The U.S. men’s national team faces a tough task at the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, to be played Jan. 8-20 in Mexico. The Americans were drawn into Group B with World Cup ’98 champion France and runner-up Brazil, as well as Oceania champion New Zealand. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals. Group B will play in Guadalajara, and the U.S. opens against New Zealand on Jan. 10. The two teams have never met before in a full international. New Zealand pulled off a huge 1-0 upset over Australia to capture the 1998 Oceania Nations Cup on Oct. 4. The U.S. will next face Brazil on Jan. 13, in a rematch of the memorable Gold Cup semifinal played earlier this year, when the Americans stunned Brazil on Preki Radosavljevic’s goal. Brazil holds an 8-1 record against the U.S. The U.S. will wrap up first-round play against World Cup holder France on Jan. 15. The two teams have met twice before, in 1979, with the French winning 6-0 in East Rutherford, N.J. and 3-0 in Paris. The Americans will face Australia on Nov. 6 at Spartan Stadium in their first match since France ’98.