Australia trumps Syria in extra-time to set up intercontinental qualifier

Australia edged Syria in extra-time in the early hours of Tuesday morning to set up a playoff against the fourth-placed team from the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualification.

The Socceroos' 2-1 victory wasn't without drama. Tim Cahill scored his second of the game in the 109th minute, but the ANZ Stadium nervously looked on as a last-ditch Milos Degenek challenge prevented Omar Al Somah completing his own brace when 1-on-1 and, as two minutes were tagged onto extra-time, Al Somah saw his free-kick denied by the woodwork.

Following the 3-2 aggregate win, Australia will now face either the United States, Panama, or Honduras in an intercontinental play-off in November. The winner of that two-legged tussle will book a ticket to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

"They fought with everything, they were outstanding and gave us an extremely tough match on our home soil," midfielder Mark Milligan told BBC Sport after Tuesday's match.

"We worked hard, we knew what we were capable of and it was going to start to hurt them late on. We went aggressive with our formation but everyone worked hard and that is what we have in us.

"It was a loose pass for me for their goal and they punished us with the quality in their striker.

"The next round will be a different match, we will have a different challenge on our hands."

Australia's competitor in the highly-anticipated play-off will become known when the CONCACAF qualifiers are concluded later on Tuesday.

* Third place automatically qualifies team to 2018 World Cup

^ Fourth-placed team faces intercontinental playoff against Australia

Final matches at 8 p.m. ET:

• Honduras vs. Mexico
• Panama vs. Costa Rica
• Trinidad and Tobago vs. United States