Nine wins from 49: The next hoodoo the Socceroos are desperate to break

“Probably from the 15th minute onwards to the last 15, there wasn’t much good from us, with and without the ball.” Australia has recorded nine wins from 49 matches against South American opposition. And two of them - friendly victories against Paraguay (2010) and Ecuador (2023) - have come in the 20 years since that night against Uruguay. On Wednesday (12pm AEDT), an even bigger test awaits: Colombia, ranked No.13 in the world. They are another team Australia has never beaten from South America’s stacked 10-team confederation. Popovic was not aware of Australia’s historically poor record against South American nations until after the Venezuela match, nor could he put his finger on any particular stylistic or tactical reasons why the Socceroos always seem to struggle. What he did note was South America’s relentless competitive ecosystem: even a team like Venezuela, who missed the last World Cup, are forged through qualifying gauntlets against Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, and others.