The Socceroos will take on familiar foes South Korea for a spot in the Asian Cup quarterfinals after Jurgen Klinsmann's charges beat Saudi Arabia on penalties in the round of 16 in Qatar.

The South Koreans teed up a rematch of the 2015 Asian Cup final, which Australia won on home soil, with the dramatic comeback victory, taking the shootout 4-2 after a 1-1 draw.

But, surely to the delight of Socceroos coach Graham Arnold and his charges, who already had two days' extra rest after beating Indonesia on Sunday local time, they did it the long way.

Australia will have 53.5 more hours rest than South Korea heading into the quarterfinal at Al Janoub Stadium on Friday night (Saturday AEDT).

Saudi manager Roberto Mancini walked up the tunnel with his back to play before Hwang Hee-chan buried the winning spot-kick, indicating his future, already under pressure, is in doubt.

The clash, played in front of a pro-Saudi crowd of 42,389 at Education City Stadium in Doha, had been the most hotly anticipated clash in the round of 16.

South Korea star Son Heung-min had some early half-chances but it was Saudi Arabia who came close to opening the scoring in the 41st minute.

Saleh Al-Shehri cannoned a close-range header into the bar and a looping follow-up header from Ali Lajami rattled it again.

Then Salem Al-Dawsari headed it just past the far post, with aid from a South Korean deflection.

Saudi Arabia forward Abdullah Radif came off the bench at half-time and scored with his first involvement a minute later.

South Korea hardly fired a shot until the closing minutes, when they started to pepper the Saudi goal.

Klinsmann's charges broke through in the ninth minute of second-half injury time, with Cho Gue-sung's header forcing the match to extra time.

Both teams spurned chances to win the game in extra-time but mulleted goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo stood tall in the shootout, denying Sami Al-Najei, then Abdulrahman Ghareeb.

All four of South Korea's penalty takers scored.