- Exclusive
- Sport
- Football
- FIFA World Cup
One in five Aussies admit they’re ignoring work to watch the Socceroos
Exclusive: Thousands of Australians are skipping out on work Friday just to watch the Socceroos take on Paraguay at the FIFA World Cup, according to an exclusive nine.com.au reader poll.
Five per cent of the more than 1200 respondents admitted they’ve taken the day off or chucked a sickie so they can watch the match at midday.
One in five nine.com.au readers will be skipping out on work to watch today's match. Nick Ralston
A number of pubs around Australia have even introduced sickie deals, offering a discount, voucher or a cheap drink to patrons who can prove they’ve jigged work just to watch our boys play.
Another 15 per cent of nine.com.au readers said they’re working from home but plan to watch the Socceroos play instead of working.
“I’ll be working from home and have the soccer on, but will only check on the score from time to time, until the last few minutes,” one told nine.com.au.
Nearly one in five reported they’ll actually be working, despite wanting to watch the match.
Just over 60 per cent said they won’t be watching the match live and don’t care, but many still hope the Socceroos succeed today.
The numbers aren’t surprising, given how closely nine.com.au readers have been following Australia’s progress at the World Cup.
One in four said they’ve watched every single Socceroos match so far.
Nearly 15 per cent said today’s match will be the first they’ve watched, with many tuning in to see if Australia will make it past the group stage.
“I do care about the Socceroos and have followed the results but I have not watched at all,” one person said.
“If they get further, I may watch in future.”
The Socceroos will be playing Paraguay at 12pm AEST on Friday.
In front of a roaring crowd at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, Tony Popovic has named his squad for the Group D showdown.
Since Türkiye was eliminated and co-host United States topping the group, Australia’s result today will determine if they finish second or third in the group to rivals Paraguay.
The nine.com.au poll, which runs once a fortnight, canvases the views of the Nine audience on Idea Xchange, which is an online community of our readers and viewers. Learn more and sign up here.
