Central Coast coach Nick Montgomery says Jason Cummings has done enough to earn a ticket to Qatar after the Socceroos striker's latest goal helped the Mariners to a 2-2 A-League Men draw with Wellington.
Cummings netted a superb second-half chip and would have doubled up with an overhead kick if not for a marginal offside decision on Sunday.
The 27-year-old has bolted into calculations for Graham Arnold's World Cup squad, to be named on November 14, and his club coach is his biggest backer.
"If you're asking me if I'd take him if I was the coach, 100 per cent," Montgomery said after the match.
"Jason was top, top class ... Jason does what he does: he scores goals."
Cummings was the star performer at Sky Stadium, again putting his name in lights in New Zealand.
Three weeks after scoring a debut Socceroos goal at Eden Park, the former Hibernian and Nottingham Forest striker put in a livewire showing against Wellington.
He silenced the crowd with a first-half overhead kick - labelled "world class" by Montgomery - which bounced off the post and past Oli Sail into the goal.
After three-and-a-half excruciating minutes waiting for a VAR decision, referee Jonathan Barreiro ruled the effort out for offside.
Cummings was not to be denied, though, putting the Mariners 2-1 ahead after receiving a ball from Paul Ayongo and chipping home from the edge of the box in the second half.
"His goal was a delightful finish ... looked like he was going to smash it but he took Oli Sail out and glided it over him," Montgomery said.
"It maybe should have been two goals and it would have been two top, top-class finishes."
Sunday's match burst into life after the break.
After a goalless opening period, Ben Waine thought he had opened the scoring on 53 minutes, gathering a long ball from Sail to blast past Vukovic, only for the effort to be chalked off for offside.
The young All Whites star produced his own chip shortly after, racing onto Steven Ugarkovic's pass and finishing with real quality.
At that point, the Nix were on top everywhere including the scoreboard, but the tables turned within seven minutes.
First, Sam Silvera glided through an absent Phoenix midfield to strike a powerful equaliser, and then came Cummings' moment of inspiration.
Central Coast could not hold on: as added-time neared, they failed to deal with a Nicholas Pennington corner, with Ayongo's deflection startling his own goalkeeper for a late equaliser.
Sail, who was also in goal for Cummings' debut international goal, jokingly suggested he was happy to see the back of the Central Coast striker.
"I've come up against him three times and he scored three times, maybe more," he said.
"He's a tidy customer. He knows how to play off the shoulders of people. He knows how to affect the defensive line.
"You can't argue with his goalscoring form."
