China's Zhang Yuning, center, battles for the ball with Australia's Aiden O'Neill, left, and Australia's Craig Goodwin, right, during the World Cup 2026 Group C qualifying soccer match between Australia and China at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia. (AP )

ADELAIDE, Australia, Oct 10, (AP): Australia got its 2026 World Cup qualification campaign back on track by beating China 3-1 on Thursday in coach Tony Popovic’s first game in charge. The Socceroos had picked up just one point from their opening two Group C games in September, and they feared the worst after 19 minutes at the Adelaide Oval.

Xie Wenneng ran onto a Zhang Yuning header to shoot powerfully into the net and silence most of the 46,000 crowd. Australia, going for a sixth straight World Cup appearance, struggled to turn possession into clear chances. Still, just before the break, Lewis Miller headed Craig Goodwin’s free-kick into the net for his first international goal. Goodwin fired home a spectacular second from outside the area eight minutes after the restart to put Australia ahead 2-1.

Nishan Velupillay added a third in stoppage time in his debut international appearance to seal the win and condemn China to a third loss in three games. Popovic was hired last month after the resignation of Graham Arnold as head coach.

Australia is second in the group above Saudi Arabia, which takes on leader Japan later Thursday in Jeddah. The top two from the three six-team groups qualify directly for the World Cup while the third- and fourth-place finishers advance to a fourth stage of qualification to compete for Asia’s two remaining automatic berths.