World Cup: St. Pauli duo help Australia progress, Paraguay set to face Germany
| Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images |
Australia finished second in Group D following their goalless draw against Paraguay. St. Pauli’s Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe started for the Aussies, while ex-Eintracht Frankfurt man Ajdin Hrustic made his first appearance of the tournament as a substitute.
The result would most likely be enough for Paraguay to finish in the top eight of the ranking for third-placed teams. They only need to have a better record than one more team as they already pipped South Korea, Scotland and the team to finish third from Group I (Senegal or Iraq). If Paraguay did progress to the Round of 32, they will face Germany in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
It's the first time Australia qualified for knockout stages of the World Cup in back-to-back editions. They were knocked out of the Round of 16 in Qatar by the eventual champions Argentina.
