Australia national football team is the national football team of Australia. Its official nickname is "the Socceroos". The team is under the control of the Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is a member of the Asian Football Confederation. It has also been invited to join the ASEAN Football Federation. Australia's Youth teams play in the ASEAN Youth Tournaments. Australia has been the Oceania Football Confederation champion four times, and has been at three World Cup finals tournaments, in 1974, 2006 and 2010. FIFA Rankings show the Australian National Football team is one of the strongest countries in Asia, and is currently ranked 20th in the world by FIFA. Australia made it to the round of 16 in the 2006 World Cup held in Germany and were knocked out in controversial circumstances by eventual champions Italy. Australia's 2010 world cup finals campaign was also blighted by controversial and mostly incorrect refereeing decisions and lead to the teams eventual elimination in the group stages despite a 2-1 win over a higher ranked Serbian team and a draw against Ghana. Australia will now prepare for the Asian cup in early 2011 and the 2014 world cup qualification.
