Emerton scored two goals against Qatar in Australia's fourth match of World Cup Qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in Doha. The match finished 3–1 to the Australians, as the nation advanced to the second round of the World Cup qualifiers. He also scored two goals against Qatar on 15 October in Brisbane, one from the penalty spot and the other a right foot finish from a flowing Australian move. Since returning from injury Emerton has received an international recall for the upcoming matches against the Netherlands and Oman. In his return match for the Socceroos against the Netherlands, Emerton came on as a second-half substitute for Josh Kennedy, and made an exceptional return by looking dangerous on the right side of midfield. He then started the next match on against Oman and played a full 90 minutes. Emerton scored a late winner against Oman in the 2011 Asian Cup Qualifying fixture to give the Socceroos a 2–1 win. On 17 November 2010, he injured his hamstring whilst on international duty against Egypt in a 3–0 defeat in Cairo. On 25 January 2011, Emerton scored his 18th goal for his country and the fourth goal in the 73rd minute of the match when he scored against Uzbekistan in a 6–0 win in the semi-finals of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup after coming on from the bench. He played a total of 5 games at the tournament. On 5 June 2011, he captained the Aussies because there was no Lucas Neill in their 3–0 victory over rivals New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval Stadium. On 7 June 2011, Emerton started the friendly game against Serbia playing in the 0–0 draw. Emerton started and scored the winner in a 1–0 victory for the Socceroos against Hong Kong in East Asian Cup qualification.