Scottish envy as Australia clinch World Cup joy of six - and tiny nation named after Scotland could join them

The hand went up, as we have seen so many times at Hibs. And then Martin Boyle delivered a free-kick with unerring accuracy on to the head of Mitch Duke, whose neat glance put Australia in front against Saudi Arabia in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier.

It was, to all intents and purposes, the clincher. The one that made it six in a row. Six World Cups. SIX. The Joy of Six. You can imagine the fun newspapers are having in Australia and the fun papers in Scotland would be having if Scotland ever managed to string together such a run of successes.

In Australia’s case, it stretches back to 2006. Maybe Scotland should do what Australia did just prior to that World Cup and apply to join another confederation.

Hibs winger Martin Boyle (left) celebrates Australia's win over Saudi Arabia and subsequent qualification for the 2026 World Cup with teammates Connor Metcalfe and Aiden O'Neill at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Scotland were one of the reasons why the Australia Football Federation petitioned Fifa to leave Oceania and move to the Asian Football Confederation. Alex Ferguson’s side beat Australia in a two-legged play off for Mexico ’86. The winners of the Oceania qualifying group were bound to play another team from either Europe or South America and invariably came to grief.

Australia did overcome Uruguay in 2005 to punch their ticket, as Fifa like to call it, for the finals in Germany the following summer but had already been accepted into the diocese of the Asian Football Confederation.

That was described by Frank Lowy, the chairman of the Australian Football Federation at the time, as “the most significant decision ever in the history of Australia football”. It was certainly transformative. They have not missed out on a World Cup since. Even Tuesday’s victory over Saudi Arabia was lacking any real jeopardy. They simply had to avoid losing by five goals, although the hosts did cause some mild panic my taking the lead in Jeddah after 19 minutes. In truth, Australia had done the hard work when beating Japan 1-0 in Perth a few days earlier with a goal from former Dundee United full back Aziz Behich.

Hibs duo Martin Boyle and Lewis Miller are front and centre as the Australia squad pose for a picture after securing qualification for the 2026 World Cup. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) | Getty Images

This week’s confirmation of their place at world football’s top table next summer means they have exceeded Scotland’s five successive World Cups between 1974 and 1990. As with Scots in that era, Australians now in their mid-twenties to early 30s will have known nothing else other than their country qualifying for World Cups.

They will need to be in their 60s to remember the only other time the Socceroos qualified, in 1974. It’s getting this way for Scotland – 1998, the last time the Scottish men’s team qualified, is receding deeper and deeper into the past. Those now in their mid-30s might just about recall Scotland players walking about the Stade de France in kilts before taking on Brazil in the tournament’s opening game.

Of course, qualification for the next one in USA, Canada and Mexico remains firmly in Scotland’s own hands, as it does for all of Europe’s teams. The qualification path has already started for some European teams, while others, like Scotland, will begin a short, intense campaign in the Autumn.

In the meantime, slots are filling up. Uzbekistan, currently ranked 57 in the world, have just qualified for the first time since independence in 1991. It’s fun – up to a point - to savour the joy of others.

Uzbekistan are the first team from central Asia to qualify for a World Cup, where they will be joined by Jordan, Japan, South Korea and Iran as well as old staples Brazil, who secured qualification under the Ancelottis - Carlo and his recently Rangers-linked son Davide are now in charge of the Selecao - with a 1-0 win over Paraguay. Ecuador have also qualified from South America, as have holders Argentina.

New Caledonia players pose before the 2026 World Cup Oceania qualifiers group final match against New Zealand at Eden Park Stadium in Auckland on March 24, 2025. (Photo by DAVID ROWLAND/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

New Zealand have already qualified from the Oceania Confederation having been the beneficiaries of Fifa’s decision to finally grant an automatic place to the top team from this region. The All Whites won a third-round play-off against New Caledonia earlier this year.

Intriguingly, New Caledonia have a second chance at qualification through the Fifa Play-Off tournament in Spring next year, when six teams will fight it out for two places at the World Cup. The group of islands in the south-western Pacific Ocean, with a population of just 270,000, could become the smallest and lowest ranked nation to ever qualify for the tournament. What a dull one that would be if a country named after Scotland by explorer Captain Cook, who thought the mountains of Grande Terre, one of the islands, reminded him of the Scottish Highlands, made it to the biggest sporting party on earth while the actual original Scotland remained at home.

Steve Clarke will be ensuring his team strain every sinew in an effort to get there over the course of six games later this year.

There’s still everything to play for although some envy is permitted towards those already home and hosed.