Anything but a win over Iraq in Tehran on Thursday, and Australia will find themselves in deep trouble as they look to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
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The Socceroos currently sit third in Group B of the Asian qualification table, and with just the two teams from each group going straight through to the group stage of the World Cup next year, Australia need to find a way to climb above Saudi Arabia and Japan.
Both those teams have ten points from five matches, with Australia on nine, just like the UAE. Iraq and Thailand look to be out of the running – although, Iraq, on three points, might still believe there is a way they can make things interesting, particularly if they pick up a win against Australia – so it is a four-way race for the top two places in this enthralling Group B of the Asian World Cup qualifiers.
With so much at stake, Australia really need to make sure they top Iraq on Thursday.
"We're expecting a tough game and we expect a tough game every time we play, but when we're in camp we talk about Australia," Australia head coach Ange Postecoglou said. "We talk about our team, we talk about our football.
"We respect every opponent, sometimes maybe it works in our favour that other teams maybe don't respect us, but we'll see that on the pitch.
"We're Asian champions, we've qualified for the last three World Cups, we want to qualify for our fourth World Cup and we're going to a Confederations Cup.
"We concentrate on ourselves and if we play our football, we don't fear anybody."
What Australia will look to do is emulate the result from the reverse fixture, when goals from Massimo Luongo and Tomi Juric gave the Socceroos a 2-0 victory in Perth. While this is an away game, Australia will know if they play to their potential, then a win should come their way.
"They don't have as many points probably as their performances deserve," Postecoglou added on Iraq. "If you give them those three points they'd definitely be in the mix."
When and where to watch live
Iraq vs Australia is set to begin at 4.30pm local time, 5.30pm IST, 12pm GMT, 11pm AEDT. TV and live streaming information below.
India: No live coverage.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports 4. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
Middle East: TV: Bein Sports Arabia 3. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
SouthEast Asia: TV: Fox Sports.
USA: TV: ESPN3. Live Streaming: Watch ESPN.
