Tim Cahill's stunning World Cup goal against the Netherlands has received global applause including praise from the biggest names in football.

Cahill struck a screaming, left-foot volley into the top of the Netherlands' net just 60 seconds after Dutch star Arjen Robben had opened the scoring in the Group B match at Porto Alegre.

Australia went ahead in the second half after captain Mile Jedinak converted a chance from the penalty spot, but eventually lost 3-2 to a Dutch side that had thumped defending champions Spain 5-1 in its first game of the World Cup.

The performance by the lowly-ranked Socceroos stunned the world with the biggest talking point being Cahill's great goal, the fifth for the 34-year-old in three World Cup appearances.

England great Gary Lineker, who scored 10 World Cup goals himself, was among those on Twitter to praise Cahill's strike. Other greats of the game including Rio Ferdinand and Thierry Henry heaped praise on Cahill's effort.

Loading

Former England international Philip Neville, who played with Cahill at English Premier League club Everton, declared it a better goal than the lauded effort by Robin van Persie in the Netherland's win over Spain.

Loading

Super Tim "We've got to be brave, and we've got to be ready to work. We've got to have that no-fear attitude that we aren't there to make up the numbers, we are there on merit. We've earned that right." After his heroics against both Chile and the Netherlands, read Grandstand's profile on Tim Cahill. Was Tim Cahill's strike the best World Cup goal of all time? See our poll.

Cahill may have played his last World Cup match for Australia. Collecting his second yellow card for the tournament when he committed a late tackle on opponent Bruno Martins Indi, Cahill will miss Australia's final World Cup match against Spain on Tuesday.

He leaves the game's biggest stage with with another memorable moment from a stellar career.

"That's what it's all about, defining moments," Cahill said after the match.

"It's another one in my career and I'm really proud of it," he said.

Cahill's moment of magic seems entirely indicative of the Socceroos' evolution under Ange Postecoglou.

Gone are the physical and combative battlers, replaced now by a commitment to technical football.

McGowan's long diagonal pass seemed hopeful at best, and with two Dutch defenders keeping him company, it was hard to see an option for Cahill.

Without a second of doubt, he let the ball drop on his left side, got into a perfect position and watched it strike his non-preferred left foot - a complete goal of a quality not seen by an Australian on this sort of stage before.

Tim Cahill's wonderstrike against Netherlands has been nominated for the prestigious Puskas Prize. ( Getty Images: Dean Mouhtaropoulos )

I left everything on the pitch: Cahill

The Socceroos insisted before the tournament they could make the world take notice, and it seems Cahill has stayed true to his word.

"We got close, and it's probably one of the unique moments for us in Australian football, because we will earn a lot of respect from today's game," he said.

Sorry, this video has expired Ben Knight reports from Porto Alegre after the Socceroos lost to the Netherlands

"It was an amazing performance overall. We knew this was our chance, we watched a lot of videos on them and thought that we could win this game.

"From the start we set out to press them high, and really let them know that they are up for a game and that we can play football."

With the second yellow card end his World Cup campaign Cahill was philosophical about his fate.

"It is what it is," he said.

"I've left everything on the pitch in the last two games I've played, and that's what you've got to do - you've got to put your body on the line."

"Sometimes you miss games, but this has been an amazing World Cup campaign for us, and it's not over yet."

Football fans around the world react to Cahill's strike: