It’s getting to the pointy end of the Asian Qualifiers, with the Socceroos taking on China in their FIFA World Cup qualification match on Tuesday, 16 November 2021 (Wednesday, 17 November AEDT) live and free in Australia on Channel 10 and simulcast on 10 Play.
After a 2-1 defeat in Japan and a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, the Socceroos are three points behind Saudi Arabia and one point ahead of Japan in the competition. A loss to China could see the Socceroos drop out of the top two automatic qualification places.
This time around, Australia will be hoping to gain all three points against China. The last time the two teams met, Australia came away with a 3-0 win. Both China and the Socceroos have won eight of the last 18 matches against each other, with two draws.
The match kicks off at 2am AEDT at Sharjah Stadium in the United Arab Emirates. That’s 1am in QLD, 1:30am in SA, 12:30am in the NT and 11pm on Tuesday night in WA.
This will be the last Socceroos game of the year, with matches against Vietnam and Oman lined up for early 2022.
In May, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand and the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) announced a landmark media partnership deal worth $200 million. The five-year agreement aims to give Australian football the greatest reach it has ever had.
In a second announcement in June, ViacomCBS spent another $100 million in a contract with Football Australia to secure more soccer broadcast rights. The deal will see all the Australian National Teams and the FFA Cup matches broadcast across Network 10 and Paramount+.
The $100 million will be spread across a three year deal, and gives ViacomCBS the broadcast rights to all national teams (Socceroos, Westfield Matildas, Young Socceroos, Young Matildas, Joeys and Westfield Junior Matildas) owned or controlled by Football Australia, as well as AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar, AFC Asian Cups and, other AFC tournaments until 31 December 2024.