Football Federation Australia is hoping mass coverage from the tournament will help to springboard the competition next season after a tough domestic campaign.

Crowds and television audiences dropped during the 2017/18 season, despite a near-universal view that the quality of Australian soccer has grown.

Leckie, who played for Adelaide United for two seasons before moving abroad, said local fans shouldn't expect to be joined by new faces in the stands when the next season kicks off on October.

"The World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world and it's something everyone gets around," he said.

"But football's never going to be as big as what we want it to be.

"There are sports everyone loves in Australia and it will be tough to change that.

"Football has grown slowly over years and more kids are playing at school, growing up around football.

"But it's never going to be the No 1 sport is it?

"The nation gets around the World Cup, that's normal, and it's great for us.

"But I can't see a huge amount changing in terms of people getting on board with the A-League."

Leckie's comments come despite the A-League providing the basis for the Socceroos team in Russia.

Of the 14 players to feature at this year's World Cup, only Jackson Irvine, Aaron Mooy and Tomi Juric eschewed the Australian development path in favour of trying their hands abroad as a junior.

Mooy and Juric did, however, play in the A-League before forging their paths overseas.

Three of the players named in Bert van Marwijk's unchanged starting XI at the World Cup - Mark Milligan, Josh Risdon and Andrew Nabbout - played in the local competition last season.

Milligan and Nabbout left mid-season for lucrative deals in Saudi Arabia and Japan respectfully, while Risdon is now in demand after his displays at right-back.

A fourth player, Daniel Arzani, has leapt from the bench to star on the left wing.

Leckie agreed it was a great place to grow as a player.

"It's a place to be recognised. If you do well, you can potentially move overseas," he said.

"A good place to make your career (though) there's players who've done it other ways, like Jackson (Irvine) and Mass (Luongo) going directly (overseas)."

Risdon said he took pride in representing not just Australia but the local league.

"It's good to have a few A-League boys in the side representing our league back in Oz," he said.

"It just goes to show that if you're playing in the A-League you can make it to a World Cup."

Aziz Behich, ex-Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart, said he hoped the Socceroos' performances in Russia would lead to others

"With 11 of us on the pitch the other day that some stage played in the A-League, it's good for the league, and for the outside players to see that," he said.

"When you get good quality foreign players that come to the league also, it makes the league more well known and a better competition."

Australian Associated Press