Tony Popovic's Socceroos lost 2-1  to Mauricio Pochettino's side in a friendly clash last October, blowing a lead after Jordan Bos opened the scoring for Australia in the 19th minute of that match. The nations have never met at a FIFA World Cup before but will go head to head Australia on 20 June (AEDT) in Seattle.

Australia's first match will be against the as yet unknown UEFA nation.

The Socceroos sit currently at No.26 in the FIFA rankings, with United States at No.14. With Paraguay at No.39 and none of the possible UEFA opponents inside the top 20, Group D appears to be wide open, with the Socceroos a good chance of progressing to the knockout stages.

Turkiye is the top-ranked team from the four in the play-off at No.25, one above Australia, which Slovakia is at No.45, Romania at No.47 and Kosovo at No.80.

"It all feels a lot more real now," Socceroos coach Tony Popovic said after finding out who he'll face in his first FIFA World Cup as a coach.

"Now the real planning can begin. The FIFA World Cup is always hard and we have a tough group but we're looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead."

USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino said he was expecting a tough test against Australia and the rest of his side's opponents.

"My message to the players is, we need to compete better than Paraguay. That is going to be difficult. Australia is going to be difficult. The team that is going to join us is going to be difficult," Pochettino said after the draw.

"We need to build our journey step by step, and we need to prepare, like, when we start to play the 12th of June, it's going to be like it's the last game, the last opportunity. It's like the final of the [FIFA] World Cup. That needs to be our mindset."

New Zealand faces a far more demanding task in Group G, where it will meet world No.8 Belgium along with Iran and Mo Salah's Egypt.

The newly expanded 48-team tournament will kick off on 12 June (AEST) with co-host Mexico playing South Africa at Azteca Stadium – the venue of the 1970 and 1986 finals – followed by Korea Republic against a play-off winner.

South Africa is appearing for the first time since 2010, when it hosted the tournament and drew with Mexico in the opening match but failed to reach the knockout stage.

Mexico's fellow 2026 co-hosts United States and Canada will join the party against Paraguay and a play-off winner – possibly Italy – respectively in Los Angeles and Toronto on day two of the tournament.

Defending champion Argentina has been grouped with Algeria, Austria and Jordan, while five-time winner Brazil will play Morocco – semi-finalist in 2022 – Haiti and Scotland.

Scotland is appearing in the finals for the first time since 1998, when it lost to Brazil in the opening game.

France's first game will be against Senegal in a repeat of one of the biggest tournament upsets, when the African side stunned the then-holder in its first game of the 2002 tournament.

England will start against Croatia, which beat it in the 2018 semi-finals, and also faces Panama, which is hammered 6-1 in the group stage in the same tournament.

The teams outside the hosts' groups will have to wait until Sunday (AEDT) to find out the venues and kick-off times for their games after FIFA attempts to optimise venues and kick-off times relating to the various worldwide TV markets.

A newly introduced seeding system ensures that the current top four in the world – Spain, holder Argentina, 2022 runner-up France and England – cannot meet until the semi-final stage if they win their groups.

The 48 teams, including six still-to-be-decided play-off winners, were divided into 12 groups of four to produce a mammoth 104-match schedule across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, culminating in the final in New Jersey on 20 July (AEST).

Venues and kick-off times will be announced in another globally broadcast event on Sunday (AEDT), although even that is subject to adjustment in March once the six play-off qualification spots have been filled.

2026 FIFA World Cup groups:

Group A: Mexico, Korea Republic, South Africa, UEFA Play-off D winner (Denmark, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland, North Macedonia)

Group B: Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, UEFA Play-off A winner (Italy, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland)

Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti

Group D: United States, Australia, Paraguay, UEFA Play-off C winner (Turkey, Slovakia, Kosovo, Romania)

Group E: Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curacao

Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, UEFA Play-off B winner (Ukraine, Poland, Albania, Sweden)

Group G: Belgium, Iran, Egypt, New Zealand

Group H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde

Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, FIFA Play-off 2 winner (Iraq, Bolivia, Suriname)

Group J: Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan

Group K: Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, FIFA Play-off 1 winner (DR Congo, Jamaica, New Caledonia)

Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana