Socceroos great Robbie Slater hammers lack of World Cup coverage

The Socceroos are in World Cup qualifying action on Thursday night, with thousands of fans furious they can’t tune in.

Graham Arnold with Josh Nisbet and Robbie Slater. Photos: Getty Images

Australia’s Socceroos continued their qualifying journey towards the 2026 World Cup with a 2-0 win over Bangladesh on Thursday night.

But thousands of fans were left fuming after being unable to tune in after the second round Asian qualifying clash at Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka wasn’t being shown live on free-to-air television.

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Network 10 and its streaming affiliate Paramount Plus hold the rights to Australia’s national teams.

Thursday night’s game was behind a paywall on Paramount Plus and it has not gone down well with a huge number of fans and a Socceroo great.

Football fan and freelance writer Pablo Bateson was among those venting their frustration at the lack of coverage of the game.

“Very disappointing the Socceroos WCQ vs Bangladesh is not on FTA — needs an explanation by Football AUS as to why this has been allowed to happen?” he wrote on X.

Ajdin Hrustic celebrates with Jackson Irvine after his goal. Photo by Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images

Among the replies to Bateson’s post was a simple two-word message from Aussie great and Premier League winner Robbie Slater: “Absolute disgrace!”

A fan replied to the 44-time Socceroo: “Can’t you do something about it Robbie?”

Slater replied: “Haha no but the FA should have! Too late now.”

It was a sentiment shared by a number of other football fans on the social media platform.

One wrote: “Makes me sick the game is treated this way.”

Another wrote: “Matilda’s everywhere on FTA TV and the Socceroos behind a paywall, it’s p**s poor really.”

A third commented: “Oh I’d love to watch this but can’t because our National team isn’t on Free to air.”

Another fan wrote: “Only on Paramount? What a farce. Channel 10 this is not acceptable, at all.”

Australia and Lebanon in qualifying action in Canberra in March this year. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Other fans suggested the network could have used one of its free-to-air channels, which include the main 10 channel, plus 10 Peach and 10 Bold.

The match is eventually being shown on 10 Bold, with a replay set for 10am AEST on Friday.

Some other fans, however, said the situation reflected the current standing of Australia’s national men’s team.

The Socceroos impressed all by making it out of their group stage and losing to eventual champions Argentina 2-1 in the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Yet the team doesn’t enjoy the following it once did, particularly when the likes of global names Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Tim Cahill and Mark Schwarzer were in their prime.

“Maybe because nobody wants to watch the socceroos at the moment given the dull boring game style we play. Kinda proves it when Matildas sell out stadiums and the socceroos couldn’t fill a small suburban field,” was one comment on X.

“Because the socceroos are second rate and no great watching when matched against lowly ranked competition,” suggested another.

Despite their lack of national coverage, the Socceroos have done all they can in qualifying to date with the victory over Bangladesh taking the side to a 5-0 record in their Group I games to already progress to the next stage.

The Socceroos’ final World Cup qualifying match is against Palestine on June 11.

Nestory Irankunda debuted for Australia. Photo by Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images

Australia’s journey towards the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States then continues in September when the third round gets underway.

But they’ll want to be better than they were against Bangladesh with an Arjun Hrustic strike taking a wicked deflection off Bangladesh defender Mehedi Mithu into the goal in the 29th minute.

Kusini Yengi completed the win in the 62nd minute with a “textbook header”.

However, it was nothing to write home about for the Socceroos.

In terms of Thursday’s game, there was increased interest in proceedings as Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has handed a debut to Bayern Munich-bound phenomenon, Nestory Irankunda.

Irankunda failed to impose himself on the game in humid conditions in Dhaka, although he did lay the ball on for Hrustic’s goal.

Irankunda said he “could have done better” but that he was “really proud” to earn his first Socceroos cap.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” he said.

“It was just my decision making that let me down but I did do the right thing sometimes. There is still space for improvement.

“We did well (considering) the conditions. We got the result that we came for and a clean sheet as well.”

The Australian side is bidding to qualify for a sixth straight World Cup finals.

Originally published as Socceroos great Robbie Slater hammers lack of World Cup coverage