Australia beat Peru 5-4 on penalties Monday to secure a place at the World Cup finals for the sixth time.
The playoff between the Asian and South American qualifiers had been goalless after 120 minutes and needed sudden death penalties to decide the result at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Doha.
Australia, who have been a member of the AFC since leaving the Oceania Football Confederation in 2006, became the sixth nation from the Asian zone to qualify for the World Cup, set to kick-off in less than six months in Qatar.
Never before in the history of World Cups have six teams affiliated to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualified for the final tournament.
Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan made it through the AFC World Cup qualifiers while Qatar had already been an entry as the hosts.
It is only fitting that this development comes at a time when the World Cup is being hosted in Asia for only the second time in history.
