Argentina and Australia square off on Saturday as both nations look to earn a place in the World Cup quarter-finals.
La Albiceleste and the Socceroos each lost their opening fixtures in the group stages before recording back-to-back victories when under varying levels of pressure.
For Argentina, elimination before the last 16 was unthinkable, particularly with rivals Mexico and Saudi Arabia in Group C, but 2-0 wins over the former and Poland ensured that they topped Group C.
Meanwhile, Australia would have felt relatively deflated after losing 4-1 to France after taking an early lead against the world champions, yet it inspired them to consecutive 1-0 successes over Tunisia and Denmark in Group D.
The teams will now meet at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, with Argentina looking to take a step closer to a third Jules Rimet trophy and Australia bidding to reach the last eight for the first time in their history.
However, in seven previous meetings with the South American giants, Australia have prevailed on just one occasion, that success coming in their very first encounter back in 1988.
Two goals from Charlie Yankos helped Australia win 4-1 in Sydney, but it proved to be a false dawn with regards to future matches with Argentina emerging victorious in five of their last six games.
Gabriel Batistuta netted a double as his team won 2-0 in Buenos Aires in 1992, that fixture taking place before the teams would meet in a two-legged playoff tie in 1993 to determine who would qualify for the World Cup which was being staged in the United States the following year.
The tie has significance in the record books with Diego Maradona, then 33 years of age, only earning his final appearance at a World Cup due to Argentina coming through 2-1 on aggregate.
Australia secured a 1-1 draw from the first leg in Sydney, Aurelio Vidmar cancelling out Abel Balbo's opener, and it took an own goal from Alex Tobin to gift Argentina a 1-0 triumph in the reverse fixture.
Since then, just three matches have taken place between the countries, the most notable being a 4-2 thriller at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany.
Argentina initially led 3-0 before being pegged back by two John Aloisi goals, but an 89th-minute strike from Luciano Figueroa, which also sealed his hat-trick, confirmed the win for Argentina in a game which took place two months before Lionel Messi's international debut.
ARGENTINA VS. AUSTRALIA HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
Argentina wins: 5
Australia wins: 1
Draws: 1
Argentina goals: 12
Australia goals: 7
MATCH HISTORY
July 14, 1988: Australia 4-1 Australia (Bicentennial Gold Cup)
June 18, 1992: Argentina 2-0 Australia (International Friendly)
October 31, 1993: Australia 1-1 Argentina (World Cup qualifying playoff)
November 17, 1993: Argentina 1-0 Australia (World Cup qualifying playoff)
June 30, 1995: Argentina 2-0 Australia (International Friendly)
June 18, 2005: Australia 2-4 Argentina (FIFA Confederations Cup)
September 11, 2007: Australia 0-1 Argentina (International Friendly)
Read more on Argentina vs Australia
- Click here to read our full preview for Argentina vs Australia
- How Argentina could line up against Australia
- How Australia could line up against Argentina
body check tags ::
