Even Qatari striker Sebastian Quintana had trouble finding the Middle Eastern emirate on the map before the Uruguayan-born marksman decided to make it his home in 2004.
Many Australians could sympathise with Quintana in terms of his geographical naivety, but Jorge Fossati's men will certainly make their presence felt on the Australian sporting landscape if they cause a massive upset in the World Cup qualification opener at Telstra Dome on Wednesday night.
Australia's first-ever World Cup qualifying match in Asia should see a packed house at the 55,000-seat stadium, and Australia will be looking to use every bit of that home ground advantage to win this match.
Pim Verbeek has been crystal clear about Australia's World Cup path. The Socceroos must win every home game if they are finish in the top two and get through to the second group stage.
It's hard to get a read on the opposition. Quintana, their best attacking player, won't be there - he is suspended - while Brazilians Marconi Amaral and Fabio Cesar changed their passports late last year so they could play a part in this campaign.
The squad also contains naturalised Qataris, Mohamed Saqr, Abdullah Kone, Wesam Rizik, Talal Al-Bloushi and Sayed Ali Bechir.
Hardly renowned as an empire of footballing talent, Qatar has made its recent impressions by importing, rather than exporting, players. The Q-League is one of the richest leagues in the world as clubs pour in the money to recruit international players.
International coaches too. Fossati is of course the man that oversaw Uruguay's failed bid to get to World Cup 2006, stopped by a famous penalty from John Aloisi.
So there will be plenty of motivation for Fossati and his players to at least get a point from this one.
The Uruguayan has made no secret of the fact that he will come and camp in the penalty box and attack Australia on the counter-attack. They are tactics that are well-familiar to the Socceroos, who were almost outdone by Oman in similar circumstances in the first match of last year's Asian Cup.
While naivety played a part in Australia's downfall in that tournament, there will be no excuses here.
Pim Verbeek, one of the most experienced coaches in the Asian region, has close to his best available squad, and he will ask them to attack. He will likely play three at the back, five in the middle and two up front in a bid to scatter the Qatar defence and create space for the likes of Tim Cahill, Marco Bresciano and Scott McDonald to exploit.
A strong start is paramount to unsettle the Qataris and if the Socceroos can take a lead into half-time, the experienced midfield and defence should be able to close the game out.
However, should Qatar get a goal on an early break, then Australia will need to chase the game, meaning the tactical composure Verbeek has been drilling into his squad may well be abandoned for an all out attack.
This is what happened in the Asian Cup match against Iraq in Bangkok. Forced to chase the game, Australia lost its shape and then lost the game easily.
The Asian Cup draws an interesting line between these two teams, perhaps a lot less comfortable than Socceroos fans would want to ponder.
Qatar, through Quintana, secured a late equaliser against Japan in the group stages in Vietnam, and the Socceroos emerged with the same result (1-1) in the quarter finals at the same venue soon after.
Australia then exited the tournament on penalties. That result places the two teams a lot closer than the respective world rankings of 48 and 88 would suggest.
But with such a strong support behind them, and with a real sense of the occasion in an experienced team, the Socceroos should kick off their campaign with a win, albeit a narrow one.