Australia World Cup 2022 preview - prediction, fixtures, squad, star player

However, the Socceroos have crashed out at the group stage in each of their last three appearances, having failed to win a match since beating Serbia 2-1 in 2010.

As such, head coach Graham Arnold will be hoping to improve that record at the very least when his side arrive on the Arabian Peninsula later this month.

Here, Sports Mole assesses Australia's chances at the 2022 World Cup.

GROUP

As bottom seeds in April's draw - at the time of which their place at World Cup 2022 was not secured ahead of playoff matches against United Arab Emirates and Peru - Australia were always likely to be up against it in terms of reaching the knockout stage.

Having been drawn alongside holders France and Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark from Pot 1 and Pot 2, both Australia and Tunisia are clearly massive underdogs to advance to the knockout stages, with their match against each other on matchday two a must-win game for both nations.

Arnold will hope to take advantage of France's injury problems and inflict a Senegal-esque upset against the reigning champions, before potentially facing a Denmark side whose progression has already been secured going into the final round of fixtures.

FIXTURES

November 22: France vs. Australia (7pm, Al Janoub Stadium, Al-Wakrah)

November 26: Tunisia vs. Australia (10am, Al Janoub Stadium, Al-Wakrah)

November 30: Australia vs. Denmark (3pm, Al Janoub Stadium, Al-Wakrah)

HOW THEY QUALIFIED

Football Australia left the Oceania Football Confederation after the 2006 World Cup, in part because they wanted the opportunity to have a direct path to qualify for football's major international event, and they also wanted to face a higher calibre of opposition on a more regular basis.

This time around, Australia finished top of Group B in the second round of qualifying after winning all eight of their matches in a group containing Kuwait, Jordan, Nepal and Chinese Taipei.

However, the Socceroos found things tougher going in the all-important third and final round, edging out Oman by one point to finish third in Group B and set up a playoff against UAE, who also finished third in Group A.

After both nations traded blows in Qatar through second-half strikes from Jackson Irvine and Caio Canedo, Ajdin Hrustic's 84th-minute winner set up a final playoff against South American side Peru six days later, with Australia winning 5-4 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes.

Awer Mabil scored the winning penalty after substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne had made himself a national hero by saving two Peru penalties in only his third-ever appearance for his country.

RECENT FORM

Australia head into their opening match against France at the 2022 World Cup on an unbeaten run of five matches, having beaten New Zealand twice without conceding in two friendlies in September.

Previously, they defeated Jordan and UAE before conquering Peru on penalties to qualify for Qatar, although they did lose their final two qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia in March.

Mabil, Jason Duke and debutant Jason Cummings were on the scoresheet against the Kiwis in September, with Arnold likely to have been delighted by keeping a third consecutive clean sheet, although he will be under no illusions regarding the scale of the task in front of his team in Qatar.

SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Mathew Ryan (Copenhagen), Danny Vukovic (Central Coast Mariners), Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC)

Defenders: Aziz Behich (Dundee United), Milos Degenek (Columbus Crew), Bailey Wright (Sunderland), Fran Karacic (Brescia), Harry Souttar (Stoke City), Nathaniel Atkinson (Hearts), Joel King (Odense), Kyle Rowles (Hearts), Thomas Deng (Albirex Niigata)

Midfielders: Aaron Mooy (Celtic), Jackson Irvine (St Pauli), Ajdin Hrustic (Hellas Verona), Riley McGree (Middlesbrough), Keanu Baccus (St Mirren), Cameron Devlin (Hearts)

Forwards: Mathew Leckie (Melbourne City), Awer Mabil (Cadiz), Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City), Mitchell Duke (Fagiano Okayama), Martin Boyle (Hibernian), Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United), Jason Cummings (Central Coast Mariners), Garang Kuol (Central Coast Mariners)

STAR PLAYER - MATHEW RYAN

Although he was substituted against Peru due to Redmayne being considered a superior saver of penalties, Mathew Ryan is undoubtedly one of Australia's most important players.

The 30-year-old, who will captain the Socceroos in Qatar, heads into the tournament with more caps (75) than any other player named in Arnold's 26-man squad, having gained significant top-flight experience playing in goal for the likes of Club Brugge, Valencia, Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal and Real Sociedad in the past decade.

Ryan joined Danish Superliga champions Copenhagen on a two-year contract in August earlier this year, keeping a clean sheet against Sevilla in the Champions League, before more recently losing his place in the side to former Liverpool stopper Kamil Grabara.

Arnold may therefore have concerns that Ryan could be rusty for their opening game against France, but his concentration may have benefited, while Ryan's distribution remains up there with the best around.

MANAGER - GRAHAM ARNOLD

Graham Arnold replaced Bert van Marwijk as Australia's head coach after the 2018 World Cup, having previously been the Socceroo's assistant coach at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

Arnold, who scored 19 goals in 56 caps for his country during his playing career, went on to win the A-League Championship with Central Coast Mariners in 2013, before doing so once again four years later with Sydney FC.

After filling in as caretaker for almost 18 months after the 2006 World Cup, the three-time A-League Coach of the Year clearly always maintained a burning desire to manage his homeland on a full-time basis, with this dream finally realised in July 2018.

Under Arnold's tutelage, Australia became the first nation in World Cup qualifying history to win 11 consecutive matches in a single qualification campaign when they defeated Oman 3-1 last October.

WORLD CUP RECORD

Best finish: Last 16 (2006)

Australia have previously competed at five World Cups, but only once have they progressed beyond the group stage and into the knockout rounds.

That achievement came in Germany in 2006, which was the first time the Socceroos had qualified for a World Cup since their only prior appearance in 1974. After beating Japan 3-1 in their opening game and losing 2-0 to Brazil, Guus Hiddink's side only required a point against Croatia to claim second place in Group F.

With the score tied at 1-1 at half time in Stuttgart, Niko Kovac looked to have put the Croatians through with a 56th-minute strike, but Harry Kewell snatched a crucial equaliser with only 11 minutes of normal time remaining to send his country through for the first and only time to date.

Australia ended up being defeated by eventual champions Italy in the last 16 after they converted a highly-controversial penalty in the fifth minute of injury time, with their 2-1 win against Serbia four years later remaining their only other victory on the grandest stage of them all.

PREDICTION

Only two of Australia's 26 players compete in one of Europe's big-five leagues, suggesting Arnold has one hell of a job on his hands to help his nation progress to the knockout rounds for only the second time in their history.

Ultimately, we think they are lacking the individual quality to do so having scraped through qualifying, and we can envisage them finishing bottom of a difficult group.

VERDICT: Fourth in Group D