The Socceroos are precariously placed on the road to Brazil, sitting in third place in Group B, with three games to play against Japan (next Tuesday in Saitama) and then second-placed Jordan and last-placed Iraq on Australian soil.

Australia are at serious risk of missing their first World Cup since 2002 and Brosque admitted that would be a major blow to the code.

“These three weeks obviously determine whether we go to the World Cup or not. To miss out would be a disaster,” Brosque told reporters in Japan ahead of Tuesday's qualifier.

“Now that we’re a part of Asia it will always be expected of Australia to qualify. This time is no different, even though we’ve had our bumps along the way, the pressure is still on us to qualify.”

However the former Sydney FC striker, who has spent the past two-and-a-half years playing in Asia with Japanese club Shimizu S-Pulse and UAE outfit Al Ain, said getting away from the pressure in Australia had helped the group relax.

“We’ve come here. Being away from the media and the pressure back home has got everyone relaxed,” Brosque said.

“Even though there is a lot of pressure going into the game, everyone is in good spirits and we know how difficult it is going to be, we also know like last year we can more than match it with Japan and we’ve got nothing to fear as long as we can get our part right.”

An Australia loss in Japan wouldn’t spell the end to the side’s hopes of qualifying for Brazil, with home wins against Jordan and Iraq likely to be enough anyway. And Brosque felt that took even more pressure off the Socceroos.

“There’s definitely a lot of pressure in a way going into the match, but it’s probably the game we can look at as our game in hand, so anything we take will be a bonus,” Brosque said.

On a personal level, the 29-year-old forward has been battling a niggling groin problem which has kept him out of action for Al Ain in recent weeks, but Brosque said he was confident he’d be fit to face Japan if required.

“I should be (fit),” he said. “My season finished last week so my match fitness is not much of an issue. It’s about managing it (the injury) and being right for Tuesday.”