke, Boyle.
Considered starting lineup for India: Sandhu; Poojary, Jhingan, Bheke, Bose; Wangjam, Ralte; N. Singh, Samad, Chhangte; Chhteri
Australia vs India Prediction
Our prediction for Australia vs India is Australia will beat India 2-0. Reports indicate that Stimac consulted an astrologer when making team selections, suggesting that he is indifferent with India’s performance at the event.
Meanwhile, Australia has been shooting straight as of late, and they should cruise to an easy opening-round win because to their balanced play across the field.
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