In 2006 the Australian Football Federation joined the Asian Football Confederation in search of better competition.

Australia was not getting it in the Oceanic Conference playing the likes of New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and a number of smaller Pacific Island nations.

The move has seemingly paid off for the Australian women's national team, who won a knockout stage game for their first time in history on Sunday, defeating Brazil 1-0.

Now Australia will face a familiar opponent in Japan in the quarter-final on Saturday (2 p.m.) at Commonwealth Stadium. The winner moves on to the semifinal where a date with Canada could be in the cards on July 1.

"We have a history against Japan, playing them regularly in Asia," said Australian midfielder Nicola Bolger. "They're a top side just like a lot of countries are that are still in the competition. We know what we would be up against.

"We know anyone you face in the competition now is going to be good, but there is a lot of history against Japan. It'll be a good match up."

The Japanese are defending Women's World Cup Champions and qualified for the quarterfinal with a victory over the Netherlands on Tuesday. They have won every game they've played so far at this year's tournament.

"We've played Japan quite a few times, we played them in the Asian Cup last year," said Australian forward Ashleigh Sykes. "There is a little more history between us and Japan. It would be nice to see two Asian federation teams come up against each other."

The two teams last met in the final of the 2014 Asian Cup, where Japan won 1-0. Australia and Japan also met in the groups stages of that tournament, tying 2-2.

"It's a big rivalry," Sykes said. "We won an Asian Cup and they won the next one. It's close with us at the moment, they've obviously won a World Cup so they're a bit ahead of us, but I think it's a good rivalry for us."

derek.vandiest@sunmedia.ca

@sundvandiest