22 February 2006 - Australia's Continental Shift

On 22 February 2006, Australia made their first appearance as a member of the Asian Football Confederation, beating Bahrain 1-3 in an Asian Cup qualifier.

Established in 1922, the Australian national team was a founding member of the Oceania Football Confederation, formed in 1966, along with New Zealand and Fiji. They were the federation's most successful team, but believed that the level of competition hurt their chances in major tournaments against teams from stronger federations--prior to 2006, they had qualified for only one World Cup, in 1974, which they exited in the group stage.

In 2005, the Asian Football Confederation issued a formal invitation for Australia to join, which the OFC executive committee endorsed unanimously. After FIFA's approval, the move became official in January 2006. In their first official match as an AFC member, played in Bahrain's National Stadium, they fell behind 1-0 thanks to a goal from Husain Ali (35'), but got goals from Archie Thompson (pictured) (53'), Josip Skoko (79'), and Ahmad Elrich (penalty, 87') to claim the win.

The increased level of competition had the desired result, as Australia went on to qualify for that year's World Cup and reached the Round of 16 before falling to eventual champions Italy, 1-0.

11 April 2001 - There's No Mercy Rule In International Football

On 11 April 2001, Australia set an international football record, beating American Samoa 31-0.

The match occurred during the Oceania Football Confederation qualification campaign for the 2002 World Cup, which set the two teams on a crash course for an historic result. Australia beat Tonga 0-22 in their opening match, while American Samoa lost their first game 13-0 to Fiji (followed by an 8-0 loss to Samoa).

They met at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, playing before a crowd of 3,000. It took only ten minutes for Australia to take the lead, courtesy of midfielder Con Boutsianis, who went on to complete a hat-trick with goals in the 50th and 84th minutes. But the star of the day was forward Archie Thompson, who, in jut his third national team appearance, scored thirteen times (12', 23', 27', 29', 33', 37', 42', 45', 56', 60', 65', 85', 88').

Forward David Zdrilic wasn't far behind with eight (13', 21', 25', 33', 58', 66', 78', 89'), while Australia's remaining goals were provided by Aurelio Vidmar (14', 80'), Tony Popovic (17', 19'), Simon Colosimo (51', 81'), and Fausto De Amicis (55').

The match set the record margin for an international game, but is far behind the overall record of 149-0 set in a Madagascar league match between AS Adema and S.O. l'Emyrne in 2002.

22 February 2006 - Australia's Continental Shift

On 22 February 2006, Australia made their first appearance as a member of the Asian Football Confederation, beating Bahrain 1-3 in an Asian Cup qualifier.

Established in 1922, the Australian national team was a founding member of the Oceania Football Confederation, formed in 1966, along with New Zealand and Fiji. They were the federation's most successful team, but believed that the level of competition hurt their chances in major tournaments against teams from stronger federations--prior to 2006, they had qualified for only one World Cup, in 1974, which they exited in the group stage.

In 2005, the Asian Football Confederation issued a formal invitation for Australia to join, which the OFC executive committee endorsed unanimously. After FIFA's approval, the move became official in January 2006. In their first official match as an AFC member, played in Bahrain's National Stadium, they fell behind 1-0 thanks to a goal from Husain Ali (35'), but got goals from Archie Thompson (pictured) (53'), Josip Skoko (79'), and Ahmad Elrich (penalty, 87') to claim the win.

The increased level of competition had the desired result, as Australia went on to qualify for that year's World Cup and reached the Round of 16 before falling to eventual champions Italy, 1-0.