Socceroos striker John Aloisi scored a double as Australia overcame a valiant Vanuatu for a hard-fought 3-0 victory in their OFC Nations Cup soccer match at Adelaide's Hindmarsh Stadium.

The win, Australia's fourth from four matches in the tournament, ensured the Socceroos will finish in top place and progress to the next stage of World Cup qualifying, a two-leg home and away play-off against this event's second-placed side.

But the Socceroos' opponent for that series is still to be determined, with New Zealand needing to beat Fiji on Sunday and have the Solomon Islands lose to Australia to overtake the Solomons in second place.

Also on Friday, NZ beat Tahiti 10-0 to keep its chances alive, before the Solomons beat Fiji 2-1 to stay ahead of the Kiwis on the table.

Australia had plenty of trouble breaking down the Vanuatu defence, with goalkeeper David Chilia performing bravely and at times brilliantly to hold out a barrage of early Australian attacking moves.

He parried away four fierce shots in the opening 10 minutes, and in the 14th minute he made a sensational move to charge towards an approaching Aloisi and make a diving reflex save.

Chilia also did well to punch away a Brett Emerton corner kick into the box minutes later.

But the sustained Socceroos pressure eventually paid off, with Aloisi opening the scoring in the 25th minute.

He knocked in a header, after a Vanuatu defender cleared a shot by Socceroos captain Tony Vidmar off the line.

Leading 1-0 at halftime, it still took Australia a long time to put the game beyond doubt.

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