Heading through were two European nations in Germany and England, while Northern Americans USA progressed along with Ghana, who appear to be Africaās only survivor beyond the group stage.
But the departed is the focus here as the post-mortems begin.
Farewell Australia
Australia 0 Germany 4āāAustralia 1 Ghana 1'āAustralia 2 Serbia 1
It started off so badly for the Socceroos and they never managed to recover despite their best efforts.
Coach Pim Verbeek will cop the blame for that opening 4-0 loss to Germany, but he and the team showed heart to fight back against Ghana and then Serbia. Fortune didnāt favour them either, with disputable red cards for key men Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell costing them dearly.
After Australia bowed out, Verbeek said: āThat was the plan - to go to the final 16 - and it didnāt work out that way but on the other hand I donāt think we can blame the players. We are all disappointed we didnāt make it through to the final 16 - four points was good enough four years ago in Germany but this time it was not good enough.ā
Zdravo Serbia
Serbia 0 Ghana 1āāSerbia 1 Germany 0'āSerbia 1 Australia 2
The Serbians came into this World Cup with the outsider reputation going for them, but some ordinary pre-World Cup form cooled off expectations. Nevertheless, within Serbia hopes were high but Radomir Anticās side couldnāt deliver, although heāll blame a penalty decision which went against them late versus Australia.
Penalty decisions, though, were the norm in Serbia matches in South Africa, with Zdravko Kuzmanovicās handball proving costly in their opener against Ghana. Nemanja Vidic conceded one in the memorable 1-0 victory over Germany but in the final match against Australia they couldnāt win one of their own.
Antic said after the Australia loss: āWe really expected we would get to the last 16 and when it comes to how we played I think we deserved that. But the decisions taken by the referees and the opportunities we missed leave us feeling sad.ā
Zbogom Slovenia
Slovenia 1 Algeria 0āāSlovenia 2 USA 2'āSlovenia 0 England 1
After surprising everyone to defeat Russia in the UEFA qualifying playoffs, Slovenia came into the World Cup without great expectations but their opening game victory over Algeria gave them hope of an improbable push for the final 16.
Having won the first game, Slovenia led 2-0 against USA but conceded two late goals to allow the group to stay wide open. Then England proved too strong for them in the final game, with the US stealing Sloveniaās spot with a last minute winner elsewhere.
Boss Matjaz Kek said: āI wish when our game had finished the USA game had finished too. Iāve seen how they scored, I donāt want to comment on thisā¦ Of course weāre disappointed, but I hope in time my players will be able to focus on what weāve achieved here. I hope my squad can gain by this defeat.ā
Salaam Algeria
Algeria 0 Slovenia 1āāAlgeria 0 England 0'āAlgeria 0 USA 1
The Desert Foxes were major outsiders to progress through this group and they had their chances but quite simply failed to scoreā¦ all tournament! The opening game against Slovenia was always an opportunity to get off to a good start, but after that turned into defeat their backs were against the wall.
Stealing an unlikely goalless draw against England, thanks to some brilliant goalkeeping, kept Algeria alive and they still had hope until very late against the USA. One goal was all it would take to see them qualify, but in their haste to push forward they allowed the Americans a late winner which ended Les Fennecs campaign.
Coach Rabah Saadane said: āBut it was our first match that decided our fate in this competition. We did not get the right result from that match and thatās one of the lessons we have to take away from this tournament. We gave our best and have nothing to be ashamed of. This was the first time in 24 years we have played at the World Cup and we should not expect miracles.ā