The United States will play Australia in an exhibition in South Africa on June 5, the Americans' final game before their World Cup opener against England a week later.
The match will be played at Ruimsig Stadium in the Johannesburg suburb of Roodepoort, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Monday. It will be only the third matchup between the nations following a 1-0 Australia victory at Orlando, Fla., in June 1992, and a 1-1 tie at San Jose, Calif., in November 1998.
The game could produce a matchup of U.S. attacker Clint Dempsey facing his Fulham teammate, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, and American goalkeeper Tim Howard and midfielder Landon Donovan going against Tim Cahill, their teammate on Everton this season.
It also involves rival nations trying to win rights to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
The 18th-ranked U.S. plays the No. 25 Czech Republic at East Hartford, Conn., on May 25 and meets No. 41 Turkey four days later at Philadelphia before traveling to South Africa, where the Americans are in a first-round group with eighth-ranked England (June 12), 27th-ranked Slovenia (June 18) and 32nd-ranked Algeria (June 23).
Australia, ranked 23rd, is in a first-round group with fifth-ranked Germany (June 13), 28th-ranked Ghana (June 19) and 13th-ranked Serbia (June 23).
