The Socceroos have won their way to a fifth consecutive World Cup, thanks to a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Peru.
Here are five things you need to know about the Australian team’s challenge in this year’s final.
Where will the World Cup be played and when?
The FIFA world cup will be held in the Middle Eastern country of Qatarfrom November 21st and ending with the World Cup Finalwhich starts at 2 hours AEDT On Dec 19†
There will be 32 teams compete in Qatar, split into eight groups of four.
The top two from each group advance to the knockout stage.
Games will be played in eight locations, in or around the capital, Doha†
The final will be held in the 80,000 seats Luhail Stadium21 kilometers north of the capital.
Who is in Australia’s group?
Loading
Australia has been drawn in Group D as the winner of the intercontinental play-off with Peru, next to France† Tunisia and Denmark†
This is a very similar group to the one the Socceroos were in Russia four years ago when Australia played France† Denmark and Peru†
The Socceroos play all their matches on the Al-Janoub Stadium20 kilometers outside of Doha.
Their first match is against France On November 23 at 6:00 AM AEDT†
The Australians will get the following face Tunisia On Nov. 26 at 9 p.m. AEDT.
Their last match is against Denmark On Dec 1 at 2 a.m. AEDT†
What are the Socceroos’ odds?
Four years ago, Australia failed to make it out of the group stage, finishing fourth behind France, Denmark and Peru with one point from three games.
This year’s tournament presents a difficult task for Graham Arnold’s men.
France won the World Cup in 2018 and lifted the trophy for the second time.
Although they are not doing very well at the moment, they are in third place in the world and they still have stars as strikers Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and Antoine Griezemannmidfielder N’Golo Kanté – The best of N’Golo Kanté defender Raphael Varane and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris†
The Danes rank 11th in the world and were expected to reach the second round along with the French in form.
Their most famous player is the star player Christian Eriksenwho survived a heart attack during the Euro 2020 tournament, and has returned to Premier League football and looks set to be included in the Danish roster for Qatar.
Tunisia ranks 35th in the world and this is the sixth time they have qualified for the World Cup final.
They have only won twice of their 15 matches at the tournament – the Tunisians have yet to make it to the knockout stage.
Australia will have to beat Tunisia and at least get a draw from France or Denmark to have any chance of progress.
Who are the favorites for the World Cup?
In addition to defending champions France, the favorites for the World Cup are also all former winners.
Brazil has won the tournament five times and will again be seen as great opportunities, led by striker neymar, Attacking midfielder Raphinhawinger Vinicius Junior and goalkeeper Alisson†
The English team with star striker Harry Kane wants to take it one step further after a heavy loss in the Euro 2020 final.
Spain is also in the mix, with strikers Marco Asensio and Allvaro Morata among other things.
And the other big opportunity is Argentina, led by superstar Lionel Messiwho hopes to win a first World Cup in what will likely be his last final.
What’s new about the World Cup?
The big change for this year’s World Cup is that the tournament will start in November.
Normally, World Cups are held in the northern summer months, in July or August.
This year, the step has been taken to avoid the intense heat of a Qatari summer, when temperatures can average 42 degrees Celsius or higher.
To ensure comfort for fans and players, all eight open-air stadiums used for the World Cup will be air-conditioned using specially designed cooling systems.
Posted † updated