Australia Drawn Against World Champions Brazil

Australia have been drawn against reigning world champions and five-time winners Brazil for next year’s FIFA World Cup following this morning’s draw ceremony held in Leipzig, Germany. The Socceroos will also have to take on Croatia and Japan in Group F of the 32-nation tournament.

Australia have been drawn against reigning world champions and five-time winners Brazil for next year-s FIFA World Cup following this morning-s draw ceremony held in Leipzig, Germany. The Socceroos will also have to take on Croatia and Japan in Group F of the 32-nation tournament.

Australia will make it-s first appearance at a FIFA World Cup in 32 years when it takes the field against Japan on June 12 in Kaiserslautern.

The Socceroos will then take on Brazil six days later in Munich before completing their group matches against Croatia on June 22 in Stuttgart.

The full Group F draw is:

Australia v Japan Monday 12 June Fritz Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern Kick-off 3pm German Time (11pm AET) (Brazil v Croatia, June 13, Berlin)

Australia v Brazil Sunday 18 June FIFA World Cup Stadium, Munich Kick-off 6pm German Time (2am AET Monday 19 June) (Japan v Croatia, June 18, Nuremberg)

Australia v Croatia Thursday 22 June Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart Kick-off 9pm (5am AET Friday 23 June) (Japan v Brazil, June 22, Dortmund)

Brazil are the only nation to compete at every FIFA World Cup winning the tournament in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Australia and Brazil have played on six occasions with the Socceroos achieving it-s only victory the last time the two nations met - a 1-0 win at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup third place play-off match in Seoul, Korea.

Croatia and Japan both made their FIFA World Cup finals debut at France 98 with the Croatians finishing in third place.

Australia-s record against Group F opponents:-

Japan 27-Nov-56 Olympic Games Melbourne W 2-0 30-Mar-68 Friendly Sydney D 2-2 31-Mar-68 Friendly Melbourne W 3-1 04-Apr-68 Friendly Adelaide L 1-3 10-Oct-69 World Cup qualifying Seoul, South Korea W 3-1 16-Oct-69 World Cup qualifying Seoul, South Korea D 1-1 22-May-94 Kirin Cup Hiroshima, Japan D 1-1 27-Sep-94 Friendly Tokyo, Japan D 0-0 15-Feb-95 Friendly Sydney W 2-1 10-Feb-96 Friendly Wollongong L 1-4 14-Feb-96 Friendly Melbourne W 3-0 15-Feb-98 Optus World Series Adelaide L 0-3 07-Jun-01 Confeds Cup - semi Yokohama, Japan L 0-1 15-Aug-01 AFC/OFC Cup Shikouka, Japan L 0-3 Overall record: P14. W5 - D4 - L5.

Brazil 07-Jul-88 Bicentennial Cup Melbourne L 0-1 17-Jul-88 Bicentennial Cup Sydney L 0-2 20-Sep-88 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea L 0-3 14-Dec-97 Confederations Cup Riyadh, Saudi Arabia D 0-0 21-Dec-97 Confeds Cup - final Riyadh, Saudi Arabia L 0-6 09-Jun-01 Confeds Cup - 3 v 4 Seoul, South Korea W 1-0 Overall record: P6. W1 - D1 - L4.

Croatia 05-Jul-92 Friendly Melbourne W 1-0 08-Jul-92 Friendly Adelaide W 3-1 12-Jul-92 Friendly Sydney D 0-0 06-Jun-98 Friendly Zagreb, Croatia L 0-7 Overall record: P4. W2 - D1 - L1.

The FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 will commence on June 9 in Munich with the opening match between host-nation Germany and Costa Rica, and conclude with the final in Berlin on July 9.