Graham Arnold’s Socceroos will face familiar foes in their defence of the Asian Cup at next year’s tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
The draw for the 24-team event was made in Dubai on Friday with top-seeded Australia facing Syria and Jordan, who they met en route to qualification for the World Cup in Russia, and Palestine in Group B.
Jordan inflicted a 2-0 defeat on the Socceroos in 2015 with Syria proving to be stubborn opponents in the inter-continental play-off in Sydney when Tim Cahill pounced in extra-time to seal a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Arnold will take over from Bert van Marwijk after the World Cup in what will be his second Asian Cup in charge, having led the team in their disappointing 2007 campaign.
By being seeded the Socceroos avoided regional powerhouses Japan, South Korea and Iran and also dodged China and Iraq who along with Syria were seeded second.
The competition has been expanded to 24 nations and will see the Philippines, Yemen and Kyrgyzstan make their debuts.
Turkmenistan are the lowest-ranked side, with an official ranking of 129 while, at 36, Iran edges world No.40 Australia to be the highest-ranked Asian nation.
The Asian Cup takes place in seven stadia in four UAE cities from January 5 next year.
The Asian Football Confederation has introduced a prize fund of $US15 million ($20m) for the tournament, with the champions picking up $US5 million and the runners-up earning $US3 million.
Group A
United Arab Emirates, Thailand, India, Bahrain
Group B
Australia Syria, Palestine, Jordan
Group C
South Korea, China, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines
Group D
Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Yemen
Group E
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, North Korea
Group F
Japan, Uzbekistan, Oman, Turkmenistan
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Nestory Irankunda has sensationally rejected the chance to play at the Paris Olympics this June after a late bid from the Olyroos to include…
Mathew Ryan's tenure at AZ Alkmaar appears to be over, as the Eredivisie side are seemingly moving on from the 93-time Socceroo. The decision…
One down 49 to go. Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi raised some eyebrows this week when he declared himself to be the talisman striker the…
