Soccer-Part one complete as Popovic's Australia lock up World Cup berth

Soccer Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group C - Saudi Arabia v Australia - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - June 10, 2025 Australia coach Tony Popovic celebrates with Joe Gauci after qualifying for the World Cup REUTERS/Stringer

(Reuters) -Tony Popovic was already thinking about the improvements Australia needed to make for next year's World Cup finals soon after they sealed automatic qualification with a gritty 2-1 win in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Popovic took over as coach last September after the Socceroos made a poor start to the third round of Asian qualifying and has overseen five wins and three draws to book a ticket to North America.