Never in a busy pub had it been so quiet before, even the small number of babies who had been brought along by their parents were silent as the game entered its crucial final 15 minutes when Australia had to make its move or lose the opportunity to make a terrific opening start to its World Cup campaign.

The killer blow was landed - Chile took its third goal and the collective sign turned into a loud groan, it was over for Australia.

In spite of the devastating finish, some in the pub even clapped at the end, acknowledging the effort of the team and that it was not over for Australia yet, with two more games lined up against Spain and the Netherlands.

Jess Thompson and Joanna and Brendan Belcher were in the front row seats at the Civic Pub, having arrived in their Australia scarves and shirts at 7.15am to get a good spot.

The group was upbeat in spite of the loss.

"It was an amazing job for a young team,'' Ms Thompson said.

"You could see that final goal coming,'' Ms Belcher said.

"But this is the first round so there's more chances.''

The group expect to lose a lot of sleep over the next few months, between early morning soccer matches, followed by the Tour de France and then the Commonwealth Games.

"The Socceroos played well - better than a lot of people expected them to,'' Mr Belcher said.

"I don't think the score line does them any justice - it was closer than that. We're a bit worried about Spain now though. We expect they'll be angry when they play Australia coming out of their 1-5 loss to the Netherlands.''