Soccer fans across the Greater Geelong region will have plenty of choice between live sites and local watering holes to catch all the action from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n
Australia’s campaign will begin on Sunday 14 June, but they will not be the first to take to the pitch with games kicking off from 5am on 12 June.<\/p>\n
Local Socceroos fans will have the chance to gather in central Geelong and cheer on the national team at a free live screening of their opening match against T\u00fcrkiye at Johnstone Park, Geelong.<\/p>\n
Mayor Stretch Kontelj took to social media on Thursday alongside state MP Christine Couzens to encourage locals to head down to watch the game.<\/p>\n
A food truck and coffee van will be at the family-friendly event.<\/p>\n
For those looking to catch the game while out and about, Westfield Geelong will stream all of Australia’s games in the Football for Fans zone near the food court. Other games will be streamed throughout the entirety of the World Cup also.<\/p>\n
Around the city Sporting Globe will have all of Australia’s games on the big screen, with other key matches throughout the tournament also up, including games featuring USA, Scotland, England and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Fans wanting to get up and about for the USA game – which will be played at 5am locally – can head down to The Elephant & Castle Hotel. The team there will be slinging coffees and toasties to keep fans energised for the day ahead.<\/p>\n
Across the Surf Coast, Torquay Taphouse, 4 Pines Brewery and Torquay Hotel will be streaming matches against Turkey and Paraguay live and free.<\/p>\n
The Taphouse will also screen other select matches throughout the group stage.<\/p>\n
Venue manager Renee Ranger said excitement was high amongst the town.<\/p>\n
“We are pumped to get all the fans in to watch the FIFA World Cup and to support the Socceroos,” she said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got a great big screen to watch it all and we had great success with doing a similar thing for the Olympics and the Rip Curl Pro.<\/p>\n
“Keep an eye out for our food and drink specials on the day.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, along the Bellarine, Leopold Sporties will have the soccer on, and Barwon Heads Hotel will have the afternoon games playing in their beer garden.<\/p>\n
The Socceroos have been placed in Group D for the first stage of competition and will play T\u00fcrkiye on Sunday, 14 June at 2pm, USA on Saturday, 20 June at 5am and Paraguay on Friday, 16 June at 12pm.<\/p>\n
They need at least a win and a draw to proceed into the round of 32.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Soccer fans across the Greater Geelong region will have plenty of choice between live sites and local watering holes to catch all the action from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Australia’s campaign will begin on Sunday 14 June, but they will not be the first to take to the pitch with games kicking off from […]<\/p>\n