Prime Minister John Howard has congratulated the Socceroos for their nail-biting win which has qualified them for soccer's World Cup.

And Mr Howard has agreed that bosses might turn a blind eye to workers turning up a bit late on Thursday following Wednesday night's long match.

The prime minister watched the nerve-wracking final minutes of the match on the internet in his hotel after arriving at the South Korean port city of Busan, where he is attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum.

"(It was) fantastic," he told reporters.

"My faith in penalty shoot-outs is restored.

"Congratulations to the team ... (to) everybody associated with this tremendous resurgence of soccer in Australia.

"I wish them well for the World Cup."

Australia qualified for next year's World Cup in Germany after beating Uruguay 4-2 on penalties in a heart-stopping qualifying match at Sydney's Telstra Stadium.

Australia was ahead 1-0 after the end of regulation time but the qualifying match remained all square after Australia lost the first leg 1-0 in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo on the weekend.

The match went into two 15-minute periods of extra time but the deadlock could not be broken, forcing the penalty shoot-out.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP