Canberra's 25-day mission to get a crowd for the Socceroos' return

The organisations have just 25 days to generate interest and build support for a Tuesday-night World Cup qualifier between Australia and Lebanon on March 26.

Lebanon has agreed to move their home leg of the two-match series to a neutral location due to the ongoing instability in the Middle East.

The result is a boost for the capital's soccer fans, who have had limited opportunities to see the men's or women's national teams over the past decade. The Socceroos and Matildas have played a combined three matches in Canberra since 2012.

ACT government officials have been working with Football Australia and Lebanon for months to offer an alternate venue for the crucial qualifying match.

"The ACT community can really get behind the Australian team ... we know Canberrans love sport, and we know Canberrans love football," said Sport Minister Yvette Berry.

"We're very excited to bring this content to the ACT. We'll work with [Football Australia] to continue to bring these opportunities when they arise. We're continuing to talk to them about how we can bring the Matildas back as well.

"We have great facilities. They may not be as big as other cities, but we have great facilities and amazing crowds that really make our [stadium] sing."

The government and stadium officials, however, are wary of potential protests at the match given the nature of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

"We'll have all the appropriate security measures put in place like we do whenever international teams play in the ACT, and we'll pay special attention to make sure that everybody feels safe," Berry said.

The Socceroos will play the first leg of the qualifying at Parramatta on March 21 before moving to Canberra five days later for the defining fixture.

The Lebanese Football Federation has been unable to gain clearance from the AFC to host games on home soil and their most recent "home" qualifier - against Palestine in November - was moved to the UAE.

Instead of travelling to the Middle East to play at a neutral venue, Australia will be given a boost of home support as they bid to reach the third and final round of qualification.

Two wins over Lebanon would guarantee Graham Arnold's men a passage to the final stage of qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

"I think it's fantastic we've been able to assist a member of our confederation who is facing challenging times," Arnold said.

"Throughout my time as head coach, we've had limited opportunities to play in front of home crowds, so to have two matches in this window in Australia is extremely pleasing.

"I know the players are looking forward to coming home, and we're expecting Lebanon to throw everything at us in what will be two important matches in our pursuit of the third round of qualification."

The Socceroos beat Lebanon in their two previous meetings in 2012 and 2018 and have enjoyed a perfect start to qualification thus far with a 7-0 romp over Bangladesh and a hard-fought 1-0 slog against Palestine.

"We've been assisting them in the delivery of this match, doing anything we can to support them in what are difficult circumstances," said FA chief executive James Johnson.

"Our game has an amazing ability to bring people together and our work with Lebanon is the perfect example of that.

"For all intents and purposes this is a home game for Lebanon, despite it being played on Australian soil."

The ACT government did a deal with Football Australia in 2019 to have Socceroos and Matildas games linked to an initial $24.5 million investment in a new Home of Football at Throsby.

The new community and high-performance hub for Capital Football was funded in the 2019-20 budget, but the project has suffered several delays and it's still unclear when physical work will start more than four years later.

The government has already increased its financial commitment to $29 million, with Capital Football to inject another $4.5 million to have a base for the Canberra United women's team and Canberra competitions.

It's also unclear if a proposed men's A-League team would also be based at the facility. There is room to expand, but the government is unlikely to supply additional funding for that part of the project.

"We'll have a more detailed conversation [with Capital Football] in the next couple of weeks [about the Home of Football]," Berry said.

"But we're both absolutely committed. We just need to realign ourselves and find out what we need to do to take the next steps.

"There has been a bit of a revolving door for Capital Football [chief executives] and we want to give Sam [Farrow] a chance to get her feet on the ground."

Farrow added: "I'm very keen to get Throsby up and moving ... there has been a lot of work in the background. I'm still trying to understand exactly what the vision is for this facility, what we're trying to achieve, how we're going to finance this long term, the maintenance costs.

"I want to make sure Capital Football is not put in a precarious situation."

The Socceroos played in Canberra in 2019 to fulfil their commitment, beating Nepal 2-0 in front of more than 18,000 fans.

The Matildas played against New Zealand in 2022 in front of more than 13,000 supporters, but the team's popularity has since exploded and effectively priced Canberra out of the market given the financial commitment required and the size of the existing venue.

"Of course we want to get the Matildas back here. We'll always promote and support women's sport in the ACT, whatever we can do to work with [Football Australia] to bring the Matildas back, we'll continue to do that," Berry said.