At his third World Cup, Socceroos stalwart Mathew Leckie has got a second chance.
Leckie is relishing the prospect of again facing France and Denmark in Qatar - two nations that Australia also played in Russia four years ago.
"This is our second chance almost because we play two of the same teams as last time," Leckie told reporters.
"We were so close but so far last time.
"Although we threw everything at it, it was small details that were just out.
"So it's a second chance to make things right and it's given us an opportunity to make things go our way.
"We have always had a belief as a squad but I think the belief is even more now, on how well we did against them last time."
In Russia, France pipped the Australians 2-1 in their opening game en route to winning the cup.
The Socceroos then drew 1-1 with the Danes before a 2-0 loss to Peru ended any chance of advancing from the group.
In Qatar, Australia again meet France in their first game - on Tuesday night (Wednesday 0600 AEDT).
The Socceroos then play Tunisia before clashing with Denmark again.
Leckie was arguably Australia's best performer in Russia and also impressed in Brazil in 2014 as a 23-year-old.
"My World Cup in Brazil, I was fairly young," he said.
"I didn't really experience any of the qualification, so I was a bit unaware of how hard it was to get there.
"As a young player, I went into the game with the mentality that it doesn't matter who I am playing against ... just try to do the best I possibly can."
Now, Leckie takes nothing for granted, acknowledging just how hard it is to qualify.
"Obviously Russia and now, I experienced how hard it is to get there and it's something you can't explain," he said.
"You work four years to get to this point and it's three games to get out of our group.
"We all have the same mentality in the sense that we are going to give everything we can for these three games.
"Because if that's not your way of thinking, then you have gone through four years of hard work for nothing really."
