Australia v Qatar - Match Information

The Socceroos will tomorrow embark on their 12th FIFA World Cup campaign when they take the field against Qatar with the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, presented by FOXTEL, to be played at Melbourne's Telstra Dome.

The Socceroos will tomorrow embark on their 12th FIFA World Cup campaign when they take the field against Qatar with the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, presented by FOXTEL, to be played at Melbourne's Telstra Dome.

Please note: This page will be replaced by the LIVE UPDATE at approximately 7.15pm, which will include a link to live scores

AUSTRALIA'S 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP PATH

This match marks Australia-s historic first World Cup qualification match as a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Asia has 4.5 berths for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the top four qualifying directly, and the fifth team to play in an Intercontinental Play-off against the top-ranked Oceania team.

AFC qualifying for the 2010 World Cup started with Rounds 1 [Oct 2007] and 2 [Nov 2007] already played. Australia commences its campaign in Round 3 as the top-seeded team in Asia. The top five Asian teams (Australia, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran) have been seeded in to Round 3 [Feb-June 2008], which consists of five groups of four teams, with the top two from each group advancing to the fourth and final qualifying round. Australia-s Group 3 opponents are Iraq, China and Qatar.

Round 4 [Oct 2008-Sep 2009] consists of two groups of five teams. The top two from each group will qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, while the two third-placed teams will play-off for the right to play in the Intercontinental Play-off against the top-ranked Oceania team.

AUSTRALIA-S WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION HISTORY

The current campaign marks the 12th time that Australia has attempted to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. Since attempting to get into the World Cup for the first time (1965), Australia has successfully qualified twice, in 1974 (West Germany) and 2006 (Germany).

The Socceroos- match against Qatar is Australia-s 87th World Cup qualifying match. In its 86 matches to date, Australia has won 47, drawn 22 and lost 17, with a goals for-and-against record of 246-76.

Against countries now part of the Asian Football Confederation, Australia has a W-D-L record (33 games) of 16-9-8 in World Cup qualifiers. Previous matches against Asian opposition include inter-continental playoffs, including Australia-s first ever World Cup qualifying match played against North Korea in November 1965 (Australia lost 6-1).

Australia-s W-D-L record in World Cup qualifiers on home soil (43 games) is 31-9-3. The Socceroos have never lost a World Cup qualifying match in Australia since May 1981, a 2-0 loss to New Zealand in Sydney.

Australia-s W-D-L record in World Cup qualifiers in Melbourne (9 games) is 4-4-1. Australia-s only loss in Melbourne was a 1-0 defeat to Iran in August 1977.

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE

14 of Australia's initial 39-player squad have experienced senior World Cup qualification match time previously. Having taken part in Australia's three most recent previous World Cup campaigns, John Aloisi, Mark Schwarzer and Harry Kewell are each looking to equal Australia's record of taking part in four World Cup campaigns as a player, a record currently held by Graham Arnold, David Mitchell and Tony Vidmar.

3 campaigns: John Aloisi (12 previous qualifying matches), Mark Schwarzer (9), Harry Kewell (6)

2 campaigns: Craig Moore (13), Kevin Muscat (10), Brett Emerton (8), Archie Thompson (7), Mark Bresciano (5)

1 campaign: Jason Culina (4), Vince Grella (4), Lucas Neill (4), Tim Cahill (3), Simon Colosimo (3), Luke Wilkshire (1)

0 campaigns: Michael Beauchamp, Mark Bridge, Alex Brosque, Jacob Burns, Nick Carle, David Carney, Ante Covic, Bruce Djite, Travis Dodd, Adam Griffiths, Joel Griffiths, James Holland, Brett Holman, Josh Kennedy, Scott McDonald, Mark Milligan, Stuart Musialik, Jade North, Tom Pondeljak, Michael Thwaite, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, James Troisi, Carl Valeri, Rodrigo Vargas, Danny Vukovic.

Note: Michael Beauchamp, Ante Covic, Josh Kennedy and Mark Milligan, were all members of the 2006 World Cup squad, but never played in any qualifying matches.

AUSTRALIA'S ALL-TIME GAMES AND GOALS UPDATE

Several players selected in Pim Verbeek's initial squad for the Qatar match feature prominently in Australia's all-time national team appearance and goal scoring lists.

In terms of all-time goals in A internationals, Damian Mori's current record of 29 could soon be eclipsed by initial Qatar squad members John Aloisi (currently on 27 goals) or even Archie Thompson (21 goals).

Top all-time goalscorers, Australian national team (A internationals) 5-Feb-08 29 Damian Mori 27 JOHN ALOISI 25 Atti Abonyi 25 John Kosmina 21 ARCHIE THOMPSON

Meanwhile, an on-field appearance for Brett Emerton would make him Australia's outright fifth most capped player in history. Emerton-s current appearance tally of 61 A internationals has him equal-fifth with Atti Abonyi, and just four games behind Australia's captain at the 1974 World Cup Peter Wilson.

Top all-time appearances, Australian national team (A internationals) 5-Feb-08 87 Alex Tobin 84 Paul Wade 76 Tony Vidmar 65 Peter Wilson 61 Atti Abonyi 61 BRETT EMERTON

Full player profiles and other national team statistics available on www.footballaustralia.com.au

Socceroos V QATAR Telstra Dome, Melbourne Wednesday 6 February Kick-off: 7.30pm AEST (7.00pm ACST, 5.30pm AWST)

Gates Open 5.30pm

MATCH OFFICIALS: Referee Subkhiddin MOHD SALLEH, Malaysia Assistant Referee 1 Thanom BORIKUT, Thailand Assistant Referee 2 Mohd Sabri MAT DAUD, Malaysia Fourth Official Rosdi SHAHARUL, Malaysia

TELEVISION: LIVE to all centres on Fox Sports 3 Telecast commences: 6.30pm AEST.

RADIO: ABC live Nationally on ABC local radio SEN live Melbourne, 1116 AM Tickets are available from Ticketmaster, ph 136 100, web - www.ticketmaster.com.au and all Ticketmaster outlets.

Foxtel are the presenting partner of Australia-s World Cup journey.