New Zealand’s Dramatic Return to World Cup Football

On Monday the 24th of April The All Whites took on New Caledonia in a tight battle to decide who would move on to the World Cup. The match went in a completely unexpected direction.

It has been 15 long years since New Zealand qualified for the Fifa World Cup, and you could feel the crowd's excitement anticipating a heroic return this Monday at Eden Park. 25,000 Kiwis passionately watched along, dressed in white, hoping not only to see premier league star Chris Wood play but also lead the country to a historic achievement. 

But shockingly, it would not be the All-White's world-famous star to push the nation over the line, but rather some of our players closer to home. As New Caledonia put up an all mighty fight. While many predicted a whitewash after seeing New Zealand's 7-0 thrashing of Fiji in the semi-final, the game was anything but in the first half. New Caledonia's defence was an immovable force that the Kiwis could not seem to penetrate. Chris Wood was completely locked down, and it appeared that without their star man to find a goal, New Zealand was lost for ideas. While they dominated possession, every attack was unconvincing, and New Caledonia flicked every attempt away with ease. In fact, by the end of the first half, an initially raucous stadium seemed nervy as New Caledonia grew increasingly bold with attempts pushing forward. Fortunately, the halftime whistle came with the score remaining 0-0 as the teams entered their changing rooms, and I'm sure head coach Daren Bazeley shared a few harsh words.

His team talk clearly worked as the All-Whites team that came out was one reborn. Led by two game-changing subs, Elijah Just and Auckland FC man Francis De Vries, who received an especially loud cheer as he made his way onto the pitch, the Kiwis attacked with much more vigour, this time coming towards the crowd. Just as a goal seemed imminent, however, disaster stuck as Chris Wood hobbled off to the sideline, injured and unable to continue. While every Kiwi watching felt a wave of dread at his substitution, this change-up of the attack was exactly what the All Whites needed. Just 7 minutes after Wood's departure, De Vries put in an outstanding ball from a corner to the back post, where Michael Boxall arrived to score his first international goal ever in his fourteen years playing for the national team. From there, the goals started flowing. Not 4 minutes later, Tim Payne put a top-class ball over the top for Wood's replacement Barbarouses, who showed his 67 cap experience with an outstanding volley over the keeper to score the night's goal. And finally, to well and truly confirm New Zealand's World Cup qualification. Just put the icing on the cake with a deft finish to make the game 3-0. 

With that, New Zealand will officially be in the 2026 World Cup. If Monday night's support is anything to go by, the nation is well and truly behind the squad, and maybe with New Zealand football at a new high with a new A league team, the fourth highest scoring player in the premier league and countless young stars we can even make it to the knockouts, or potentially even further.