The Subway Socceroos will return to Sydney Football Stadium for the first time in almost eight years when they take on Indonesia on Thursday, 20 March as part of their Round Three AFC Asian Qualifiers™ - Road to 26 Qualification campaign.
The match will be the first time that the team has played at the new Sydney Football Stadium since the rebuild in 2022.
To celebrate the occasion, we have taken a trip down memory lane to look at six memorable Socceroos moments at the Sydney Football Stadium.
17 June 1972 | Australia 2-2 Santos FC
Exhibition Match
The Australian football world was ablaze. Pele was coming to town.
The Brazilian club team Santos travelled the world as crowds flocked to see their superstar player and when they came to Australia in 1972, the Sydney Football Stadium was the venue for the exhibition. Over 30,000 fans packed into a stadium that, at that time, had an official capacity of 6,000.
Some of the crowd may have been disappointed when Pele wasn't able to score. However, much of that was down to Socceroos defender Ray Richards. Pele would later note that "the mustachioed Australian" was one of the best who had ever had the privilege to mark him.
While it was not an 'A' International, the match was the first introduction to football for many Australians, and proved that the team could match it with the best.
14 July 1988 | Australia 4-1 Argentina
Bicentennial Gold Cup
Two years after Diego Maradona led Argentina to their second FIFA World Cup™ title, the reigning champions came to Australia for a four-team tournament organised by Football Australia as part of bicentenary celebrations.
Despite expectations of a victory for Argentina, it was the home side who stole the headlines. A memorable long-range free-kick from Charlie Yankos was the highlight as the Socceroos stunned the visitors and left the 18,985 crowd with lifelong memories.
The match remains the only occasion in which the Socceroos have defeated Argentina.
15 August 1993 | Australia 2-1 Canada
FIFA World Cup Qualifying CONCACAF-OFC Play-Off, Second Leg
After losing the first leg of the play-off against Canada, the Socceroos needed to win by a margin of two goals to advance to the next stage of World Cup qualification.
Frank Farina opened the scoring in spectacular style with an overhead bicycle kick in first-half stoppage time, levelling the tie on aggregate and sending the home fans into raptures. Canada soon equalised through Lyndon Hooper before Mehmet Durakovic put the Socceroos back ahead. Neither side could break the deadlock from there, and the teams were sent to a penalty shootout.
Mark Schwarzer saved two penalties - in what would become trademark for the then 21-year-old goalkeeper - before Farina’s penalty into the roof of the net gave the Socceroos the victory.
31 October 1993 | Australia 1-1 Argentina
FIFA World Cup Qualifying CONMEBOL-OFC Play-Off, First Leg
A massive 43,967 strong crowd – a Sydney Football Stadium record that would last for 25 years – rode every kick as Australia hoped to qualify for a FIFA World Cup™ for the first time since 1974.
Argentina scored first, but when Aurelio Vidmar equalised just before half-time, it gave the Socceroos hope that they could overcome the visitors - just as they had five years earlier.
It was not to be. The scores remained locked at 1-1 and a 1-0 defeat away in the second leg consigned Australia to defeat.
3 September 2005 | Australia 7-0 Solomon Islands
FIFA World Cup Qualifying, OFC Play-Off, First Leg
Australia comfortably defeated the Solomon Islands in the first leg of the FIFA World Cup 2006™ OFC Qualifiers Play-Off match in September 2005.
The game was memorable for a special bicycle kick goal by Mark Viduka that was nominated for the Socceroos Goal of the Century in 2022.
The two-legged victory over the Solomon Islands set up the famous CONMEBOL-OFC play-off against Uruguay that saw Australia qualify for a FIFA World Cup™ for the first time since 1974.
28 March 2017 | Australia 2-0 UAE
World Cup Qualifiers Third Round
The last time that the Socceroos played at the Sydney Football Stadium, they found themselves in dire need of three points to ensure that they would qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2018™.
Ange Postecoglou’s team delivered the result that they needed. In front of 27,328 fans, Jackson Irvine and Mathew Leckie scored to break a run of four consecutive draws and kept World Cup qualification in their own hands.
It was the final match that the team would play at the SFS before the stadium was re-built in 2022.
Match Details
Subway Socceroos v Indonesia
Thursday, 20 March 2025
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: 8:00pm AEDT
Tickets: Tickets available via Ticketek HERE
Broadcast: 10, 10 Play and Paramount+