The 2022 World Cup is just a few days away now, the first-ever World Cup to be held in the Middle East.

Qatar is the host this year, but rarely has a World Cup been plagued by such controversy coming into the tournament. Human rights issues have been consistently brought up by detractors, including the deaths of migrant workers who were building the stadiums.

In the week leading up to the opening game between Qatar and Ecuador, things haven’t gotten any better. The accommodation facilities for fans has been mocked on social media, drawing comparisons to the infamous Fyre Festival; Qatar seemingly hiring locals to pretend to support different nations has also not gone down well.

Having said all this, the World Cup will be inescapable for the next month. The Australian players – including FC St Pauli’s Jackson Irvine coolly wearing an iconic Celtic strip with Mark Viduka’s name on it – convened in Qatar this week, and will be hoping to make it out of the group stages.

The Socceroos might not be in a Group of Death, but they’ll face strong competition from Tunisia, Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark, and France, the winners of the previous World Cup. How wonderful it would be to witness Kylian Mbappe miss a penalty against the Grey Wiggle Andrew Redmayne.

As well as Redmayne and Irvine, head coach Graham Arnold can call upon some exciting names, most of all Central Coast Mariners forward Garang Kuol, who’s only 18 but has already earned a transfer to English giants Newcastle United.

So if you are going to watch the Socceroos at the World Cup, how can you do it? Thankfully all the group stage matches will be broadcast live and free on SBS. With the matches kicking off at possibly inopportune times – including the France match-up at 6am – all three matches will also be available to watch on SBS On Demand.

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You can check out the full match details for the Aussie group stage matches below. And if you’re following another country, all 64 matches of the tournament will also be broadcast live and free with SBS On Demand.

Group D Matchday 1

France vs Australia

Wednesday, November 23rd (6am AEDT)
Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

Group D Matchday 2

Tunisia vs Australia

Saturday, November 26th (9pm AEDT)
Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

Group D Matchday 3

Australia vs Denmark

Thursday, December 1st (2am AEDT)
Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

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