MELBOURNE, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Australia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday night played out a goalless draw that leaves both sides level on points in the race to directly qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

In Melbourne, it was a clash of the second and third-placed teams in Group C of the third round of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia appeared to have won the match in the 93rd minute when Sultan Al-Ghannam fired a shot into the bottom left hand corner of the goal before it was ruled out due to an offside infringement.

The result mirrors that in November 2021 during the third round of AFC qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup when Australia and Saudi Arabia drew 0-0 in Sydney before both eventually qualifying for the tournament.

It leaves both Australia and Saudi Arabia four points adrift of group leader Japan, who will play Indonesia in Jakarta.

The top two in the six-team group will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, with the next two to progress to a fourth round of qualifying.

Prior to Al-Ghannam's disallowed winner on Thursday night, Australia had numerous chances to score the winning goal in front of a near-capacity home crowd of 27,491 spectators but was denied by desperate defensive efforts from the Saudis.

The best of those chances came in the 84th minute when Australian winger Brandon Borrello played a pass across the penalty box to Riley McGree whose shot at an open goal was blocked by a lunging Saud Abdulhamid.

Australia registered 13 shots on goal, six of which were blocked by defenders, compared to four for the Saudis.

Australia will next play Bahrain in Riffa next Tuesday, with Saudi Arabia to play Indonesia in Jakarta. Enditem

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