As Ben Waine’s low drive flew into the net, the smiles erupted across New Zealand faces.
The All Whites, on this occasion playing in all black like their famous rugby cousins, were four goals into sealing their 4-1 win over 10-man Chile at Eden Park, Auckland.
New Zealand beating South American opposition for the first time in their history, and at the 20th attempt, in the team’s final outing on home soil before this summer’s World Cup was the perfect send-off.
It had looked like being a far from ideal international window of tournament preparation for the side 85th in FIFA’s world rankings. A rare camp on home soil had limited involvement from Europe-based players. Of 23 in the initial squad, nine play in the A-League — Australia and New Zealand’s domestic top flight — and eight of them for Aotearoa teams.
Captain and all-time record goalscorer Chris Wood also remained absent as he continues his return from knee surgery. “Chris Wood’s on fire… shame he’s not here tonight,†sang the home fans during the first half on Monday.
Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood is New Zealand’s record scorer, with 45 goals (Michael Bradley/AFP via Getty Images)
Three days earlier, New Zealand had lost 2-0 on the same ground to Finland, who, like Chile, will not be at the World Cup finals.
Trickiest of all for New Zealand, however, is their unique place in world football. The All Whites were the second team to qualify for this summer’s finals, excluding the three host countries, doing so in March 2025 — just four days after Japan.
New Zealand did it as the biggest fish in the smallest pond, securing the sole automatic spot from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC): a short process involving five games of free-scoring domination against minnow opponents.
The reward sees them dropped into a football ocean this summer — a 48-team World Cup where having the ball will likely be a rarity and simply earning a victory would create history.
“It’s a challenge,†English head coach Darren Bazeley told The Athletic before the Chile game. “The qualifiers, we knew we had to do our job there… but we’re going to be the lowest-ranked team at the tournament and, like we saw against Finland, it’s hard.
“We have to keep becoming more effective and ruthless in getting results.â€
New Zealand fans support their team during the game against Finland in Auckland (Joe Allison – FIFA via Getty Images)
New Zealand usually save the sensation of scoring multiple goals in a victory for their qualifying campaigns.
Their men’s national team is the only country ranked inside FIFA’s top 100 involved in OFC qualification. This cycle, the All Whites faced teams including Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia — winning five out of five, scoring 29 goals and conceding just one: a shock 17th-minute equaliser in an 8-1 home win over Vanuatu. On average, New Zealand won each qualifier 6-0.
But more than for any other team at the World Cup, the qualifying record will be irrelevant.
This summer will be New Zealand’s third finals appearance. They lost all three games but scored twice on their 1982 debut in Spain. Then, in South Africa in 2010, the All Whites were the only team to finish the finals unbeaten but their three draws meant a group-stage exit.
So the goal this time is clear: win their first game at the World Cup. Do so and the real aim — to finally reach the knockout stages — will almost certainly follow.
How New Zealand manage their switch in situation and mentality will be significant in achieving it.
“It’s a weird dynamic,†26-year-old defensive midfielder Joe Bell told The Athletic. “The qualifiers are more of a standalone thing. We suddenly become the favourites to win every game, so that poses some really unique challenges.
“But more often than not, when we’re playing our friendlies, we are playing higher-ranked opponents than us and maybe it suits the New Zealand mentality a little better, being the underdog.
“We’ve been working hard on trying to change that mentality, recognising we can compete against top opponents, and we’re excited for those challenges.
“Tactically, we try to focus on us more than the opposition we’re playing against, so the way we play is consistent throughout. But of course, we’re going to play some difficult teams in the World Cup, like Belgium, so we are expecting a lot from them.â€
New Zealand will also face Iran and Egypt in Group G, with their games taking place in Los Angeles and Vancouver.
As for their schedule since qualifying, their 10 friendlies began with a 1-0 win over Ivory Coast but were followed by seven — mostly narrow — defeats out of eight, including to Poland, Colombia and twice at the hands of Australia. The victory over Chile was their first victory in more than nine months.
New Zealand’s draw in that run came in Oslo against a Norway side missing Erling Haaland. In that game, the All Whites had 35 per cent of possession.
“Those qualifying games we shouldn’t really lose,†Waine, who plays for English third-tier side Port Vale, told The Athletic before Monday’s game. “It’s more about being as professional as you can and staying focused so that upset doesn’t happen. Then being clinical and putting on a bit of a show.
“But that’s a mindset we’re not used to. The flip is now, where we’re not the big fish anymore. We almost thrive in that.
“You go from being the team in possession and dominating to being more comfortable not having the ball, making do with limited opportunities.
“We can do it. If we’re a bit more clinical with those one or two chances we get at the World Cup, then we can really upset some teams.â€
The expanded World Cup has also helped simplify New Zealand’s qualifying journey. With 48 teams, the best-performing OFC team is guaranteed a place at the finals, with the losing finalists heading into the inter-confederation play-off alongside teams from Asia and the Americas.
Previously, topping OFC qualifying was worth only a berth in those play-offs — in the Covid-affected 2022 edition, New Zealand lost 1-0 to Costa Rica in Qatar six months before the finals, extinguishing their tournament hopes in the process.
“If we don’t switch out of our previous mindset, it can be easy to almost get too excited and get after teams that are more than capable of playing through a press, are extremely comfortable on the ball and have technically-gifted players,†added Waine.
“So for us, sometimes it can be easier saying, ‘Right, we’re going to sit in and be more defensive’ and then save our energy for counter-attacking. We’re finding the balance with that as we build into the World Cup.â€
It isn’t easy. Bazeley — a former defender who played for Watford, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Walsall before moving to New Zealand in 2005 — and his group have had just three training sessions together for their two friendly matches this international window. The team meetings, discussions and time together away from the grass have been as productive as those sessions, according to their head coach.
New Zealand play home matches at Eden Park in Auckland (Joe Allison – FIFA via Getty Images)
Some camps can sometimes find room for a fourth session but judging by open training — held in front of fans at New Zealand Football’s headquarters in Albany, 24 hours before the Chile game — the pressure forces time to be focused on full and small-pitch match simulations.
Chile played with 10 men for more than an hour following Dario Osario’s second booking on Monday. Bazeley revealed after the game that facing such a scenario is not something the team have worked through on the training pitch together.
With the FIFA Series in Auckland, which also featured World Cup-bound Cape Verde, all wrapped up, the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico is looming large on the horizon.
A friendly with England in Florida on June 7 — and the expectation of another game to be arranged in the U.S. beforehand — is all that stands between now and the All Whites’ opening match against Iran in Los Angeles on June 15.
It will be New Zealand’s first game on the biggest stage in 16 years.
“It takes time changing that mentality when you play against these top opponents like Chile, to recognise it’s beyond an expectation to maybe get a draw. It’s the drive to get wins and results,†added Bell.
“We’ve been building in confidence. It’s been a long journey that we’re trying to time correctly, going into the World Cup. We’re a little bit more result-focused now than performance-focused.
“We’ve been through some pretty difficult moments together, like not qualifying for the last World Cup. A lot of the boys felt we were ready for that opportunity and we didn’t quite get over the line.
“That was hard for a lot of us but there’s been a lot of growth between then and now. So yeah, we’re really excited and ready for it.â€
