On a night of compounding frustrations, and one almighty scare, the Socceroos needed an 86th-minute Mathew Leckie winner to overcome Thailand in their final World Cup group qualifier in Melbourne. The narrow margin of victory, however, was not enough to secure Australia’s direct passage to Russia, as Saudi Arabia defeated Japan 1-0 in Jeddah overnight. That reality seemed to weigh heavily on the shoulders of the disappointed Socceroos as they left the field in front of a home crowd that didn’t know whether to celebrate or find a calculator to punch.

It took until the 69th minute, by which time a rampant Australia had had an extraordinary 25 shots on goal, for the Socceroos to open the scoring, striker Tomi Juric ghosting between two defenders to get a glancing header on a pinpoint Aaron Mooy cross.

Australia beat Thailand 2-1 in World Cup 2018 qualifying – as it happened Read more

The Socceroos’ hopes of running away with it from that point were foiled 10 minutes later, however, when Thailand, who had been content to strike on the break, nabbed an equaliser that was like a gut punch. From the Australia byline Perapat Notechaiya cut back a ball into the path of the excellent Pokklaw A-nan who, in space, blasted in an equaliser off the crossbar.

For a while it appeared it would be one of those nights for the Socceroos until Leckie won all three points, shooting through a packed penalty area after Thai keeper Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool punched the ball into his path following a Mooy corner.

Knowing only a comprehensive victory would tilt the odds in their favour, the Socceroos – wearing white socks to mark the recent passing of renowned football journalist Mike Cockerill – promised goals ahead of the match, which took place on a night during which Antarctic winds swept rain and bleak thoughts across the ground. The poor Thai players, used to rather warmer evenings, must have wondered what had hit them.

That feeling would have remained once the game began. Though Thailand had a few dangerous moments on the break in the opening 45 minutes – with playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin and Teerasil Dangda at the heart of them – it was all Australia. Much to the growing frustration of the crowd, however, they left the field for half-time without scoring despite chances too numerous to mention.

Four are worth highlighting, however. In the sixth minute, Tom Rogic, revitalised after a sluggish night in Saitama, spun away from his defender in midfield and found Leckie, who was the go-to option for the Socceroos early, on the right flank. Leckie cut inside his defender on the byline and crossed across the box where his searching ball found the left boot of Mooy. Mooy’s low drive hit the outside of the far post.

In the 19th minute Australia had three chances, from a total 14 shots in the half. The best of them came to Tim Cahill who, from inside the area, smashed the ball against the inside of the left post. This had the crowd celebrating prematurely but they were back in their seats as the ball all but rolled along the goal-line before being cleared to safety.

With Mooy, Rogic and Leckie probing, and at time arguably over-elaborating in their attempts to beat the Thais along the ground, there were two more great chances, these foiled by desperation defence. In the 25th minute, after a Mooy corner, Mark Milligan attempted to blast in a loose ball from a metre inside the far post but his shot was blocked by defender Perapat Notechaiya he threw himself in front of it like a secret service agent intercepting a bullet.

Then, 15 minutes later, Leckie cut inside from the right wing and lofted a delightful ball into the path of Tomi Juric. The striker, one of six changes to the starting team after the 2-0 Japan loss last week, brought the ball down on his chest and was about to leather the ball home when Adison Promrak inveigled a leg into proceedings to rob Juric on his moment.

Before the goals, there was a moment of real controversy early in the second half when Australia were caught on the break, leaving Thai captain Teerasil Dangda with a clear run on goal. He managed to get himself to the edge of the area when Trent Sainsbury slid in from behind and appeared to bring him down. If he got anything of the ball it was thinner than the skin on a mug of hot milk.

With the referee keeping his whistle from his mouth Australia broke quickly and Rogic forced a smart diving save from Hathairattanakool.

The chances continued to come -before and after Juric’s goal – but less-than-clinical finishing from the Australians and some impressive last ditch defending continued to frustrate Australia.

The win temporarily elevated Australia into the second automatic qualifying position in Group B. But their failure to add more goals opened the door for the Saudis to go through with a win by any score in Jeddah.