[Jameison]

"For the 1994 World Cup in the US, had to beat Argentina (yes, with Maradona) and failed." et al.

Australia put themselves in a position of having the beat some of these teams you are going on about.
Australia backed themselves into a corner. They wouldn't have had to, if they had qualified direct


"For the 2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea, had to beat Uruguay (two times World Cup winner) and failed. "

Uruguay's days of glory are long behind them.
These gentlemen won the first 2 World Cups, at a time when over half the World's population, including all of Africa, and even England, did not participate in the World Cup.

[NZerFromHK]

This is not true though. There is no automatic qualifications for the winner in the Oceanic region, and the winner can only reach the Finals by playiong playoffs against one of the UEFA/AFC/COMEBOL teams. Australia had been a member of OFC up until last year so it never enjoyed the luxury of automatic entry (although it is now an AFC member).

[FostersExport]

"Australia put themselves in a position of having the beat some of these teams you are going on about.
Australia backed themselves into a corner. They wouldn't have had to, if they had qualified direct"

You're showing your ignorance now. Australia have to win their tiny Oceania group and then enter a play off against (these days) a South American side.

They didn't back themselves into any corners.