Making their first appearance in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup, Indonesia will battle Australia for a quarter-final place on Sunday at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
The Socceroos finished top of Group B following a 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan on matchday three, while Indonesia claimed the final third-place position despite losing their previous match, 2-1 versus Japan.
Match preview
It was a solid group phase for Australia, who increased their unbeaten run at that stage of this competition to five matches, while they have not lost in seven successive encounters in all competitions.
In the opening round, the Australian press created plenty of opportunities for them in transition, winning the ball 39 times in the opposition's half, the most of any side so far in this tournament.
A 78th-minute strike from Uzbekistan winger Azizbek Turgunboev ended a Socceroos run of 609 minutes without conceding a goal in all competitions, a new record for the Aussie men.
In the group stage, Graham Arnold's side were organised at the back and very effective when in possession, having the ball for an average of 62.3%, while ranking first regarding sequences of play with 10 or more passes involved.
As great as they looked in their opening three games, this side will need to be sharper in front of goal in the knockout stage this time around than they were four years ago, when they failed to find the back of the net in their round of 16 and quarter-final fixtures.
They have never conceded more than one goal in an Asian Cup knockout match while losing only one of their single elimination encounters at this tournament in normal time (1-0 to the United Arab Emirates in 2019).
It was undoubtedly an anxious Thursday for the Indonesians, who were 10 minutes away from being knocked out of this competition before a late equaliser by Kyrgyzstan levelled their match against Oman at 1-1, and put Tim Garuda in the final third-place position.
That result wiped away the disappointment this team felt when they were beaten comfortably by Japan on matchday three, their fifth defeat in their last six competitive fixtures.
All that mattered in the end, though, was their 1-0 triumph over Vietnam on matchday two, their first clean sheet in a competitive game since last October (6-0 win over Brunei).
Their manager, Shin Tae-yong, has never got the better of Graham Arnold in four previous meetings against him, including a pair of narrow defeats when both men were in charge of the Indonesian and Australian Under-23 squads, respectively.
Sunday will be the first time that Indonesia play a competitive knockout fixture since the 2022 ASEAN Football Federation Championship, losing that semi-final tie 2-0 on aggregate versus Vietnam after the opening leg finished in a 0-0 draw.
They are winless in their last eight matches against the Socceroos, failing to score in seven of those encounters, with their one and only victory occurring in August 1981 (1-0).
Team News
On matchday three, Australia were without their top goalscorer selected for this tournament, Mitchell Duke, who sustained a hamstring injury in the victory over Syria (1-0) and was replaced in that match by Bruno Fornaroli.
Riley McGree made his first start of the competition on Tuesday after previously sustaining a minor foot injury, as he, Nathaniel Atkinson, Kye Rowles, Keanu Baccus and Kusini Yengi were all newcomers to the starting 11.
Martin Boyle converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time versus Uzbekistan, his first in a major tournament, while Jackson Irvine failed to find the back of the net for the first time at this year's Asian Cup.
Asnawi Mangkualam was on the bench for Indonesia in their match against Japan due to a muscle injury, though his winning goal versus Vietnam is ultimately the reason they are still in this tournament, with the Tim Garuda skipper scoring from the penalty spot.
Ernando Ari reached double-digits for caps on Wednesday, as did Rafael Struick, while Marselino Ferdinan and Yakob Sayuri reached 20 with the national team.
Sandy Walsh replaced Mangkualam at the back on matchday three and scored their only goal in second-half stoppage time, his first with Tim Garuda.
Australia possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Jones, Souttar, Rowles, Behich; Metcalfe, O'Neill, Irvine; Boyle, Yengi, Goodwin
Indonesia possible starting lineup:
Ari; Walsh, Ridho, Baggott, Hubner, Arhan; Sulaeman, Jenner, Ferdinan, Kambuaya; Struick
We say: Australia 2-0 Indonesia
Making it to this stage of the competition is a significant step forward for the Indonesians, but it appears as though they are overmatched in this one.
Throughout the tournament, the Socceroos have feasted off their opponents' giveaways, and the Indonesians have been too inconsistent defensively for us to believe they can contain a well-balanced Aussie side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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