Football Australia have released the viewership results for the Socceroo’s recent intercontinental play-off for this year’s FIFA World Cup against Peru, revealing that 568,000 people in the country tuned in to watch Graham Arnold’s men cast aside the South American side to clinch their spot in the competition.
The FA added that it was the most watched program of Tuesday morning with 70.2 percent in the under 50’s category.
The game itself wasn’t all that interesting as a competition, with one side being too wary of the other. It’s indicative of the tension between the two teams that the first shot on goal was recorded on the 81st minute (a free kick by Ajdan Hrustic that was fired straight towards the Peruvian keeper, Pedro Gallese).
But so much was at stake that people couldn’t help but tune in: a sixth (and fifth-consecutive) presence at one of the most high-profile sporting competitions on the planet. And this year, it’ll be held in summer for all of us down under. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that celebration?
The dramatic way by which the green-and-gold sealed their way into the tournament, with Andrew Redmayne dancing his way to glory, had people still stuck to their screens long after the final whistle was blown. According to Football Australia, the national team was trending on social media, with people looking up videos, images and posts of the players celebrating and making statements about their success.
FA chief executive officer, James Johnson, said: “Network 10’s broadcast figures of Tuesday’s must-win Intercontinental play-off match are incredible but not unexpected given how strong the brand is and how important the Socceroos are to all Australians.
“Across Tuesday, the Socceroos trended Number 1 across Australia on both Twitter and YouTube, and was the most searched term across all categories on Google – reflecting the pride, the intrigue, and the popularity of the current squad and the Socceroos rich history, which has been one hundred years in the making.
“This is an incredibly exciting period for Australian Football with our U23 Men’s team in the semi-finals of the AFC U23 Asian Cup tonight, the Commonwealth Bank Young Matildas will contest the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022™ in August, then the Socceroos are off to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ in November, before our Commonwealth Bank Matildas take centre stage on home soil as Australia co-hosts the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ with New Zealand.
“Football Australia would like to call out the work of our broadcast partner, Network 10 and Paramount+ and acknowledge their support of Australian football and particularly of our national teams, with the ratings success of Tuesday a reflection of their passion for the World Game,” concluded Johnson.
The Socceroos have reached their centenary year since their founding and will celebrate by holding two friendly games against New Zealand (who unfortunately failed to qualify to the World Cup falling 1-0 to Costa Rica) in September, with details yet to be announced.
