Syria's World Cup hopes end in a 2-1 extra-time loss to Australia

Syria's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time ended on Tuesday in a 2-1 extra-time loss to Australia.

Tim Cahill scored Australia's opener with a trademark header in the 13th minute, but it was not until 96 minutes later that he kept alive his country's hopes of a fourth successive appearance at the World Cup finals with his 50th international goal.

"I knew I was going to score, I didn't touch the ball much but in the end I delivered," said Cahill, who has played at the last three World Cups.

"That's what I've done my whole life and I'll continue to do it."

The Australians dominated the start of last week's match in Malaysia and were expecting to do the same again, but Syria made the perfect start when Omar Al Somah scored in the sixth minute to cancel out Australia's away-goal advantage from the 1-1 first-leg draw.

"They fought with everything they had — they gave us an extremely tough match on our home soil," Australian midfielder Mark Milligan said.

"But we knew it was only a matter of time. Timmy was outstanding."

The 3-2 aggregate victory sent the Socceroos into an intercontinental playoff in November against the fourth-placed team in North and Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) qualifying with a World Cup spot on the line.

Qualifying in CONCACAF concludes later Tuesday, with the possibility that the United States — in third spot ahead of its last game — could still finish in the playoff spot.

"It will be a different tone of match," Milligan said. 

"We're excited to go through, but there is a lot of work to be done."

Syria, who had to play all their "home" qualifiers in Malaysia because of the security situation in their war-torn nation, fought until the very end of the match but ultimately came up short in their bid for a maiden World Cup spot.