The Socceroos have secured their World Cup finals spot next year with the most nerve-jangling of 1-0 wins over Iraq at ANZ Stadium, thanks to substitute Josh Kennedy's header with seven minutes left.
Sent on in on place of Tim Cahill, Kennedy soared to head home Mark Bresciano's cross seven minutes from time at a sold out and rain-soaked Stadium Australia.
The goal looked like it would never come as Iraq performed beyond expectations but Kennedy held his nerve to power his effort past keeper Noor Sabri to send the huge crowd into raptures.
It wasn't how the script was meant to play out but Australia lacked the guile and style to unlock Iraq despite the visitor having nothing to play for - until Kennedy, on in place of Tim Cahill in the 77th minute, scored his 16th goal for his country in his 30 appearance.
As expected, Australia made all the early running against an experimental Iraq side out of contention for qualification and fielding four 21-year-olds and four teenagers.
And Cahill - Australia's omnipresent goal threat during its campaign for Brazil - spurned a decent chance to give the Socceroos an early lead when his strike was well stopped by goalkeeper Noor Sabri after Robbie Kruse had crafted the opening.
Twelve minutes later giant defender Sasa Ognenovski - always a threat in the air - barrelled into the Iraq penalty area to only to direct his header from a Lucas Neill cross over the bar.
It should have been 1-0 in the 34th-minute when a neat interchange between the impressive Tommy Oar and Matt McKay on the left saw the left-back swing the ball into the area where Noor dropped it and Cahill hooked his shot wide when a goal looked a distinct possibility.
As if daunted by the weight of expectation, the Socceroos lacked fluency and passes often missed their intended targets as their composure deserted them in the final third during a tense first half in which they couldn't turn territorial superiority into goals.
On average 10 years older than their callow opponents, it was like dads versus lads and for long periods the boys-to-men of Iraq showed little respect for their elders as they held the vastly more experienced Socceroos at bay.
Iraq grew in stature as the game progressed, its neat and intricate interplay giving Australia some questions to answer as the home team battled to regain control of the match.
Coach Holger Osieck introduced Celtic's Tom Rogic on the hour for his sixth cap in place of the ineffective Brett Holman, and his first touch saw him drive into the penalty box and his second another burst which broke down when he opted not to offload to the ever-menacing Oar.
Kruse did blast the ball in the net in the 64th minute to set the crowd alight on a sodden night but the effort was ruled out after a foul by Ognenovski which referee Alireza Faghani had picked up.
In an act of desperation, Osieck replaced a disbelieving Cahill with Kennedy making his first apppearance since late 2011 - and then a minute later yanked Kruse for Archie Thopmson.
But he was vindicated.
