The Socceroos' World Cup hopes are on a knife-edge after yet another qualifier draw. So what happens next?

It hasn't been a fun week to be an Australian football fan.

Days after the Matildas' shock quarter-final exit from the Asian Cup, the Socceroos have edged closer to missing out on automatic qualification for this year's men's World Cup in Qatar.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Graham Arnold's side drew 2-2 against Oman.

The Socceroos led twice throughout the match — first through a 15th-minute penalty scored by Jamie Maclaren, then thanks to a strike from midfielder Aaron Mooy in the 79th minute —  but the goals were cancelled out by Oman's Abdullah Fawaz each time.

The draw is Australia's third in the past four games, leaving the team third in group B. They're now three points off second spot, with two games left.

With the top two nations of each group automatically qualifying for Qatar, there is now no room for error: the Socceroos need to win both of their final two matches to avoid a trickier intercontinental play-off route.

The problem? The two teams they must defeat, Japan and Saudi Arabia, currently sit above them on the table.

Here's how the Socceroos' path towards Qatar looks now:

Australia's first must-win game will take place in Sydney on March 24 against heavyweights Japan.

The Samurai Blue defeated the Socceroos 2-1 in their most recent clash back in October thanks to an early goal from young midfielder Ao Tanaka and an own goal from Australian defender Aziz Behich.

History makes for grim reading here as Australia's last win over Japan came all the way back in 2009. The Socceroos have secured just one point in their past three meetings with the team, which came in the form of a 1-1 draw in 2016.

The in-form Japan currently sit second in group B after defeating leaders Saudi Arabia 2-0 on Wednesday morning