Goodwin is ready to go after returning from illness for the Socceroos' match against Lebanon on Tuesday night at Canberra Stadium where a win will seal Australia's place into the final round of 2026 World Cup qualification.

The match will mark a new attendance record for a standalone soccer game in the capital, with over 20,000 to flood through the gates at Bruce, backing up a near sell-out in the first leg 2-0 win over Lebanon in Parramatta last Thursday.

It's a telling sign of the strength of Australian soccer right now, only bolstered by the extraordinary crowds the Matildas have attracted, already notching their 13th-consecutive home sell-out for a clash against China in Adelaide on May 31.

But Goodwin, a proud product of the A-League as Adelaide United's all-time leading goal-scorer, wants to see this love of soccer translate to "more consistent crowds" in the domestic competition, and he believes expansion will help achieve that goal.

"It is wonderful to see the amount of support that the Matildas and us are getting. We have to keep trying to grow on that and connect with the Australian community in different cities around the country," Goodwin told The Canberra Times.

"It would be fantastic for the football community in Canberra to have an A-League team.

"It's hitting a football community that's obviously only had the women's team here previously and it's definitely something that needs to happen."

Despite some hurdles with the Canberra A-League Men plans, Goodwin is hopeful due diligence will make the wait worthwhile, with a sustainable expansion most important.

"It all comes down to the investment and sustainability," the Socceroo said.

"It makes perfect sense to have a team in Canberra - there's a lot of football people here, it's a good community and you're hitting a new region of fans rather than building on top of a city that's already got an existing men's team.

"It's an untapped community like what Auckland is right now, so I hope that it goes ahead and it's in a position where it's completely sustainable."

Whenever the men's bid does get off the ground, Goodwin said it would be advantageous to involve former Socceroos teammate and Canberran, Tom Rogic.

"I don't know too much about what Tommy would want to do, but whoever is from this region and has some standing in the game, it's fantastic when people give back and are involved in some capacity," Goodwin said. "It would be great for Canberra."

The Canberra A-League Men bid was met with plenty of excitement when it was first announced in March last year as the preferred expansion team along with one in Auckland.

But that excitement has since fizzled as the new licence holder is still yet to be locked in, despite the Australian Professional Leagues initially planning to have the $20 million backer finalised by June.

Unfortunately the delays have unintentionally caused collateral damage to the existing foundation A-League Women club Canberra United too.

Now their future in the competition is uncertain amid the lack of progress securing new A-League Men owners - that were expected to take on the women's team - and with United's current operators Capital Football unwilling to fully commit to continue running United beyond this season.

Players remain in contract limbo not knowing where or if they will be playing next season with just two games left in their 2023-24 campaign, but Capital Football has promised to "step up its discussions with key stakeholders" of the A-League Men bid.

The players' union, the Professional Footballers Association, are aware of the situation at United and will meet with the APL this week with Canberra on the agenda of discussion topics.

The APL, Capital Football and the Canberra bid leaders all remain confident positive news is just around the corner, with delays blamed on a slow but vigilant process given the size of the investment, with the Foreign Investment Review Board and AUSTRAC - the Australian Transaction Report and Analysis Centre - becoming involved.

The owners of English Premier League Club Aston Villa are also reported to be part of the consortium, which A-League commissioner Nick Garcia described overall as a "solid" bid.

Still, getting a new men's team up and running by the 2024-25 season starting is looking less and less likely, and Garcia is just as keen as fans for clarity within a fortnight on whether they are in or out for this year.

If they are in, Venues Canberra boss Matt Elkins confirmed on Monday that the stadium set-up won't present a further hurdle for the A-League Men team.

"We'd be ready to go at any point in time and it's really exciting to be in the conversation. I don't think there'd be any challenges at any point in time," Elkins said.

FIFA World Cup Qualifier

Tuesday: Lebanon v Socceroos, 7.45pm, Canberra Stadium.

A-League Women

Wednesday: Canberra United v Sydney FC, 4pm, McKellar Park