Perrottet and Sydneysiders hail success of Darling Harbour live site despite Socceroos’ World Cup defeat to Argentina

By CHRISTINE CHEN

On Sunday morning, Sydneysiders descended upon Darling Harbour in their thousands to attend Sydney’s first FIFA World Cup live site. As the 6 am kick-off approached, the throng of supporters in green and gold swelled and quickly enveloped the venue, packing Tumbalong Park’s lawns to capacity and scaling the Exhibition Centre to watch the Socceroos take on Argentina on the park’s giant, newly erected screens.

 Although the match would ultimately end in defeat for Australia’s national team, those in attendance remained upbeat throughout the entire 90 minutes. “The atmosphere has been great,” said Lachlan, a Socceroos fan who had travelled into the city just to watch the game. “I arrived super early before the sun was up, when there were only about 20 other people here. I couldn’t believe how big the crowd grew.”

Darling Harbour’s live site was organised by the NSW Government following increasing demand from Sydneysiders who had seen the extraordinary success of Melbourne’s own live site in Federation Square. The event was kept strictly alcohol-free and patrolled by police who inspected bags and closed access to the park after kick-off.

 The live site was Sydney’s first large-scale public screening of a 2022 World Cup match. In Melbourne, Federation Square hosted fans for all three of the Socceroos’ matches in the group stages. Scenes of Melburnians’ wild celebrations went viral on the internet, showing how the city had effectively eclipsed Sydney as the epicentre of support for the Socceroos’ World Cup campaign. 

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne suggested the government’s lack of initiative demonstrated how Sydney is still lagging behind Melbourne, being ‘out of practice’ after years of restrictive lockout laws and messaging from the government discouraging night-time activities.

 Premier Dominic Perrottet, among those in attendance, saw only positives from the event. “Eight thousand people have come here, it’s totally packed,” he remarked. Perrottet described the turnout as “awesome” despite only being announced on Thursday, after plans to host the screening at his first-choice venue, the Sydney Opera House, fell through. “A lot of fans were calling for this, and it’s good to see they’ve come out in force, with a lot of families in attendance too.”

Underlining the importance of encouraging cultural events and getting people into the city, he told City Hub how his government “wants a strong summer for Sydney—for people coming back after the pandemic.”

 “We’ve just hosted the Open for Lunch in the city, the Christmas markets have just started on Friday night, we just want as many young people and young families coming into the city to enjoy the best we have to offer.”

 Tumbalong Park was not the only site in Sydney to be occupied by soccer fans on Sunday morning, as local councils also organised live screenings in Enmore Park, Macquarie Mall, and Beaman Park. Despite Australia’s World Cup campaign ending with the Socceroos unable to turn around a 2-goal deficit against Argentina, the popularity and success of such events suggest future live site events in Sydney will not end with it.