Japan and Saudi Arabia (both 16 points) appear in the box seat to secure automatic qualification for Russia, ahead of Australia (13 points).

Despite the predicament, the Socceroos fate remains firmly in their own hands with matches against both countries to come, starting with the June 8 qualifier against Saudi Arabia in Adelaide.

The Green Falcons and Samurai Blue also face off in the final round of qualifiers, meaning one will drop points.

Australia drew four consecutive games in the group to slip off the pace, while the top two have enjoyed near faultless campaigns to this point.

“I think we’re in good shape,” Postecoglou said, upon the announcement of a provisional 30-man squad to face Saudi Arabia.

“We’ve done a lot of work over the past few years for these games.

"We knew the final three games in qualification were going to be the key ones, starting with Saudi at home.”

Australia meets Japan in Saitama on August 31, before a final match on home turf against Thailand on September 5 which will likely decide their fate.

Japan’s final three games are against Iraq (away), Australia (home) and Saudi Arabia (away), while the Green Falcons meet Australia (away), UAE (away) and Japan (home).

The Socceroos starting XI in Thailand

Postecoglou’s mind is firmly focused on the Saudi Arabia game, which looms as crucial, even with the lure of a friendly against five-time world champions Brazil and the Confederations Cup around the corner.

Should Australia fail to win the match against Saudi Arabia, it would become very unlikely they could qualify for Russia automatically.

“The most important thing is the Saudi game,” Postecoglou said.

“We want to get a strong performance and we’re in good shape at the end of the month to tackle those last two games and finish the qualification off strongly.

“The work we’ve done over the last couple of years, the players we’ve exposed to international football and the experiences we’ve had, I’ve got no doubt we’ll be up for the contest.

“Hopefully start June off with a really strong performance and the right result and that’ll carry us through to the rest of the journey.”

The Socceroos celebrate a goal in the 2-0 win over UAE in Sydney in March

Matthew Spiranovic (quad) and Adam Federici (knee) are the only injury-enforced absentees from the squad Postecoglou named on Monday.

However Postecoglou has headaches with Trent Sainsbury, Brad Smith and Robbie Kruse lacking match fitness having struggled for game-time at club level in recent months.

Luzern striker Tomi Juric has found form with two goals in two games in Switzerland, while Tom Rogic has regained full fitness at Celtic after four months out injured.

Postecoglou glanced ahead to the Confederations Cup, acknowledging it was a brilliant opportunity for his side and also not shying away from the prospect of winning it.

“With the rest of June, we want to perform well against the best teams in the world,” he said.

“When you look at Brazil, Germany, Chile and Cameroon, particularly the first three, we’re talking about three top tier nations.

“It’s exactly the arena we want to be in and the environment we want to test ourselves.

“It’d be great to get to the end of that month knowing we’ve acquitted ourselves well and maybe have another trophy in the cabinet.”