The Saudi national team tied with its Australian counterpart 0-0 in the match that brought together the two teams, on Thursday evening, in the fifth round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The match between Al-Akhdar and Australia was the first for French coach Hervé Renard, who returned to lead him after his previous term about two years ago. 

The Saudi team started the match well, and tried to threaten the Australian team's goal early in search of the lead goal.

The Australian team almost scored a fatal goal in the final minutes of the match had it not been for the intervention of Saud Abdel Hamid, who pushed the ball away from the Australian striker in the final moments.

A goal for the Saudi national team was canceled in the 92nd minute due to offside.

With this result, the Saudi team added a new point to its score, bringing it to 6 points in third place, and Australia is in second place with 6 points.

The top two finishers in the group, which also includes Japan, Bahrain, China and Indonesia, will qualify immediately after the end of the third stage for the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, while the third and fourth places will advance to the fourth round of qualifiers.

Japan, which plays tomorrow, Friday, against Indonesia, leads the group standings with ten points, four points ahead of Australia and Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain comes in fourth place with five points.