World Cup warm-up games announced for Australian men's and women's football teams

CANBERRA, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Football Australia (FA) has announced the men's and women's national football teams will play home friendlies in September ahead of their respective World Cups.

The Socceroos will play their final game in Australia before competing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar against New Zealand in Brisbane on September 22, followed by the second match of the series to be played at Auckland's Eden Park three days later.

The game will take place only weeks after the Australian women's team, the Matildas, return to Brisbane for the first time in three years to play reigning Olympic champions Canada on September 3 followed by a second game on September 6.

"There has never been a more exciting time for Australian football, with our Socceroos recently qualifying for their fifth consecutive FIFA World Cup and the Commonwealth Bank Matildas to contest the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia &New Zealand 2023 right here in Australia," FA chief executive James Johnson said in a media release.

The Socceroos beat Peru on penalties in the intercontinental playoff in June to qualify for the World Cup where they will face France, Denmark and Tunisia in Group D.

The match against New Zealand will double as a centenary celebration, with 2022 marking 100 years since the men's national team played its first game.

Graham Arnold, the head coach of the Socceroos, said he would use the two-game series against New Zealand to select the squad and to create more depth for the world cup.

"With the short turnaround between games, I'll probably nearly use two different teams, and that gives everyone a good chance then to show me what they've got and whether they are ready to go," Arnold said in Brisbane on Tuesday, according to News Corp Australia.

"That's the fairest way to do it. We've got a good extended squad now of 30 to 35 players fighting to get into a 26-man World Cup squad."

For the Matildas, the match against sixth-ranked Canada looms as a major test ahead of the home World Cup in 2023.

Tony Gustavsson's side has fallen down the world rankings to 12th currently and suffered their heaviest defeat in 25 years 7-0 against Spain late in June.