FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick has lined up a head-to-head clash with the South American side, providing England can finish top of their World Cup group and qualify automatically for the finals.

The game will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday 12 November with a 4.45pm kick-off and will be shown live on BBC1.

Barwick told TheFA.com: "I think Argentina are ranked number two in the world and it’s a game that Sven is very keen to take on.

"He thinks it’s a serious game and I’m sure he would play a very, very strong side. Our information is that the Argentine side will be a very strong side, too.

"Given the context of the great England v Argentina games I think it’s something for all English football fans to look forward to and we would expect up to 8,000 fans to travel to see it. After all it’s two sides who have aspirations to be World Cup winners."

The match will be staged at the Stade de Geneve, the home of Swiss club Servette and a venue for the Euro 2008 finals. It was set up by a Swiss agency which then approached The FA and Argentina to take part.

But Barwick has warned fans the match will only take place if England finish top of their World Cup qualifying group and are not involved in a play-off fixture.

He said: "Let’s be frank, it’s a provisional game at the moment because it depends on qualification. But if things go well the game will take place and it will be a big attraction."

England's World Cup fate will be decided in the next two months. We face crucial away games against Wales and Northern Ireland in September before taking on Austria and Poland at home in October.

The last time England faced Argentina was in the 2002 World Cup finals when David Beckham's penalty in Sapporo gave us a famous 1-0 victory. The teams also met in the 1998 World Cup Finals when Argentina won 4-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw.