The meeting, which will be the 23rd between the two countries, has been mooted for a while now but the Football Association have finally confirmed it after all the contractual details were sorted out.

The match at the 50,000-capacity Khalifa International Stadium will be an opportunity for Qatar to showcase its World Cup bid in a match that will be broadcast live in Europe and South America.

The match could also help England's own bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Qatar's Mohamed Bin Hammam (pictured) is a member of the FIFA ruling Executive Committee, who will decide the venue for the 2018 World Cup at a meeting in December 2010, and as the President of the Asian Football Confederation potentially could influence at least four votes.

He has already publicly backed England's bid and the visit to Doha will help secure that support.

The match will also give England's bid team an opportunity to lobby another member of the FIFA Executive Committee, Ricardo Terra Teixeira, who is the President of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

There are four South Americans on the Executive Committee who are eligible to vote.

Since its bid was launched last year England have already played a friendly match in Trinidad & Tobago, where FIFA Executive Committee member Jack Warner is from.

There is also talk of a match against Thailand in Bangkok to help secure the support of Worawi Makudi, who is also a member.

Makudi yesterday appointed former England captain Bryan Robson as the national team's new manager in succession to Peter Reid, another former England player.

The Khalifa stadium, where the match against Brazil will take place, was the main venue for the Doha 2006 Asian Games, and is part of the Doha Sports City complex, which also includes Aspire Academy, Hamad Aquatic Centre, and the Aspire Tower.

The match will form an important part of both Brazil and England's preparations for next year's World Cup in South Africa.

Fabio Capello, the England manager, said: "To play a team like Brazil will be important for us.

"We can understand more about ourselves and the level we must reach by playing the best teams.

"We have played Spain, Holland, Germany and France, some of the best teams in the world. In each of these games we have also played away from home, which is important before South Africa.

"One of the benefits of securing qualification against Croatia is that we can start to plan for the World Cup and this match is one part of our plans."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected].


Related stories
July 2009: Qatar investigating indoor stadiums for 2022 World Cup
July 2009: England ready to play friendly in Thailand as it chases vote
May 2009: Qatar launches 2022 World Cup bid logo
September 2009: Asian football chief backs England to host World Cup