Facts on Australia, who play in World Cup Group C:

Country: Australia

Honours: Asian Cup winners 2015; Oceania Football Confederation Nations Cup winners 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004

Past World Cup performance: Fifth participation. Best result: Last 16 (2006)

FIFA ranking: 40th

Main clubs: Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory

Nickname: Socceroos

How they qualified: Came third in Asian qualifying Group B behind Japan and Saudi Arabia, then won intercontinental playoff against Honduras (3-2 on aggregate)

Friendly matches scheduled before World Cup:

June 1 v Czech Republic (St Polten, Austria)

June 9 v Hungary (Budapest)

Provisional 26-man World Cup squad (23-man squad to be named by June 4):

Goalkeepers: Brad Jones (Feyenoord/NED), Mathew Ryan (Brighton/ENG), Daniel Vukovic (Genk/BEL)

Defenders: Aziz Behich (Bursaspor/TUR), Milos Degenek (Yokohama Marinos/JPN), Matthew Jurman (Suwon/KOR), Fran Karacic (NK Lokomotiva/CRO), James Meredith (Millwall/ENG), Josh Risdon (Western Sydney Wanderers), Trent Sainsbury (Grasshopper/SUI)

Midfielders: Daniel Arzani (Melbourne City), Joshua Brillante (Sydney FC), Jackson Irvine (Hull City/ENG), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa/ENG), Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin/GER), Robbie Kruse (VfL Bochum/GER), Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers/ENG), Mark Milligan (Al Ahli/KSA), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town/ENG), Tom Rogic (Celtic/SCO), James Troisi (Melbourne Victory)

Forwards: Tim Cahill (Millwall/ENG), Tomi Juric (FC Luzern/SUI), Andrew Nabbout (Urawa Red Diamonds/JPN), Dimitri Petratos (Newcastle Jets), Nikita Rukavytsya (Maccabi Haifa/ISR)