The Australians secured qualification to play in FIFA Word Cup 2006 in Germany with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win over Uruguay in Sydney's Telstra Stadium. Australia will be playing in Group F and has tough competition to face from Brazil, Croatia and Japan.

The Socceroos have reached the finals after a span of 32 years. In 1974, Australia played with Chile, German DR and German FR in the group stages. Unfortunately they failed to secure a single goal. Bad luck followed them in the FIFA Confederations Cup of Germany 2005 where they could not win a single match. Australia's Dutch Coach Guus Hiddink guided the team successfully after the play-off defeats in 1985, 1993, 1997 and 2001.

In the preliminary rounds the Socceroos performed really well. In Oceania's group stage they won four out of five and drew one. Australia defeated Solomon Islands 9-1 over two legs and this landed them up in the play-off match with Uruguay.

The star players to look for in the team this time include midfielders Nick Ward and Tim Cahill. Nick Ward is considered a strong contender for the FIFA World Cup Young Player of the Tournament. Tim Cahill too is a fabulous performer. He led the Australian scorers with seven goals in the Oceania Qualifying section. Defender Tony Vidmar and the captain Mark Viduka are other players to watch.

This is Australia's second appearance in the World Cup finals. The Socceroos team wants to make the most of this opportunity and plan to storm through the finals. They are quite hopeful and are banking on the able guidance of coach Hiddink.