1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF–OFC play-off)

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
(CONCACAF–OFC play-off)

Event	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
Canada Australia 3 3
3–3 on aggregate, Australia won 4–1 on penalties
First leg
Canada Australia 2 1
Date	31 July 1993
Venue	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton
Referee	Arturo Carter (Mexico)
Second leg
Australia Canada 2 1
Date	15 August 1993
Venue	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Referee	Shin-Ichiro Obata (Japan)

The 1994 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF–OFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament, Australia, and the second-placed team from the CONCACAF qualifying tournament, Canada. The games were played on 31 July and 15 August 1993 in Edmonton and Sydney respectively. Australia was hoping to play in the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974 and Canada for the first time since 1986. The winners would play the South American runners-up in Group 1.

Background

Canada		Round	Australia
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Mexico 6 5 0 1 17 5 12 10  Canada 6 3 1 2 10 10 0 7  El Salvador 6 2 0 4 6 11 −5 4  Honduras 6 1 1 4 7 14 −7 3		Final standings	Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Australia 4 4 0 0 13 2 11 8  Tahiti 4 1 1 2 5 8 −3 3  Solomon Islands 4 0 1 3 5 13 −8 1
		Final round (OFC)	Opponent	Result
		1st leg	New Zealand (A)	1–0
		2nd leg	New Zealand (H)	3–0

Play-off match

First leg

Canada  v  Australia

31 July 1993 20:30

Canada	2–1	Australia
Watson  50' Mobilio  57'	Report	44' (o.g.) Dasovic

Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton Referee: Arturo Carter (Mexico)

Second leg

Australia  v  Canada

15 August 1993 19:30

Australia	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Canada
Farina  45' Durakovic  77'	Report	54' Hooper
	Penalties
Wade A. Vidmar Tobin Farina	4–1	Mitchell Bunbury Sweeney

Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Referee: Shin-Ichiro Obata (Japan)

Aftermath

Australia went on to meet Argentina in the deciding play-off. The first leg in Sydney, Australia, finished 1–1. In the second leg staged in Buenos Aires, Australia's Alex Tobin scored an unfortunate own goal in the 59th minute when he tried to block a cross from out wide. The cross deflected off Tobin and looped over the keeper and into the far side of the net. This proved to be the only goal of the game as Argentina won 1–0 for a 2–1 aggregate victory. Australia were eliminated.^[1][2][3][4]

References