The Socceroos' World Cup campaign ends in heartbreak at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ , as Egypt knocks them out of the match in penalties. Messi scores for Argentina but the world champions were given a World Cup scare by Cape Verde. Egypt advances in its first-ever knockout stage game at the World Cup, and will face Argentina in the Round of 16. Colombia beat Ghana 1-nil and are through to the Round of 16 against Switzerland. Join your host Haylena Krishnamoorthy for this episode of World Cup Daily | The 90+ Podcast, as she talks to former Socceroo and SBS pundit, Tommy Oar to break down Australia's results. How did Australia and Egypt's penalty shootout unfold? Was the Egyptian king, Mohamed Salah a World Cup threat to the Socceroos? What do Socceroos' fans have to say? How did Cape Verde stun Argentina?
How did Australia and Egypt's penalty shootout unfold?
What do Socceroos' fans have to say?
And how did Cape Verde stun Argentina?
This is SBS News World Cup Daily, The 90+ Podcast, where we bring you the stories from on and beyond the pitch. I’m xxxxx.
The Socceroos' World Cup campaign has ended in heartbreak.
It marks a gut-wrenching finish for the Socceroos after a determined performance.
The Socceroos were beaten 4-2 on penalties by Egypt after extra time, with the match finishing 1-all.
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Harry Souttar blasted Australia's opening penalty over the bar, Lucas Herrington struck the crossbar with the fourth kick and Egypt converted every penalty to book its place in the Round of 16.
This now means Australia's World Cup campaign ends in the Round of 32, while Egypt advances to the last 16.
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Egypt's Emam Ashour took the lead early before an own goal from Mohamed Hany brought Australia level in the second half.
Patrick Beach made several big saves to keep the Socceroos alive, but it wasn't enough to deliver Australia's first men's World Cup knockout win.
After the match, Tony Popovic described the defeat as devastating, but says - with his young squad - the team showed the world that Australian football is strong.
"At this moment right now everything is a little tough to take, but I think I'm sure every Australian is proud of the group and what they did at this tournament, and tonight the effort they put in I'm sure their families and friends and every Australian back home that's watched will be very proud tonight."
He says he's extremely proud of his players, but is sad that they won't be progressing further.
One of the biggest talking points came just before the shootout, when experienced goalkeeper Mat Ryan replaced Patrick Beach.
"I think that was always an option for us, with his experience, then you've got to see how the game plays out, and sometimes in extra time, players go down and you need to make the changes and you don't have a sub available and we still had one available couple mins to go and we put Matty on."
Midfielder Jackson Irvine, after the match.
"Congratulations to Egypt. Huge victory for them, obviously a historic day for them as well. Yeah, listen, we took it all the way to the very end. Penalties is a cruel way to lose, but anybody who's got the confidence to step up and take, take that ball after 120 minutes, or however long you've played, it takes a big heart, and I hope they, you know, everyone stays behind them and they get all the support, because it takes, it takes your big heart to step up and take that after a game like today."
To unpack it all, I spoke to former Socceroo and SBS pundit for the World Cup, Tommy Oar.
"It's very raw right now, of course, to lose not only a World Cup knockout game, but to lose in a penalty shootout is, of course, always difficult to take. It feels a little bit unfair, but yeah, I think we put in a brave performance coming up against a very good Egypt team, but we more than match them for large portions of the game, but ultimately, when it goes to penalty shootout, it's a bit of a lottery, and on this occasion that went Egypt's way. So, yeah, I think the whole country is a little bit sad right now, but this is part of sport."
He tells me Popovic's decision was a brave one, and that these decisions aren't made lightly.
"It's a brave decision, and I think you can't really apportion blame to it, because you know a lot of thought goes into those kinds of decisions, and of course, Patrick Beach had an amazing tournament, but Mat Ryan does have a very good record at saving penalties. We saw a couple of years ago Mat Ryan gets substituted out, Andrew Redmayne was putting goals, and he was the one that won us the penalty shooter on that occasion. So, it's not.. it's.. it wasn't unprecedented. It's happened before a number of times on this occasion, it didn't pay off unfortunately for us."
And says it's just another part of football, and that sometimes these big decisions have to be made in unique moments.
Mat Ryan himself, speaking to SBS after the match.
"Saying it hurts is obviously an understatement, obviously retracing steps and all of this and trying to understand why it played off that way, why the processes and all the things didn't come off and play off this time, of course feeling like I let myself down, my teammates down and my country down."
Tommy Oar again.
"I think we have the most exciting young squad that we've had in a number of years, since I can remember. Maybe the Golden Generation players playing at very good clubs across the world, but also at the very start of their careers. Nestory Irankunda, of course, one of them, I think he embodies everything we like about Australian sports people, whether it's the Matildas or the Socceroos, or whoever you're supporting, but he's fearless, he really has a crack, I think you could say, and every, he doesn't, he takes the initiative, he's confident, and I think that we like the way that he goes about it, and of course, he's supremely talented, he's very fast, has a lethal right foot on him."
And this was Nestory Irankunda's reaction to SBS on the ground, after the match.
"We're all pretty gutted, for myself personally, I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't give my best performance for the country."
Tommy Oar shares his thoughts on another player.
"Lucas Harrington, he's only 18, just took a penalty in the World Cup game. I mean, what he's doing at his age, it's because that he has such a casual demeanor, it makes it look very normal, but it's not normal. I don't think we've had a player, a player at his age doing these types of things, since you know you have to go back a long time, so that's exciting."
Lucas Herrington was the fourth Socceroo in the penalty shootout lineup, and missed his shot.
Here's him speaking to SBS after the match.
"Obviously, it's tough; it's part of the game. I made them (penalties) during the week, I was confident, and I picked my spot earlier. And unfortunately I missed, but it's part of the game, and I'll move on. It's hard because it's the biggest tournament of the year. It's the biggest, probably, moment in my life, and I miss, I was confident going into it, I just got to rely on my support network and just get back to working and look forward to the season ahead."
But he remains optimistic.
"I'm 18, so I've got a lot of career left, and I think it's just the first big speedbump in my career, and I've just got to move on, stay confident, keep working hard and get back to it."
Looking beyond the result, Tommy Oar believes this tournament has announced the arrival of a new generation of Socceroos.
"It's the overwhelming nerves that it's, and it's hard to.. I've taken penalties that were nowhere near as important as the ones that they had to take today, but in nothing can prepare you for those moments, and when you're that nervous, and you know the whole world is watching one kick, it's hard to do the things you would normally do, because every professional player has the ability to score from the penalty in a normal situation, and of course, goalkeepers, you know, they're getting better, and it's getting harder to do that consistently, but I think fundamentally, if the penalty taker does it to his best ability, you score."
And while missing a penalty will always hurt, he says few people understand just how much pressure comes with walking up to the spot in a World Cup knockout match.
"The pressure is always more on the taker than the goalkeeper, and in those moments it just feels like there's nowhere to hide, and you know the, you can throw up, throw yourself off your runoff, or run up, or your normal routine that you would normally do to kick a ball, and it just becomes a completely psychological battle, because you're basically trying to cancel all the noise around you and just focus on the skill, but to do that, it takes incredible confidence."
Emotional scenes for Egypt and star player Mohammed Salah, who broke down after the match.
Meanwhile on the ground back home, here's an Egyptian supporter at a watch party in Sydney.
"They both did great to be honest, It was both very strong teams, so yeah - congratulations to both teams and congratiulations and well done to my Egyptian community - love it."
And these were the scenes of Socceroos' fans reacting to the moment Australia was up on one goal, despite it being an own goal by Egypt
In Tumbalong Park
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...and Federation Square.
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Elsewhere, Cape Verde's remarkable World Cup run nearly produced another major upset.
Playing at its first-ever FIFA World Cup, the African nation pushed defending champions Argentina all the way.
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Lionel Messi opened the scoring for Argentina, but the African underdogs drew level at 1-all against the defending world champions.
In the second half, Cape Verde's Deroy Duarte fires home a brilliant strike, beyond Argentina's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
It's a stunning moment, and the holders suddenly have a real fight on their hands.
But Argentina battled their way back in front with a hard-fought second goal by Lisandro Martinez.
And for the nation of about 500,000 people off the west coast of Africa, playing at its first World Cup..
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..Sidny Cabral equalised 2-all deep into stoppage time [[at the 103th minute]].
The winning goal in Argentina's 3-2 victory was credited as an own-goal, after Cristian Romero's header deflected off Cape Verde's Diney Borges in the 111th minute.
For a nation of just over half a million people, it's a moment that will be remembered for generations.
Tommy Oar, on Cape Verde at the global stage.
"If someone told me before the World Cup that they would get to this point, I wouldn't have believed them. I think some of the stories, and we've seen it from a number of nations who have defied the odds to do great things in this tournament, and I think it proves a couple of things. I think the first thing it shows is how little difference there is between the top players in the world, and the sub top, I think that the margins are so slim at this level, and also the bravery that they're playing with. I think Cabo Verde, we saw in the group game some of the goals they scored, and how defensively resilient they were. It was amazing to watch, and just to see nations like that competing on the world stage, doing their country proud is part of what makes the World Cup so special."
Cape Verde have been one of the stories of the tournament.
Earlier, they held Saudi Arabia and shocked Spain to a draw, goalkeeper Vozinha - who had eight saves today - becoming a popular figure, and the team arrived full of belief.
Before the match, Tommy Oar knew the challenge.
"I must say, though, coming up against Messi in Argentina, I think, is a very difficult proposition for them, just because you're talking about the former champions, some of the best players in the world, probably the best player ever in Messi, and it might just be one bridge too far, but I think we can all agree that whoever wins the game, though, assuming it is Argentina, that Cabo Verde will still step away as winners as well."
But that's the beauty of knockout football.
It doesn't always have to be perfect, you just have to find a way to win. And that's exactly what Argentina did.
As for Cape Verde, they may be heading home, but they've earned a lot of respect with that performance.
They pushed one of the tournament favourites all the way and showed they absolutely belong on this stage.
In the day's final match, Colombia defeated Ghana 1-nil [[1-0]], and will now head to the Round of 16.
So - Argentina move forward, Cape Verde bow out with their heads held high, and Colombia will face Switzerland.
If the rest of the knockout stage is anything like this, we're in for a fantastic tournament.
I'll be back with you soon with the latest matches, as we head in the Round of 16.
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