MELBOURNE, April 20 (Xinhua) — Brazil and Argentina will meet at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in June as they prepare for this year’s FIFA World Cup, local officials said on Wednesday.
The fixture will be played on June 11, five years after the teams clashed at the same venue in a friendly that attracted 95,000 fans.
“To have two of the most successful football teams in the world return to the MCG to continue their longstanding rivalry reinforces our position as one of the world’s great sporting cities and Australia’s event capital,” said Martin Pakula, the head of sport for the state government of Victoria.
The match replaces a World Cup qualifier between the teams in Sao Paulo last September that was suspended minutes after kickoff because of alleged COVID-19 rule breaches by Argentina.
Brazil earned a World Cup berth by finishing top of the South American qualifying group while Argentina were second.
Football’s showpiece tournament will be played in Qatar from November 21 to December 18.