The Australians went down 2-0 with all guns blazing to Brazil Sunday, but they still have their destiny in their own hands going into the showdown with the Croatians in Stuttgart on Thursday.

Guus Hiddink's resurgent team have three points, two more than Croatia, who drew 0-0 with Japan on Sunday in Nuremberg, and have a better goal difference of one to take into their crunch match with the 1998 World Cup semi-finalists.

A draw should be enough for Australia to join Brazil in the knockout phase, but the players say they will be going for the kill in what is shaping as an emotional occasion with strong ancestral ties between both national teams.

Arnold, who once played for a Croatian-backed Australian club, said Croatia was a mirror image of his Australian team.

"Croatia is a big side, it's pretty much a mirror-image of our side," he told reporters.

"I think you can't get two teams with any closer playing styles at this World Cup.

"We both have big physical strong players, we both have technically good players, huge work-rates, so we're very similar and it will be a very difficult game."

There is a strong Balkan influence in the Australian squad with captain Mark Viduka, Ante Covic, Jason Culina, Zeljko Kalac, Tony Popovic and Josip Skoko all sons of Croatian immigrants.

With Croatia's experienced defender Robert Kovac, suspended for Thursday's game, Viduka will come up against Josip Simunic.

An Australian-born graduate of the Institute of Sport in Canberra before he opted to represent his parents' place of birth, Simunic plays for Hertha Berlin in Germany.

But he was also Viduka's teammate at Melbourne Knights during the 1990s.

Two other Croatian squad members Ante Seric and Joey Didulica have chosen to represent the country of their immigrant parents over Australia after having come through the football program at the Australian Institute of Sport.

"It's probably been a game that a lot of Australian people have looked forward to and we've looked at for a long time as our deciding game on who goes into the second round and it's ended up that way," Arnold said.

"There's a lot of Croatian-Australian people in Australia who if we weren't playing each other would support Australia, but there will be a lot of half-hearted supporters happy whichever way it goes.

"The players know how important the game is, Viduka, Kalacs and the others along with the Croatian boys know what it means to their families and to them as well, so it's a big game for everybody."

But Crystal Palace defender Tony Popovic is unlikely to be part of Thursday's game after coming off early in Sunday's Brazil game with a calf injury.

"Popovic has a calf strain, it's not real great. When a player has to come off after 30 minutes with that type of injury that normally a couple of weeks' injury, so it's not looking good," Arnold said.