Confederations Cup fever

Mexico are the Confederations Cup holders

The BBC's Martin Fookes previews the Fifa Confederations Cup which starts in South Korea and Japan on Wednesday, with the competition acting as a scaled down dress rehearsal for World Cup 2002.

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The tournament began in earnest in 1992 and has since taken place during 1995, 1997 and 1999.

Saudi Arabia played host for the first three meetings before Mexico staged the competition in its last outing.

The title of Fifa Confederations Cup only came into place in 1997 and this time South Korea and Japan will stage the event as part of their preparations for hosting World Cup 2002.

There are eight teams involved and the list comprises five continental champions, plus the two co-hosts, and Mexico, as the cup holders.

We may be without a few key names but it will give some of the new players a chance to make their mark

  Brazilian coach
Emerson Leao

The competition starts on Wednesday 30 May when South Korea play host to the world and European champions France.

If things go to plan, it will end in a repeat of the last World Cup final with France and Brazil battling it out for the trophy in Yokohama on 10 June.

But this competition usually has a surprise or two. Mexico beat Brazil 4-3 in Mexico City in the 1999 final, and two years before that Terry Venables' Australia got through to the final in Riyadh before being crushed 6-0 by Brazil.

This time the Brazilians arrived in Japan shorn of most of their top players, because of club commitments both at home and in Europe.

Coach Emerson Leao said: "We may be without a few key names but it will give some of the new players a chance to make their mark."

Returning to the national team after a long absence are goalkeeper Dida, defender Ze Roberto, midfielder Ze Maria and striker Sonny Anderson.

Only three players remain from the team that finished as World Cup runners-up three years ago.

France too are missing the likes of Zinedine Zidane and David Trezeguet, their goalscoring heroes from the World Cup and Euro 2000 finals.

Lemerre's World Cup holders will be competing

Coach Roger Lemerre was forced to leave out players still on club duty in Italy and Spain.

Nevertheless, the French still have a formidable squad, drawn chiefly from English and German clubs, and should finish top of a group which also includes cup holders Mexico, the Oceania champions Australia, as well as South Korea.

In the other group, Brazil get to take on the Asian Cup holders Japan, the African and Olympic champions Cameroon and the surprise winners of the Concacaf Gold Cup, Canada.

The top two in each will go forward to semi-finals.

Twenty stadiums will be in use for the World Cup next year, but for the Confederations Cup three will be used in Japan (Ibaraki, Niigata and Yokohama) and three in Korea (Daegu, Ulsan and Suwon).

It should whet the appetite of football fans in both countries and enable the organisers to assess their readiness to stage the game's biggest tournament.

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Confederations Cup schedule
(all kick-off times GMT)

Wednesday, 30 May
Group A:
South Korea 0-5 France (Taegu, S Korea)
Mexico 0-2 Australia (Suwon, S Korea)

Thursday, 31 May
Group B:
Brazil 2-0 Cameroon (Ibaraki, Japan)
Japan 3-0 Canada (Niigata, Japan)

Friday, 1 June
Group A:
Australia 1-0 France (Taegu, S Korea)
South Korea 2-1 Mexico (Ulsan, S Korea)

Saturday, 2 June
Group B:
Canada 0-0 Brazil (Ibaraki, Japan)
Japan 2-0 Cameroon (Niigata, Japan)

Sunday, 3 June
Group A
France v Mexico (Ulsan, S Korea 1030)
South Korea v Australia (Suwon, S Korea 1030)

Monday, 4 June
Group B
Japan v Brazil (Ibaraki, Japan 1030)
Cameroon v Canada (Niigata, Japan 1030)

Thursday, 7 June
Semi-finals
Winner B v Runner-up A (Yokohama, Japan 0800)
Winner A v Runner-up B (Suwon, S Korea 1000)

Saturday, 9 June
Third-place play-off (Ulsan, S Korea 1000)

Sunday, 10 June
Final (Yokohama 1000)