Not Australia's night after 1st loss to Bahrain

I GOLD COAST Bahrain stunned Australia 1-0 after a late Harry Souttar own goal in the opening match of the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast on Sept 5.

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The Bahrainis celebrated wildly after the final whistle, having recorded their maiden win over world No. 24 Australia, ranked 56 places higher, and made the perfect start to their bid to qualify for the Finals for the first time.

The Socceroos were already down to 10 men after the dismissal of Kusini Yengi, but the Group C contest still looked destined to end goal-less, until Abdullah Al-Khalasi's cross was deflected into the net by centre-back Souttar.

The crowd of 24,644, who had expected a fifth straight Australia victory, were stunned into silence and the efforts of the Socceroos to get back on level terms in seven minutes of stoppage time proved fruitless.

"It's a learning curve for the players... it was just wasn't our night," said Australia coach Graham Arnold.