Hours after Australia farewelled injured duo Mathew Leckie and Jacob Italiano, they turned their attention to their knockout opponent and were desperately close to a reunion with Iran almost 30 years in the making.
Australia sealed second place in Group D, and with it, a round-of-32 clash with the Group G runners-up in Dallas on July 3 after drawing 0-0 with Paraguay at Levi's Stadium on Thursday (Friday AEST).
Belgium's 5-1 win over a hapless New Zealand in Vancouver gave them top spot in Group G and relegated world No.29 Egypt, who drew 1-1 with Iran in Seattle, into second.
At various points on Friday night, the Socceroos could have been set for any of Belgium, Egypt or Iran - who appeared to score a late winner that was chalked off by VAR, then another which hit the bar.
Iran and the Socceroos haven't crossed paths since Australia had their hearts broken in an MCG World Cup qualifying playoff in 1997.
The Socceroos will face Egypt, whose superstar Mohamed Salah came off in the 56th minute and had his hamstring iced, in Arlington, Texas on July 4 (4am AEST).
Australia have played Egypt twice, winning a President's Cup match 4-3 on penalties, after initially drawing 0-0, in 1987, then losing a 2010 friendly in Cairo 3-0.
The Socceroos are desperate to claim a knockout win after falling desperately short against eventual champions Argentina in the round of 16 in Qatar.
"Obviously second time out of the group now, but the last one left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth," defender Aziz Behich said.
"It's still got that burning fire in the belly. We've always said we want to do something special with this group and why can't it be us?
"And I think we've got a great opportunity. We've created this opportunity from our hard work to be here - it wasn't given to us.
"Everything's in our hands leading into this game. So (I'm) full of confidence that ... this group can do something special this campaign."
Australia are down to 24 players for the knockouts as they cannot replace Italiano and Leckie, who left camp on Friday for Austria and Melbourne respectively.
Italiano (groin) played against Turkey and the United States but was injured at training, while Leckie (hamstring) pulled up sore in the defeat to the US.
"I saw first hand this year what he had to do to get back on that pitch for us at Melbourne City, and then what he did in Sarasota ... to prove himself to the boss and the coaching staff," Behich, a Melbourne City and three-time World Cup teammate of Leckie, said.
"... We're all gutted for him because we want him to stick around because we know what he can give us as a team, and even when he's not playing his experience and presence around a lot of the players."
Both losses are a blow to Australia's depth as the tournament continues.
Italiano's absence could mean Jordan Bos remains at right-back - where he dominated against Paraguay - with Behich staying on the left.
The Socceroos had a light recovery session on Friday as they soak up their achievement.
"It's the pinnacle of football, you're up against the best in the world, and we did something special coming from Australia, so we really need to enjoy that," Behich said.
"But once this week starts with our training sessions, we need to put that aside and really focus on what's next and I think that's important."
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