Australia have chosen the Czech Republic and Hungary for the pre-World Cup friendlies in the weeks ahead their first game against France on June 16.
On Thursday, the Football Federation Australia confirmed that the Socceroos would be based in the Turkish city of Antalya from 19 May to 7 June in preparation for the World Cup.
They will play the Czechs in Vienna on June 1 and the Hungarians in Budapest on 9 June in their final games before departing for their base camp in Kazan, Russia on 10 June.
The confirmation of these matches means Australia will not play a farewell game on their home soil like they did in the past three World Cups – against Greece in 2006, against New Zealand in 2010 and against South Africa in 2014.
“On this occasion, particularly given the need to adapt to the unusual late change in our Head Coach, his plans and the relatively short amount of time he has to prepare the team, we decided that the benefits of remaining in Europe outweighed the benefits of hosting any of the possible farewell matches in Australia,” FFA Chief Executive David Gallop said, as quoted by SBS The World Game.
