The Socceroos will play champions France to kick off their World Cup finals campaign should they manage to qualify for Qatar via two play-off ties in June.
The Socceroos were drawn on Friday in a difficult — and eerily familiar-looking group D alongside the 2018 world champions as well as Denmark and Tunisia, but they have to first get through two tough play-off ties in June.
But if Australia can successfully negotiate those two one-off matches — a big ask on the strength of their recent form — they will be the first opponents for France on November 22 as Didier Deschamps's side sets out on its title defence. The times and venues for those fixtures will be decided later this month, as FIFA tries to allocate matches to prime broadcast slots for viewers in a team's home country.New Zealand, which must also first try to win a tough inter-continental play-off against Costa Rica, has been drawn in the obligatory "group of death" with former winners Spain and Germany, as well as Japan.
That means there's the potential for the first-ever "battle of Britain", as England has never played either Wales or its oldest rival Scotland in a World Cup finals.
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