2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC–CONMEBOL play-off)

The 2002 FIFA World Cup OFC–CONMEBOL qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament, Australia, and the fifth-placed team from the South American qualifying tournament, Uruguay. The games were played on 20 November and 25 November 2001 in Melbourne and Montevideo respectively. Australia was hoping to play in the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974 and Uruguay since 1990.

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
(CONMEBOL–OFC play-off)

Event	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
Australia Uruguay 1 3
(on aggregate)
First leg
Australia Uruguay 1 0
Date	20 November 2001
Venue	MCG, Melbourne
Referee	Graziano Cesari (Italy)
Attendance	84,656
Weather	Partly cloudy 15 °C (59 °F)
Second leg
Uruguay Australia 3 0
Date	25 November 2001
Venue	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
Referee	Ali Bujsaim (UAE)
Attendance	62,000
Weather	Clear 16 °C (61 °F)

In the first leg, Australia beat Uruguay 1–0 in Melbourne while Uruguay took revenge in the second leg, easily defeating Australia 3–0 in Montevideo. Uruguay won the series 3–1 on aggregate, therefore qualifying for the World Cup held in Korea and Japan.

Australian players were spat on, punched and abused by a mob of Uruguayan fans on arrival at Montevideo's international airport for the second leg.

Venues

Melbourne Cricket Ground (left) and Estadio Centenario, venues for the series

Background

Uruguay		Round	Australia
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Argentina 18 13 4 1 42 15 27 43 Ecuador 18 9 4 5 23 20 3 31 Brazil 18 9 3 6 31 17 14 30 Paraguay 18 9 3 6 29 23 6 30 Uruguay 18 7 6 5 19 13 6 27		Final standings	Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Australia 4 4 0 0 66 0 66 12 Fiji 4 3 0 1 27 4 23 9 Tonga 4 2 0 2 7 30 −23 6 Samoa 4 1 0 3 9 18 −9 3 American Samoa 4 0 0 4 0 57 −57 0
		Final round (OFC)	Opponent	Result
		1st leg	New Zealand (A)	2–0
		2nd leg	New Zealand (H)	4–1

Match details

First leg

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification playoff

20 November 2001

20:15 UTC+11

First leg

Australia	1–0	Uruguay
Muscat 78' (pen.)	(Report)

MCG, Melbourne

Attendance: 84,656

Referee: Graziano Cesari (Italy)

Australia

Uruguay

GK	1	Mark Schwarzer
DF	2	Kevin Muscat	85'
DF	14	Shaun Murphy
DF	3	Craig Moore
DF	5	Tony Vidmar
MF	7	Brett Emerton
MF	4	Paul Okon (c)
MF	8	Josip Skoko
MF	11	Stan Lazaridis		45'
FW	9	Mark Viduka
FW	10	Harry Kewell
Substitutions:
GK	12	Zeljko Kalac
DF	6	Tony Popovic
DF	16	Steve Horvat
MF	13	Mark Bresciano
MF	17	Steve Corica
FW	18	Paul Agostino		45'
FW	21	John Aloisi
Manager:
Frank Farina

GK	1	Fabián Carini
DF	2	Washington Tais
DF	3	Alejandro Lembo
DF	4	Paolo Montero (c)
DF	6	Darío Rodríguez	34'
MF	8	Gonzalo de los Santos
MF	5	Pablo Gabriel García
MF	7	Gianni Guigou
MF	20	Álvaro Recoba
FW	19	Javier Chevantón		77'
FW	11	Federico Magallanes		71'
Substitutions:
GK	12	Gustavo Munúa
DF	14	Joe Bizera
MF	10	Nicolás Olivera
MF	16	Guillermo Giacomazzi		71'
FW	9	Diego Alonso
FW	15	Mario Regueiro		77'
FW	18	Richard Morales
Manager:
Víctor Púa

OFFICIALS Assistant referees: Marco Ivaldi (Italy) Aniello Di Mauro (Italy) Fourth official: Cosimo Bolognino (Italy)

MATCH RULES 90 minutes 3 (of 7) substitutions permitted

---

Second leg

25 November 2001

16:00 UTC−3

Second leg

Uruguay	3–0	Australia
Silva 14' Morales 70', 90'	(Report)

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 62,000

Referee: Ali Bujsaim (UAE)

Uruguay

Australia

GK	1	Fabián Carini	90+3'
DF	2	Washington Tais	85'
DF	3	Alejandro Lembo
DF	4	Paolo Montero (c)
DF	6	Darío Rodríguez
MF	5	Pablo Gabriel García	66'
MF	7	Gianni Guigou
MF	10	Mario Regueiro	10'  64'
MF	20	Álvaro Recoba
FW	9	Darío Silva	81'  81'
FW	11	Federico Magallanes		65'
Substitutions:
GK	12	Gustavo Munúa
DF	14	Gonzalo Sorondo		81'
MF	8	Gonzalo de los Santos		64'  80'
MF	15	Guillermo Giacomazzi
MF	16	Nicolás Olivera
FW	18	Richard Morales		65'  70'
FW	19	Diego Alonso
Manager:
Víctor Púa

GK	1	Mark Schwarzer
DF	2	Kevin Muscat	32'	73'
DF	14	Shaun Murphy		81'
DF	3	Craig Moore
DF	5	Tony Vidmar
MF	7	Brett Emerton
MF	4	Paul Okon (c)
MF	8	Josip Skoko
MF	11	Stan Lazaridis
FW	9	Mark Viduka
FW	10	Harry Kewell
Substitutions:
GK	12	Zeljko Kalac
DF	16	Steve Horvat
MF	13	Mark Bresciano
MF	17	Steve Corica
MF	22	Mile Sterjovski
FW	18	Paul Agostino		73'
FW	21	John Aloisi		81'
Manager:
Frank Farina

OFFICIALS Assistant referees: Ahmed Yaqqob Mohamed (UAE) Ali Abdulla Makhlouf (UAE) Fourth official: Musallam Al Bloushi (UAE)

MATCH RULES 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level: 3 (of 7) substitutions permitted

Aftermath

Uruguay qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Korea and Japan, and were drawn into Group A with defending champions France, Denmark and debutants Senegal. After losing 2–1 to Denmark in their opening match, Uruguay drew France 0–0 and in the final match they also drew 3–3 to Senegal despite being 3–0 down, finishing third in the group on two points.

Australia played in the 2002 OFC Nations Cup qualified automatically. The Socceroos were drawn into a group with Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia and won 2–0, 11–0 and 8–0 respectively, and topped the group, proceeding to the semi-final stage. Against Tahiti, a goal from Damian Mori in extra time secured a 2–1 win and a place in the final against New Zealand. Australia lost 1–0, leaving the side as runners-up and New Zealand qualifying for the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Australia and Uruguay met again in the 2005 CONMEBOL-OFC play-off, with heightened security measures following the 2001 airport incident in Montevideo.