The Socceroos' World Cup aspirations hinge on Saturday's clash against Tunisia in Qatar.

After copping a 4-1 drubbing from France, another loss will send Arnold's Australians out of the cup at the group stage.

And while reigning champions France presented a challenge of flair and finesse, the Tunisians are full of fanatical fire.

"We've got to be ready for that war," Arnold told reporters.

"They are aggressive and they're going to have 40,000 fans behind them and it's going to be a truly amazing experience again for everyone."

Arnold's message to his players is blunt.

"Fight fire with fire, especially from the start," he said.

"And then when we're up, put the fire out."

Arnold is likely to summon playmaker Ajdin Hrustic, who missed the loss to Les Bleus.

The attacking midfielder has not played since suffering an ankle injury on October 3. In line to come from the bench against the French, he was kept on ice given the rout.

"Ajdin Hrustic's ankle is good, 95 (per cent) so the other five doesn't matter," Arnold said.

"He can start."

Arnold was tight-lipped on other potential changes from his line-up against France, a game which he said exposed Australia technically rather than tactically.

"All the stats showed (the players) put in 100 per cent plus," he said.

"But it's those little mistakes that turn into big mistakes.

"If there was anything that was shown up, it was the technical side of it.

"Work-rate, commitment - everything was fantastic.

"It was not the intention to drop back as far as we did but technically we turned the ball over, that pushed us back further.

"Overall, we have got to be in their (Tunisia's) faces and get ready for that."

Tunisia drew their cup opener against Denmark 1-1, deploying a wall of five defenders which Arnold noted was a change from their tradition.

"They've played that (formation) only once," he said.

"Tunisia, over every game we have watched, they have played a four-three-three and we expect them to go back to that.

"They went into this first game against Denmark more defensively minded with a back five."

And Arnold's research has highlighted Tunisia's major weapon, their captain Youssef Msakni.

"He runs the show. We have identified that and we'll come up with a solution," Arnold said.

Socceroos legend Paul Wade also saw how the superior skills of the French tore apart Australia, especially at the back.

That then caused a ripple effect in wearing the Socceroos down, and Les Bleus won the battle of endurance, which caused more errors from Australia, such as that from Nathaniel Atkinson for Olivier Giroud's first goal.

"Even under pressure, France never gave the ball away, and that's the difference between us and them," Wade said.

"They can handle pressure and somebody biting, scratching, kicking at them, and they never lose possession.

"We were running and running for the whole time they had it, because it never went out.

"If you think about it, we can all criticise that we gave the ball away in easy areas, but the boys were knackered - they were absolutely run off their feet.

"They don't play at a level like this for their club. So I felt for them. I really did."

For the sustained aggression Arnold is seeking against Tunisia, Wade suggested the Socceroos coach may consider utilising his bench earlier to keep the forward momentum they had in the first 20 minutes in their opening game going for the whole 90.

"There were moments early in the first half when we were dominating and positive runs were being made," he said.

"They had the energy but it stopped, and they didn't know where to go. And the runs weren't being made because they were so tired.

"The biggest problem now is finding the ability to play with that intensity for 90 minutes or for Graham Arnold to substitute players earlier to ensure that."

While there was some criticism of how the Socceroos fell away against France, in the aftermath Wade believes Arnold and the team should be proud of their efforts.

Scoring against the reigning champions was notable too. With the French expected to improve as the tournament goes on, Tunisia and Denmark may have more trouble getting the ball past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in their matches.

"The goal difference hurt, but that goal we scored might be so important," Wade explained.

"On the team bus they'd be thinking that Tunisia and Denmark have to go through the same team.

"They'll quickly pull each other up and tell each other it's not over.

"There's no easy games at this level. We've worked so hard to get here, let's just go for it.

"There are 90 minutes to get back on track, and looking at the team we're playing I have no doubt it'll be a different Socceroos attitude now we've gotten past the best in the world."

World Cup Group Stage

Australia v Tunisia at Al Janoub Stadium - 9pm on SBS

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