World Cup Facts and Figures

Click here to get a few facts and figures on our participation in the World Cup and against China.

FACTS AND FIGURES

Australia-s first World Cup qualifying match was played in November 1965, the 1-6 loss to North Korea (the first of a two-legged tie for direct qualification into the 1966 World Cup finals) standing in the record books as Australia-s heaviest defeat in a World Cup match.

Australia-s World Cup qualifying/finals records

BIGGEST WIN: 31-0, v American Samoa (Coffs Harbour) 11-Apr-2001 BIGGEST LOSS: 1-6, v North Korea (Phnom Penh) 21-Nov-1965 MOST WORLD CUP CAMPAIGNS: 4 - Mark Schwarzer (1994, 2002-2010 campaigns), John Aloisi (1998-2010), Craig Moore (1998-2010), Tony Vidmar (1994-2006), Graham Arnold (1986-1998), David Mitchell (1982-1994) MOST WORLD CUP APPEARANCES: 30 - Atti Abonyi (1970-1978 campaigns) MOST WORLD CUP GOALS: 18 - Archie Thompson (2002-2006 campaigns) MOST GOALS IN A WORLD CUP MATCH: 13 - Archie Thompson, W31-0 v American Samoa (Coffs Harbour) 11-Apr-2001 MOST FREQUENT OPPONENT IN WORLD CUP MATCHES: New Zealand - 17 matches (W10-D5-L2)

Against countries now part of the Asian Football Confederation, Australia has a W-D-L record (35 games) of 18-9-8 in World Cup matches, including one victory in the World Cup finals (v Japan). Australia-s W-D-L record for World Cup matches played on the Asia continent is (23 games) 8-7-8.

AUSTRALIA v CHINA - HEAD TO HEAD

Australia comes up against China for the eighth time in a men-s senior A international match, the first confrontation occurring in 1975.

In seven previous matches, Australia won five and China won two.

Date AUS-CHI Match type (venue) 06-08-75 1-0 Friendly (Melbourne) 29-10-76 2-0 Friendly (Canton) 04-12-83 1-2 Merlion Cup (Singapore) 03-11-84 2-3 Ampol Cup (Beijing) 27-09-85 3-0 Ampol Cup (Brisbane) 23-11-86 2-0 Ampol Cup (Canton) 24-03-07 2-0 Friendly (Guangzhou)

In addition, the two countries have played each other in three non-A internationals, with Australia winning three out of three: 27-10-76 5-4 Non-A friendly (Beijing) 23-09-85 2-0 Non-A friendly (Canberra) 25-09-85 1-0 Non-A friendly (Newcastle)

Last time they met

Date: 24th March 2007 Result: Australia 2 defeated China 0 Venue: Guangzhou, China Scorers: Brett Holman 8', Mark Bresciano 28' Australia-s line-up: Mark Schwarzer (gk), Patrick Kisnorbo, Shane Stefanutto (Jade North 67'), Michael Beauchamp, Lucas Neill, Carl Valeri (Jacob Burns 90'), Luke Wilkshire, Mark Bresciano (Simon Colosimo 82'), Brett Holman (Archie Thompson 67'), Mile Sterjovski (Nick Carle 82'), Mark Viduka (Scott McDonald 76'). Coach: Graham Arnold

MINI-PROFILE - CHINA

Chinese Football Association Founded: 1924 Affiliated since: 1934 (FIFA), 1974 (AFC). World Cup record: qualified once (2002) - knocked out in group stage FIFA ranking, March 2008: 80 (Australia 38) Highest FIFA ranking: 37 - December 1998 Major honours: AFC Asian Cup Runners-Up twice (1984, 2004) Form guide (all matches played so far in 2008): 10-01-08 D0-0 v United Arab Emirates (Dubai) - Friendly 20-01-08 D0-0 v Lebanon (Zhongshan) - Friendly 27-01-08 W2-1 v Syria (Zhongshan) - Friendly 06-02-08 D1-1 v Iraq (Dubai) - World Cup qualifier 17-02-08 L2-3 v Korea Republic (Chongqing) - Friendly 20-02-08 L0-1 v Japan (Chongqing) - Friendly 23-02-08 W3-1 v Korea DPR (Chongqing) - Friendly 15-03-08 D3-3 v Thailand (Kunming) - Friendly

FORM GUIDE - AUSTRALIA (last eight matches)

08-07-07 D1-1 v Oman (Bangkok) - AFC Asian Cup 13-07-07 L1-3 v Iraq (Bangkok) - AFC Asian Cup 16-07-07 W4-0 v Thailand (Bangkok) - AFC Asian Cup 21-07-07 D1-1 (lost on pens 3-4) v Japan (Hanoi) - AFC Asian Cup, quarter final 11-09-07 L0-1 v Argentina (Melbourne) - Friendly 17-11-07 W1-0 v Nigeria (London) - Friendly 06-02-08 W3-0 v Qatar (Melbourne) - World Cup qualifier 22-03-08 D0-0 v Singapore (Singapore) - Friendly

AUSTRALIA-s SQUAD v CHINA

Michael Beauchamp (Nuremburg, Germany) 12 caps / 1 goal Mark Bresciano (Palermo, Italy) 39/10 Mark Bridge (Sydney FC, Australia) 1/0 Jacob Burns (Unirea Valahorum, Romania) 6/0 David Carney (Sheffield United, England) 7/1 Ante Covic (Newcastle Jets, Australia) 2/0 Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands) 28/1 Bruce Djite (Adelaide United, Australia) 1/0 Vince Grella (Torino, Italy) 32/0 Adam Griffiths (Newcastle Jets, Australia) 1/0 Brett Holman (NEC Nijmegen, Netherlands) 12/1 Mile Jedinak (Central Coast Mariners, Australia) 1/0 Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England) 30/9 Patrick Kisnorbo (Leicester City, England) 14/0 Lucas Neill (West Ham, England) 40/0 Jade North (Newcastle Jets, Australia) 16/0 Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England) 53/0 Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory, Australia) 29/21 Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Perth Glory, Australia) 1/0 Carl Valeri (Grosseto, Italy) 5/0 Luke Wilkshire (Twente Enschede, Netherlands) 21/0

Full player profiles and other national team statistics available on www.footballaustralia.com.au

AUSTRALIA'S MOST CAPPED GOALKEEPER

Mark Schwarzer is set to equal Zeljko Kalac-s record of most goalkeeper appearances for the Australian men's national team. Leading into the China-Australia match, Kalac leads the all-time goalkeeper appearance tally with 54 A international appearances, while Schwarzer sits second on 53 appearances.

Top all-time goalkeeper appearances, Australia (A internationals) 54 Zeljko Kalac (1992-2006) 53 Mark Schwarzer (1993-2008) 37 Jeff Olver (1985-1989) 27 Ron Corry (1967-1973) 27 Robert Zabica (1990-1994)

CAPS UPDATE

Nine players made their debut for the Socceroos against Singapore last Saturday, increasing the all-time number of Capped players to 514. This was the most number of Australian debutants in the same match since 1965.

Socceroo debutants against Singapore were: Mark Bridge (cap number 506), Adam Griffiths (507), James Holland (508), Mile Jedinak (509), Nikolai Topor-Stanley (510), James Troisi (511), Bruce Djite (512), Adrian Leijer (513), and Leigh Broxham (514)

Meanwhile, 29-year-old Harry Kewell, who has played in Australia-s three previous World Cup campaigns, is set to become the youngest Australian to play in four World Cup campaigns. The current youngest player to participate in four World Cup campaigns for Australia is David Mitchell, who was 31 when he took part in his fourth campaign in 1993. Kewell, who turns 30 in September this year, would become the seventh Australian to play in four World Cup campaigns, following John Aloisi, Graham Arnold, Mitchell, Craig Moore, Mark Schwarzer and Tony Vidmar.

AFC QUALIFYING FOR THE 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP

Asia has 4.5 berths for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the top four qualifying directly, and the fifth team to play in an International Play-off.

AFC qualifying for the 2010 World Cup started with Rounds 1 [Oct 2007] and 2 [Nov 2007] already played. Australia, entered in Round 3 as the top-seeded team in Asia. The top five Asian teams (Australia, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran) have been seeded in to Round 3 [Feb-Jun 2008], which consists of five groups of four teams. The top two from each group advance to the fourth and final qualifying round. Australia were drawn into Group 1 alongside Iraq, China and Qatar.

Top two teams from this Group proceed to Round 4 [Oct 2008-Sep 2009], which consists of two groups of five teams. The top two from each Round 4 group will qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, while the two third-placed teams will play-off for the right to play in the Intercontinental Play-off against the top-ranked Oceania team.

For more World Cup qualifying information see the following link on the AFC website: http://www.the-afc.com/eng/competitions/men/WC2010/index.jsp.html

CHINA V AUSTRALIA

Tuodong Stadium, Kunming Wednesday 26 March Kick-off: 2pm local time (5pm AEDST, 4pm AEST, 4.30pm CDST, 3pm WDST)

TELEVISION: LIVE to all centres on Fox Sports 2, Telecast commences: 4.30pm AEDST.

FOXTEL are the presenting partner of Australia's World Cup journey.