The World Game

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The World Game
Genre	ć (2015–2019)
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	17
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	SBS
Release	2001 (2001) – 2019 (2019)

The World Game was an Australian football (soccer) television show broadcast on the SBS network, as well as a dedicated associated website. The show debuted in 2001 and was the only Australian TV program dedicated to both football news and issues within Australia as well as around the world. Its popularity led to the launch of an associated website the following year. The TV show was dropped in 2019, whilst the website closed in 2021, and merged with the core SBS Sport website.

Presenters and panelists

Main presenters

• Les Murray (2001–2014)
• ć
  (2015–2019)

Chief analyst

• Johnny Warren (2001–2004)
• Craig Foster (2004–2019)

Analysts and panelists

• Francis Awaritefe
• Stephanie Brantz
• Mieke Buchan
• Branko Culina
• Liz Deep-Jones
• Simon Hill (now at 10 Sport)
• Zeljko Kalac
• Scott McIntyre (sacked from SBS after controversial ANZAC Day tweets)
• Paul Okon
• FIFPro
  )
• Anthony Peridis
• Tony Palumbo
• Rale Rasic
• Tim Vickery
• David Zdrilic
• Ned Zelic

Guest appearances

• Michael Bridges
• Patrick Zwaanswijk
• David Basheer

History

The show first aired in 2001, succeeding the long-running

took over as the chief football analyst.

From 2 August 2010, the show was moved to Monday nights, on

at 11.00pm AEST. This allowed for wider coverage of the football events from the weekend prior. The show was also shortened to one-hour episodes.

At the same time, they show added a new number of contributors: Tony Palumbo, a seasoned journalist with the Italian migrant press in Australia, assists in providing some insights on major European leagues, primarily the English

From August 2013, the show was retooled as a half-hour weekly Monday night show airing on

SBS One

. The new format now offers a wide coverage of Australian and international football events from the week prior, augmented with analysis and reaction from the show's experts..

After a brief hiatus in 2014–15, the show was once again retooled for the 2015–16 season, as a one-hour talk show edition on Sunday afternoon at 1pm. Due to Murray's retirement,

Lucy Zelic

took over as the programme's new presenter, with Foster remaining as chief analyst.

In 2019, after 17 seasons, the TV show was quietly dropped, and the brand was transitioned to focus on their digital platforms, but the show's podcast remained, broadcast through The World Game website. In 2021, as part of a streamlining of their digital operations, SBS announced that it was shutting down The World Game website, merging all soccer content within the SBS Sport website.^[3] As the site was the only soccer website which catered to Australian fans, the move received heavy backlash.^[4] SBS would still provide soccer coverage using The World Game brand, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup, on the SBS TV channel and through the SBS On Demand streaming platform.

Guests on the program have included Ledley King, Scott Jamieson, Shane Smeltz, Kevin Muscat, Corey Gameiro, Nick Montgomery, Marcos Flores, Vítor Saba, Luke Casserly and Archie Thompson.

Special editions

The World Game team responsible for the weekly regular show, also present major football events including the

. A pre-match preview, half time and post-match review is typically given by the various presenters.

In other media

Website

The World Game website was a popular football news website run as an adjunct to the TV program. At one point, it used to include a forum called The World Game Forum, which has since ceased activity. Commonly referred to by the abbreviation TWGF, the forum was one of the more popular football forums in Australia. It had over 18,000 members, who have contributed to over 800,000 articles.[5] The website was first established in July 2002, and closed in April 2021 as part of SBS's streamlining of their digital operations. It was then merged within the SBS Sport website.

Podcast

The World Game Podcast started 6 June 2011. The podcast sees a variety of guests talk the week in Australian and international football.

App

The World Game app, available from the iTunes Store, was SBS’s first mobile application. It received more than 25,000 downloads in its first week of release. The app provided a live score and result service with the addition of video highlights, news and content from The World Game team.^[6]

Awards

In 2008, the program was nominated for a

.

See also

• List of Australian television series
• List of programs broadcast by Special Broadcasting Service
• List of longest-running Australian television series
• Thursday FC

References

External links

• Archived official website
• The World Game on
  Facebook
• The World Game at
  IMDb