Australia and Poland won their second match

Australia and Poland won their second match
Australia and Poland won their second match

Australia won a World Cup game for only the third time in their history with a dogged 1-0 victory over Tunisia on Saturday to revive their last-16 hopes.

Australia sit second in Group D with three points from two games, having been well-beaten 4-1 by holders France in their tournament-opener.

Australia had only ever won two matches at the World Cup before this and squeezed into this edition via a playoff.

But they started the better against a Tunisia team who held Denmark 0-0 in their opener and are looking to reach the knockout stage for the first time.

In the 23rd minute Australia took the lead their possession deserved.

Striker Mitch Duke scored the only goal of a tight game with a clever header in the first half and Australia then desperately held on to silence Tunisia's vociferous fans.

Robert Lewandowski scored the first World Cup goal of his prolific career on Saturday when he netted in Poland's 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia, bursting their bubble following the team's giant-killing act against Argentina.

However it was a battle for Czeslaw Michniewicz's side, who were leading at that point thanks to Piotr Zielinski's roofed finish and an incredible double save from Wojciech Szczesny after Salem Al-Dawsari's penalty late in the first half.

Mohamed Kanno had the game's first decent effort on goal, tipped over by Szczesny in the 13th minute.

Poland leapfrogged the Saudis into first place in Group C, with Lionel Messi's Argentina facing Mexico later on Saturday.