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

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.

## Background

| Uruguay | Uruguay | Round | Australia | Australia |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Argentina 18134142152743  Ecuador 189452320331  Brazil 1893631171430  Paraguay 189362923630  Uruguay 187651913627 | Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Argentina 18134142152743  Ecuador 189452320331  Brazil 1893631171430  Paraguay 189362923630  Uruguay 187651913627 | Final standings | Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Australia 44006606612  Fiji 4301274239  Tonga 4202730−236  Samoa 4103918−93  American Samoa 4004057−570 | Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Australia 44006606612  Fiji 4301274239  Tonga 4202730−236  Samoa 4103918−93  American Samoa 4004057−570 |
| | | Final round (OFC) | Opponent | Result |
| | | 1st leg | New Zealand (A) | 2–0 |
| | | 2nd leg | New Zealand (H) | 4–1 |

## Match details

### First leg

| 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

| 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' | 62' |
| 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 | | 71' |
| 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 | | 62' |
| 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.

