The Socceroos have not been embarrassed on their landmark first visit to Wembley Stadium, but were still outclassed by the England heavyweights in a 1-0 defeat.

Graham Arnold's side had a hearty contingent of fans bedecked in the green-and-gold at England's national stadium singing in the rain with a stirring performance that at times had them dreaming it might end in a memorable triumph akin to their 2003 victory at Upton Park.

But after a first half in which the visitors created the lion's share of the best chances against what effectively was an England second XI, a 57th-minute goal from Ollie Watkins sealed the home side's dominance after the break in front of an 81,116 sell-out crowd.

Against the team that is officially the fourth best in the game, Arnold's 27th-ranked side, without a single player from Europe's top five leagues, gave as much as they got, delivering on their coach's promise that they would run themselves into the ground and offer up "the performance of their lives".

Still, that performance was not quite enough as the Australian dream of emulating the "Shockeroos" of 2003, who beat David Beckham and co at Upton Park when Arnold was assistant manager, largely never looked like materialising in the second half, even when a late header by Connor Metcalfe from Martin Boyle's corner hit the outside of the post.

It prompted the never-say-die Roos to keep attacking until the end on a night when they again enhanced their claims to be able to mix it on the biggest stages, just as they had at the Qatar World Cup.

In the driving rain under the famous arch, both sides, who observed a minute's silence for the victims of the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territory before kick-off, shone early, with Conor Gallagher nearly putting in Watkins for a quick tap-in for the home side, only for Maty Ryan's fingertip intervention to put off the Villa poacher.

Despite being starved of most of the possession, the Socceroos carved out the best first-half opportunities, a deflected curler from Keanu Baccus requiring a fine save from Sam Johnstone and a terrific first-time volley from Mitch Duke flying just wide.