Australia, up until 2006 played in the Oceania Football Conference, and to great success winning top spot in World Cup qualification every year since 1970. Their continental domination was such that in 2002 Australia set the World Cup record for highest winning margin beating American Samoa 31-0. As a result in 2005 Australia applied to move to the Asian conference which was finally approved later that year by FIFA leaving Oceania after 40 years with the federation, although it was made official until after the 2006 World Cup. There were 2 key reasons for this move; more competitive games and an easier route to the World Cup proper.
In order to actually get to the World Cup group stage in Oceania you have to win the Oceania conference before going into a playoff against a team that didn’t automatically qualify from a more prestigious confederation which they would then invariably lose, except on the two occasions The Socceroos managed to navigate the qualification faze (1974 away goals on against South Korea and against Uruguay in 2006 after a penalty shootout). By comparison The Asian conference has 4 countries qualify automatically in what can be a very quick qualification process, provided you make it into the top two.
How have Australia got on since?
Well in short, very well. Since moving after World Cup 2006, The Socceroos have qualified for the World Cup group stage at every opportunity since, even finishing top of their qualification group in 2010. However despite having more a competitive qualification process Australia have only made it out of their World Cup group once in 2006 (when they technically still represented Oceania), finishing second to Brazil, ahead Croatia and soon to be confederation rivals Japan before Italy got the best of them in the Round of 16.
As well as their improved success in World Cup qualification Australia have had a lot of success in the continental competition the AFC Asian Cup. Most notably winning the competition when they hosted the tournament in 2015 in emphatic fashion. On top of this The Socceroos have made it to at least the quarterfinals in the other three tournaments they’ve taken part in.
How has the move benefitted the women’s team?
Just like the men’s side the women left the Oceania Conference after 2006, however they had far more success while in the Conference, only missing out on World Cup qualification once. But unlike the men’s side The Matilda’s have really pushed on since moving to the Asian Conference, as they’ve never failed to qualify for World Cups. The Matilda’s having previously never made it out the group stage at a World Cup have since made it out of their groups every time, even getting to the quarter finals on 3 of the 4 appearances.
The Matilda’s also have an AFC Asian Cup trophy to their name after victory in 2010, beating North Korea on penalties, and have made it to at least the semifinals every time they’ve been involved. However unlike the men’s conference women’s football in Asia is dominated largely by China, Japan and North Korea, but The Matilda’s performances since joining have earn them the right to be in that company.
As for the A League in the Asian Champions League?
In the second season of A League clubs being in the AFC Champions League Adelaide United made it all the way to the final only to be outclassed over two legs by Japanese side Gamba Osaka, but did get some good scalps along the way. But Western Sydney Wanders in 2014 few the flag for the A League, Western Sydney in fact had an incredible difficult run in being in the group stage with sides from each of the bigger leagues in Asian (South Korea, China and Japan) before knocking out Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande before beating Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal giants at home 1-0 and finishing the job in Riyadh to lift the trophy, becoming champions of Asian. Besides these two missions to the final however, A League sides have rarely ventured passed the group stage.
Overall I’d say for many reasons the move to the Asian Football Confederation has been a successful one for Australia. Everything from the trophies at national level, to the AFC Champions League victory, as well as consistent appearances at the World Cup with a far more competitive qualification process has proved the move was indeed the right call.
By Tom Bowdery