Schwarzer received a yellow card in the Socceroos' 3-1 win over Qatar in Doha on Saturday night for alleged time-wasting - his second of the group stages which earns an automatic one-match ban.

He will miss the final World Cup qualifier against China at ANZ Stadium, though the Socceroos have already sealed a spot in the next stage of Asian qualifying regardless of the result.

But Schwarzer, who has starred throughout the campaign so far and was heroic again on Saturday night, said he was devastated to miss the match in Sydney despite it being a dead rubber.

And he denies he was time-wasting, saying all he tried to do was move a plastic bag blown into his goalmouth because of the extremely windy conditions.

"There was a big plastic bag sitting in the middle of the goal, and I asked the referee if I could move it and he said yes. As I came back and placed the ball down he gave me a yellow card," Schwarzer said.

"You'd have to ask him why he did it. I'm very disappointed because I really wanted to play the game in Australia."