The match-up is a replay of the Tokyo Olympic gold medal encounter where the Aussies went down in a penalty shootout to their European rival and were relegated to silver.

Colin Batch’s team is in-form after winning their opening rounds matches against Argentina (1-0) and Ireland (2-1) and topping the 2024 FIH Pro-League.

However, the team, led by three-time Olympian Aran Zalewski, struggled against the defending Olympic champions on their European tour earlier this year. 

The Kookaburras went down 5-1 to Belgium in May and then drew 4-4, losing 3-2 in a shootout in June. 

“Belgium are the leading seeded team in our pool, so it will be one of our toughest, but you can't deny some of the other teams as well, it’s the Olympics,” Colin said.

“Everyone has to play well and it's often been said this tournament is very tight so if we're not playing at our best and the other team is playing well then we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

The seasoned coach is confident the team has learned from the experience. 

He touts more international competition leading into the Paris Games as what will set the team apart from the 2020 Olympics where travel was limited due to the pandemic.

“Our first game against Belgium at the FIH Pro League in May wasn't our best performance that's for sure,” Colin said.

“It was our first match of that European tour and they're a very good side and they've certainly proven that over the last major tournament, so they'll be hard to crack.

“We played much better against them in match two in Antwerp and we can take some confidence from that. 

“If we play really well, we'll be close to winning, but you can never deny them, they're very good at coming back in games so we've got to make sure we take off a lot of our defensive work as well because they can score goals.”

The Kookaburras will play Belgium Yves-du-Manoir at 3.45am AEST.

Catriona Dixon