Apple Sports A-League: How to Follow Every Match

Apple Sports A-League: How to Follow Every Match

Apple Sports has added support for Australia’s A-League Men, giving local football fans another way to keep an eye on matches without repeatedly refreshing Google, opening three different apps or wondering why someone in the group chat is celebrating 20 seconds before you.

The Apple Sports A-League addition lets Australian users follow their favourite clubs, customise their scoreboards and track matches through the free Apple Sports app on iPhone.

The support arrives with Apple Sports version 4.4, which adds the Australian A-League Men alongside new competitions from Egypt, Israel and South Africa.

It also plugs into some of Apple’s more useful ecosystem features, including Live Activities on iPhone and Apple Watch, widgets across multiple devices and links into the Apple TV app to help find available live streams.

Importantly, Apple Sports is a scores and sports-tracking app. It does not suddenly give you free access to every A-League match.

Here’s what it actually does and how to get it set up.

What is Apple Sports?

Apple Sports is Apple’s free sports scores app for iPhone.

Rather than trying to become another giant sports news platform, it mainly focuses on getting you quickly to the information you actually opened a scores app for: fixtures, live scores, statistics, standings and the teams or competitions you care about.

Apple Sports is available in Australia and requires an iPhone running iOS 18 or later.

You can follow individual teams and competitions, with those selections used to personalise what appears inside the app.

For Australian football fans, that now includes the A-League Men.

Apple Sports now supports A-League Men

Apple has expanded the international football coverage available through Apple Sports to include Australia’s A-League Men.

That means you can follow your A-League club and have its matches appear more prominently inside Apple Sports rather than digging through a generic list of fixtures.

For someone following Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City, Sydney FC, Adelaide United or any of the other A-League Men clubs, it essentially turns Apple Sports into a much more useful local sports app.

The bigger point here is that Apple Sports is becoming less US-centric.

The app already supports a large range of international football competitions, alongside sports including Formula 1, tennis, golf, basketball, baseball and American football. Apple says Sports is now available in more than 170 countries and regions.

Adding the A-League gives Australians something considerably more relevant to follow between Premier League matches at questionable hours of the morning.

How to follow your A-League team in Apple Sports

Once A-League Men support is available in your Apple Sports app, the main thing you’ll want to do is add your club to your favourites.

Apple Sports allows users to follow teams, leagues and competitions and then uses those selections to personalise the main view.

Open Apple Sports on your iPhone and find your A-League club or the A-League Men competition, then select it to follow.

If you enable Sync My Sports, your favourites can also sync across supported Apple services including Apple News and the Apple TV app, as well as across Apple devices using the same Apple Account.

To enable it:

1. Open Apple Sports.
2. Open your account from the top-right corner.
3. Select Sync My Sports.
4. Turn it on and tap Done.

From there, your selected teams and competitions determine much of what Apple Sports puts in front of you.

Get A-League live scores on your iPhone Lock Screen

Probably the most useful Apple Sports feature is Live Activities.

Instead of continually reopening the app, a live A-League match can appear directly on your iPhone Lock Screen with real-time updates.

Apple also allows Live Activities for followed teams to be managed individually.

Inside Apple Sports:

1. Open your account controls.
2. Select Manage Live Activities.
3. Enable Live Activities for the A-League teams you want to follow.
4. Tap Done.

You can also change Live Activity settings through:

Settings > Apps > Sports > Live Activities

Apple says Live Activities require a compatible iPhone running iOS 18 or later.

For A-League fans, it means you can check the score from your Lock Screen without pretending you’re checking an important notification every two minutes.

A-League scores on Apple Watch

Following a supported team can also push Live Activities to a compatible Apple Watch.

Apple says Apple Sports Live Activities work with Apple Watch models running watchOS 11 or later.

That makes the Watch one of the better ways to follow a match when actually sitting down and watching it isn’t an option.

A quick glance at your wrist can show what is happening without needing to pull your phone out every few minutes.

It is particularly handy if you’re working, out somewhere or stuck at an event where openly watching football might be considered slightly antisocial.

Add an Apple Sports A-League widget

Apple Sports also supports widgets that can display scores and upcoming fixtures.

Apple Sports widgets are available on iPhone, iPad and Mac, letting you keep scores and upcoming fixtures visible without opening the app.

That means you could create a widget focused around your A-League team and have upcoming or live matches visible without opening Sports at all.

On iPhone, add an Apple Sports widget the same way you would another Home Screen widget:

1. Touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen.
2. Enter the widget editing interface.
3. Find Sports.
4. Choose the widget size you want.
5. Add it to your Home Screen.

Your favourites inside Apple Sports can then be used to determine the teams and leagues you see.

For iPad widgets, Apple says you need the compatible Apple Sports app installed.

Can you watch A-League matches through Apple Sports?

This is where the distinction matters.

Apple Sports does not include an A-League streaming subscription.

The app can direct you into the Apple TV app to help locate a live match on a connected streaming service where supported, but access to that service is still separate.

Apple specifically notes that subscriptions may be required and streaming availability varies by country and region.

In Australia, every 2026/27 A-League Men match is available live on Paramount+, while one match per week will also be broadcast live and free-to-air on Network 10.

So think of Apple Sports as the dashboard rather than the broadcaster.

It can tell you what is happening and potentially get you to the right place to watch it. It doesn’t replace Paramount+.

Do you need Apple TV+?

No.

Apple Sports itself is a free iPhone app, and you don’t need an Apple TV+ subscription just to use it for A-League scores and match tracking.

The Apple TV app is also separate from the Apple TV+ subscription service.

If Apple Sports links you to another streaming provider carrying a match, you may still need an appropriate subscription with that provider.

Is Apple Sports useful for A-League fans?

The A-League addition makes Apple Sports considerably more relevant in Australia.

There are already plenty of ways to check an A-League score, so Apple isn’t solving some previously impossible technological problem here.

The appeal is how deeply the information can sit within devices you’re probably already using.

A score can live on your iPhone Lock Screen, follow you onto your Apple Watch and sit inside a widget on your Mac while Apple Sports itself acts as the central place for fixtures and match information.

If you already live in the Apple ecosystem, that integration is arguably more interesting than simply having another scores app.

And because you can follow individual clubs rather than constantly navigating back to the A-League, it should become more useful once the season is underway.

Apple Sports A-League FAQs

Is Apple Sports available in Australia?

Yes. Apple Sports is available as a free download for compatible iPhones in Australia. Apple currently requires iOS 18 or later.

Does Apple Sports support the A-League?

Apple has confirmed that Apple Sports is expanding its international football coverage to include the Australian A-League Men.

Does Apple Sports show live A-League scores?

Yes. A-League Men support includes match tracking and scores, with supported matches also able to appear through Live Activities.

Can I follow A-League scores on Apple Watch?

Yes. Apple Sports supports Live Activities on compatible Apple Watches running watchOS 11 or later.

Can I watch A-League matches for free with Apple Sports?

No. Apple Sports itself does not provide an A-League streaming subscription.

In Australia, every A-League Men match for the 2026/27 season is available through Paramount+, while one match per week is also broadcast live and free-to-air on Network 10.

Is Apple Sports available on Android?

No. Apple currently describes Apple Sports as an iPhone app.

A useful addition before the new season

Apple Sports adding the A-League Men isn’t going to completely change how Australians watch football, but it does make the app far more useful locally.

Follow your club once and you can have scores inside Apple Sports, updates on your Lock Screen and Apple Watch, fixtures sitting in widgets and a quicker path towards finding somewhere to watch the match.

For A-League fans already carrying an iPhone, there’s very little downside to having it set up before the season gets properly underway.

Especially if it means opening one fewer sports app.