Why Aussie football fans are in for a nasty shock when they see the Matildas play Denmark in an all-or-nothing World Cup game in Sydney

Millions of Aussies are eager to see the Matildas play Denmark on Monday night – but a good number of them will miss it due to the scheduling of the knockout World Cup clash.

The problem lies with the kick-off time of 8.30pm AEST, which puts Channel Seven’s broadcast of the match past the bedtime of millions of young Australians eager to stay up and cheer on Sam Kerr and the rest of the squad.

As it stands, the action is tipped to end around 10:30pm AEST – but that only applies if the result is decided within 90 minutes of regulation time.

Since the round of 16 is a knockout match, it will move to two extra time periods of 15 minutes each if the scores are still locked at full-time.

If the sides are still tied after the extra 30 minutes of play, the result will be determined by a penalty shootout that operates on a best-of-five system.

The match can end well after 10.30pm as extra time and a penalty shootout are required to achieve a result – which is a relatively common way for matches to end in major tournaments

If the tie remains unbroken after that, the shootout will continue in a Sudden Death format.

Matches in the knockout stages of major tournaments such as the Women’s World Cup are often decided in penalties, and Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson – along with goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold – have confirmed they prepare for the end of the game that way.

If the match is decided in a shootout in Denmark after two extra periods of play, that would return the end of the match to the point where many Aussie adults would worry about staying up past their bedtime – let alone their young children .

While the 8.30pm start time isn’t the latest kick-off in the round of 16 – France’s match against Morocco on Tuesday starts at 9pm AEST – it is the last for a game Australia have played in the tournament to date.

And while it should be pointed out that tournament organizers had no way of knowing in advance that the Matildas would fall into that slot – as there was no guarantee the Aussies would make it to the group stage – local fans still have a legitimate gripe with the late start.

Millions of Aussies are expected to tune in to see if injured skipper Sam Kerr (pictured) can impress after she vowed to play against the Danes

As the match progresses through the usual best-of-five penalty shootout and culminates in a sudden death match based on kicks from the spot, the action goes past the bedtime of some Aussie adults, let alone their young children (photo, young Matildas fans at the game in Ireland)

The 8:30pm AEST kickoff translates to an 11:30am start in London, 12:30pm in the Danish capital Copenhagen, 6:30am in New York and 3:30am in Los Angeles.

Catering to the huge European and American markets is a delicate balancing act for World Cup organizers as they try to maximize viewing figures while dealing with the huge time gaps between those countries and hosts Australia and New Zealand.

But one of the biggest benefits of hosting a World Cup is the way games are timed to fit into normal life patterns rather than forcing fans to shift their sleeping patterns to see the action as it happens.

Australians have already criticized being unable to watch the vast majority of the tournament on TV as most matches are behind Optus Sport’s paywall, with only 15 of the Cup’s 64 matches available for free on Channel Seven .

Between that and the time zone issue, it’s impossible to keep everyone happy – but Matildas fans know that any game from now on could be the team’s last in what is a once-in-a-lifetime home World Cup.

That’s why the crucial 30 minute delay that could prove the difference between young fans experiencing a priceless sporting memory or sleeping right through it leaves Aussies sidelined.