Players in tears, flares lit at 4am - Australia's World Cup win meant so much

A goal from Mathew Leckie saw the Socceroos claim a 1-0 win over Denmark and thus seal second place in Group D for Australia.

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Few would've given Australia a prayer pre-tournament, with a dangerous Denmark reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and Tunisia, who showed they're no mugs with a win over France, competing against them for second place.

But Australia were the ones to get it, amassing six points to seal their place in the Round of 16 for the first time since 2006, the second time they've managed that in their history.

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"Australia deserved it," talkSPORT's Dean Ashton said. "The way they play, the way they defended against Tunisia and Denmark, two 1-0 wins, they deserve it.

"They nullified Denmark, they only allowed three shots on target of which none of them were golden opportunities. Australia were pretty comfortable in the end, actually.

"You could see what it means to them and their supporters, it's what the World Cup does. The tears from some of the Australia players, it's such a huge achievement for them to go into the Round of 16."

"I think getting out of the group is like winning the World Cup for this Australia side," talkSPORT's Joe Shennan added.

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Perhaps what inspired Australia to a surprise qualification was the great support they received both in Qatar and back home.

Those watching back in Oz deserve a huge amount of credit given all their matches were played in the early hours of the morning.

But that did nothing to dampen their spirits and the fans partied like it was 1999, some flares even being lit in Melbourne at 3:51am local time.

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Up next for the Aussies is a Round of 16 date with the Group C winners and manager Graham Arnold had a message for his players to not get too carried away despite the marvellous achievement.

"No celebrations," he said after the match.

"As I said to the boys that's why we won after a great win against Tunisia - no celebrations, no emotions, sleep, no social media!"

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Fortunately he didn't say anything about the fans not being able to celebrate.