The Socceroos will face Scotland in a friendly international match in Edinburgh in August as part of their preparations during the next phase of 2014 World Cup qualifying.

Football Federation Australia announced on Monday night the sides would meet for the fifth time, and first since 2000, at Easter Road Stadium, Edinburgh on Wednesday, August 15.

Australia will commence the final stage of 2014 qualifying with two matches in June and the Scotland friendly will precede their next set of fixtures in September.

Socceroos coach Holger Osieck said the match would be ideal at a crucial stage of the campaign.

“This match is a very good opportunity for us to start a new season with a similar match to last year’s one against Wales (2-1 win in Cardiff last August),” Osieck said.

“We will be using the match to assess the quality of our players and get a good start going into the next phase of the qualifiers come September.

“Scotland is always a tough team to play against, especially at home.”

Scotland will also use the match as preparations for their attempt to reach Brazil 2014.

“I’m delighted to confirm this match against Australia, and complete our preparations for the World Cup qualifiers in September,” Scotland coach Craig Levein said.

“Just last year Australia defeated our World Cup qualifying opponents, Wales, in Cardiff, and have been in good form in their own qualifiers, so I have no doubt that they will provide us with a tough test.”

The Socceroos are currently ranked 22nd in the FIFA World Ranking, 26 places higher than the Scots.

Australia prevailed last time the teams met in November, 2000 with Brett Emerton and David Zdrilic scoring in a 2-0 win in Glasgow.