Souttar, who was born and raised in Scotland to an Australian mother, has represented the Scots at Under-17 and Under-19 level.

His older brother, Hearts defender John, has three senior caps for Scotland.

But defender Souttar, currently on loan from English club Stoke City at Fleetwood Town, has been enticed to play with the Olyroos.

Socceroos and Olyroos coach Graham Arnold was alerted to the 20-year-old's availability through former Socceroo goalkeeper Adam Federici.

Arnold has compared centre back Souttar with Martin Boyle.

"Harry wants to play for Australia," he told The Scottish Sun. "He is the same as Martin Boyle. They opened up a door and we took the opportunity to get them involved.

"Scotland haven’t qualified for a World Cup in over 20 years and we have qualified for the last four, so these players see the opportunity to play for Australia as better for them. We wanted John to play for Australia as well.

"The last regime extended an invitation for him to join the squad. He made the decision to play for Scotland instead. But Harry was adamant he wanted to get involved. So for two brothers to play for different countries, it’s quite unique."