‘A magnificent win’: Australia’s World Cup victory sparks wild celebrations back home

Australia’s historic World Cup win over Denmark sparked wild celebrations across the country in the early hours of the morning as the team progressed to the knockout stages of the finals for only the second time.

Thousands of fans had gathered in Melbourne’s Federation Square to watch the match in the middle of the night and erupted in ecstasy when Mathew Leckie scored to put them into the lead after an hour.

There were riotous scenes in Sydney too when the referee blew the final whistle to end a nerve-jangling final few minutes in which Australia’s defence stood strong against one of the highest-ranked teams in the world.

Anthony Albanese led the celebrations with a tweet shortly afterwards.

The prime minister said it was a “magnificent win” – but he may have to answer the fan in the crowd in Qatar who held a banner reading “Give us a public holiday”.

Federal sports minister, Anika Wells, was another having a sleepless night although she was being careful not to wake her young twins while celebrating the goal.

Television presenter Lucy Zelic summed up the nation’s feelings with a joyous tweet when Leckie’s goal went in, confounding predictions that Australia would struggle to get anything in a game against one of the world’s highest-ranking teams.

The West Australian led the early pun competition with a “very special late edition” front page to mark the win. “It’s our Leckie day!” the headline reads.

Australia will meet the winners of Group C. Poland are currently top but they play Argentina later in a game which could decide Australia’s next opponents. Saudi Arabia, who topped Australia’s qualifying group for Qatar, could also finish top depending on how their game against Mexico goes.

The last 16 knockout fixture will be played on Saturday night in Qatar, meaning a 6am AEDT kick-off on Sunday.