Australia and Syria into extra time in World Cup playoff

Soccer Football - 2018 World Cup Qualifications - Asia - Syria vs Australia - Olympic Stadium, Sydney, Australia - October 10, 2017 - Syria's Zaher Almedani and Australia's Mathew Leckie in action. REUTERS/David Gray

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia and Syria went to extra time in their Asian World Cup playoff second leg on Tuesday after a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes at the Olympic Stadium left them deadlocked at 2-2 on aggregate.

The winners of the tie will face the fourth-placed team in North and Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) qualifying in another two-legged playoff, with a spot in Russia next year on the line.

The tie will be decided by a penalty shootout if there are no more goals in the extra half an hour. The first leg in Malaysia last week also finished 1-1.

Soccer Football - 2018 World Cup Qualifications - Asia - Syria vs Australia - Olympic Stadium, Sydney, Australia - October 10, 2017 - Syria's goalkeeper Ibrahim Alma makes a save as Syria's Zaher Almedani and Australia's Tim Cahill look on. REUTERS/David Gray

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by John O'Brien)