Mat Ryan saved a late penalty in his 100th game as Australia came from behind to defeat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in Jeddah and confirm their place at the 2026 World Cup in North America.

Martin Boyle had already blazed a great chance wide by the time Abdulrahman Al-Aboud tapped in a 19th-minute opener after good work from Salem Al Dawsari and Feras Al Brikan.

Ali Majrashi and Musab Al Juwayr missed good opportunities to extend the lead before Australia levelled three minutes before the break, with Connor Metcalfe applying a cool finish after great hold-up play from Cameron Burgess.

The Socceroos took the lead three minutes after the restart when Mitch Duke met Boyle's left-wing free-kick with a glancing header into the far corner.

Majrashi had a straight red overturned for a foul on Boyle following a VAR review. Saudi Arabia then had a spot-kick when Al Dawsari was felled by Jason Geria but Ryan denied the same man, whose effort to the bottom-right corner was read by the Australia goalkeeper.

Tony Popovic's side qualifies automatically from Group C of the third round of Asian qualifiers, with Saudi Arabia  heading for the fourth round of qualification.

Tony Popovic's men will join already-qualified teams Japan, New Zealand, Iran, Argentina, Uzbekistan, South Korea and Jordan at the showpiece tournament.