A cumulative 18 million Australians have tuned in to watch the World Cup over the course of the tournament, among them new fans who might be searching for a new team or a new hero player to follow.Australia's top-flight A League men's competition will resume on 16 October.Here's what's coming up before then.As the northern hemisphere's summer draws to an end, players return to the fields and punters fill the stands in national competitions.In Europe, Norway's Eliteserien is already in its sixth round and will run until December, with players such as Patrick Berg having almost no time to recover after making the World Cup quarter-finals in a historic run.Fans hoping to get more of the charismatic Erling Haaland will have to wait until the English Premier League (EPL) kicks off on 21 August Many of the Matildas including Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Mary Fowler play in the English Women's Super League, which has its first match on 4 September.The second season of the Australian Championship is set to kick off in October, with eight foundation clubs and eight NPL premiers from across the country taking part in its second edition.This is a tournament-style format where four groups of four teams will see the top two from each progress to a sudden-death finals series, with the Australian Championship trophy the grand prize.The competition is not connected to the A-League Men or any of its associated clubs