The Socceroos, the top-ranked team in Asia, face a tough test against the 49th-ranked Korea but will be confident of beating Bahrain and minnow India in Group C.

Australia beat Bahrain twice on the way to qualifying for this year's World Cup.

Who coaches the Socceroos at the tournament is as yet unknown, with incumbent Pim Verbeek quitting after the World Cup.

Football Federation Australia technical director Hans Berger said he was unsure whether European-based players such as Tim Cahill would be available to play.

"It's always more difficult because our first choice players are in Europe," Berger said.

"The first thing is to create a situation where we have the strongest possible team in January and see that our new coach is able to put a motivated team on the pitch."

Berger described the group as 'interesting' and said the Socceroos, who bowed out in the quarter-finals of the 2007 tournament, wouldn't have an easy ride.

"Nobody will have it easy at the finals. Australia will have to deliver consistently to excel in the tournament," he said.

"Korea Republic are one of the strongest sides in the continent and have been regularly featuring in the World Cup finals since 1986. They'll be a strong opponent."

"Then there's Bahrain. We played a few times against the Gulf nation during the 2010 Asian Zone World Cup qualification and it was never easy. They too will raise a strong challenge."

"India are newcomers. Frankly speaking, we don't know much about them. But they've qualified for the tournament by winning the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup and that shows that they too are capable of playing at this level. We look forward to the finals in Qatar and want to better our record this time around."

Asian Cup holder Iraq have been handed a tough start to the defence of its crown after being drawn against Iran, North Korea and UAE in Group D.

Iraq, which edged out Saudi Arabia in the 2007 final in Jakarta, was handed the hardest of the four groups.

North Korea has qualified for the 2010 World Cup and UAE made it through to the final stage of Asian qualifying for South Africa.

Host Qatar will be much happier with its lot having been drawn alongside Uzbekistan, China and Kuwait in Group A, while Group B features Saudi Arabia, three-time champion Japan, Jordan and Syria.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage.

The Asian Cup takes place in Qatar from January 7 to 29.

Draw for 2011 Asian Cup:

Group A
Qatar, Kuwait, China, Uzbekistan

Group B
Saudi Arabia, Japan, Jordan, Syria

Group C
South Korea, India, Australia, Bahrain

Group D
Iraq, North Korea, UAE, Iran