Preview: Socceroos v Jordan

With qualification to next year's World Cup finals on the line, both Australia and Jordan need to win at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium or risk dropping off the pace.

Head-to-head Played: 1 - Wins: Australia 0, Jordan 1

Previous Meeting: Jordan 2-1 Australia, AFC World Cup qualifier, September 11, 2012

Past five matches: Australia: Japan 1-1 Australia, World Cup Qualifier, June 4, 2013 Australia 2-2 Oman, World Cup Qualifier, March 26, 2013 Romania 3-2 Australia, International Friendly, February 7, 2013 Australia 8-0 Chinese Taipei, East Asian Cup Qualifier, December 9, 2012 Australia 9-0 Guam, East Asian Cup Qualifier, December 7, 2012

Jordan: New Zealand A 0-1 Jordan, Unofficial Friendly, June 4, 2013 Jordan 1-0 Libya, International Friendly, May 27, 2013 Jordan 2-1 Japan, World Cup Qualifier, March 25, 2013 Jordan 1-0 Belarus, International Friendly, March 21, 2013 Jordan 4-0 Singapore, Asian Cup Qualifier, February 6, 2013

Analysis: 'One down, two to go' will be the mentality of the Socceroos heading into Tuesday's critical World Cup qualifier versus Jordan. With qualification to next year's World Cup finals on the line, both Australia and Jordan need to win at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium or risk dropping off the pace in the race to Brazil.

For eight minutes in Japan last week, everyone connected to the Socceroos dared to dream of an unlikely victory, which would have seen Osieck's team take a giant step towards Brazil 2014. As Tommy Oar's deflected cross looped into the net, Australia suddenly looked like they might win at Saitama Stadium but Japan earned a deserved point to wrap up their qualification to next year's tournament when Keisuke Honda dispatched a penalty in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.

The draw, which Osieck would certainly have taken before the game in Japan, became largely inconsequential when Oman defeated Iraq later that night to move into second spot in Group B of the Asian Football Confederation's final round of World Cup qualifying.

Oman sit in the second automatic qualifying berth in Group B with nine points but have just one match left, while Australia and Jordan (both seven points) have two games remaining, while bottom side Iraq (five points) have only an outside chance of World Cup qualification.

The Socceroos need to win their last two qualifiers to be assured of a ticket to Brazil, although Australia could qualify with less than six points from the games against Jordan and Iraq if other results went their way.

Osieck will hope Jordan's poor form away from home will give his side an advantage in Melbourne.

Although the Middle Eastern kingdom have won their past six matches, all but one of those victories came in Jordan, while before that run, the Jordanians had lost five-straight games away from home.

Jordan have played two warm-up matches before arriving in Melbourne, defeating Libya 1-0 at home before overcoming a second-string New Zealand A-side by the same scoreline in Auckland last week.

The Socceroos will have to wary of Adnan Hamad's quick and tricky Jordan side with striker Odai Al-Saify, who scored in Auckland, and captain Amer Deeb, two of the team's better players.

Osieck's main focus in the lead-up to Tuesday's match at Etihad Stadium has been whether to bring in defensive midfielder Mile Jedinak, who missed the game in Japan with an ankle injury.

While the Crystal Palace captain is one of Osieck's favourites, his replacement at Saitama Stadium, Mark Milligan, played very well after overcoming a nervous start and the Melbourne Victory midfielder could get the nod versus Jordan due to his superior passing ability, which could be important to break down the visitors' defence.