Nickname: Socceroos
Manager: Pim Verbeek
Previous World Cup appearances: Two
Best finish: Round of 16, 2006
Key players:
Tim Cahill
Lucas Neill (captain)
Mark Schwarzer
The Socceroos' path to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was made significantly easier when they were switched by FIFA from Oceania to the Asian qualifying zone in 2005.
Before that a tangled web of groups, play-offs and more play-offs blocked the any potential Australian path to the World Cup, giving rise to many instances of frustration for Socceroos players and fans.
Incredibly, in the lead-up to the 1994 World Cup they were forced to go through no less than three stages of play-offs: the Socceroos got past New Zealand and Canada before unsurprisingly falling to Argentina in a do-or-die clash for a place at the finals in the United States.
So dominant in many other areas of sport, their only World Cup appearance before 2006 was in 1974, when they lost to East and West Germany while managing a goalless draw against Chile.
In qualification for the 1998 World Cup, under Terry Venables, Australia suffered their lowest hour in football. Having drawn the first leg of their two-legged play-off 1-1, they led 2-0 at the MCG only for Iran to grab two late goals, dumping the Socceroos out.
The atmosphere at the MCG after the game was described as "a graveyard".
Under Dutchman Guud Hiddink, they made it to Germany in 2006 and were desperately unlucky to crash out against Italy in the Round of 16. A Lucas Neill foul on Fabio Grosso deep into injury time conceded a penalty which Franceso Totti converted with literally the last kick of the match.
Their passion to go further at a World Cup this time around will be fierce, under another experienced Dutch coach in Pim Verbeek. The Australians should be a decent bet to make it out of the group stage.
The veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has graced the Premier League at Fulham, Middlesbrough and Bradford City - having previously turned out for Kaiserslautern and Dynamo Dresden.
At 37 years old and with more than 70 caps under his belt, this will almost certainly be Schwarzer's last shot at a World Cup.
Similarly, captain Lucas Neill has done the rounds in the English leagues: now at Everton, he's had spells at West Ham United, Blackburn Rovers and Millwall. He'll be 32 by the start of the tournament in the summer of 2010.
Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Nick Carle, Patrick Kisnorbo, Shane Lowry and Rhys Williams also ply their trade in the Premier League and the Socceroos have plenty of big-match experience to draw on when the going gets tough.
Cahill's surging runs and goal-scoring prowess from midfield - and particularly his aerial ability - are sure to give opposition coaches nightmares.
The goal threat and pace of Harry Kewell, so dangerous several years ago at Leeds United, is not what it once was but the Socceroos still have plenty of pace and ability in their ranks. Although they might not be in the upper echelon of world football, no team will look forward to facing them.
