{"id":9668,"date":"2025-03-24T14:47:50","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T14:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/new-zealand-qualify-for-2026-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2025-03-24T14:47:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T14:47:50","slug":"new-zealand-qualify-for-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/new-zealand-qualify-for-2026-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand qualify for 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New Zealand qualify for 2026 World Cup, \"New<\/p>\n

New Zealand reached the World Cup for only the third time with a\u00a03-0 win over New Caledonia on Monday but lost in-form Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood to injury.<\/p>\n

The All Whites join already qualified Japan and co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico at next year\u2019s finals thanks to three second-half goals.<\/p>\n

But the victory in Auckland in the final of Oceania qualifying came at a cost, with skipper Wood suffering what appeared to be a hip injury.<\/p>\n

Soon after half time at Eden Park, Wood hurt himself swivelling for a shot and required treatment before hobbling off in the 54th minute.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not great for us losing our captain and our goalscorer. It was a difficult thing for the team but they came through so well,\u201d said New Zealand\u2019s English coach Darren Bazeley.<\/p>\n

The hosts looked out of ideas after dominating the first half, but then up popped veteran defender Michael Boxall on 61 minutes to head home from a corner with his first goal for his country.<\/p>\n

Five minutes later Wood\u2019s replacement Kosta Barbarouses chipped the ball over advancing New Caledonia goalkeeper Rocky Nyikeine.<\/p>\n

Substitute Eli Just put gloss on the scoreline from close range with 10 minutes left.<\/p>\n

New Caledonia\u2019s unlikely World Cup hopes are not over and they will go into an intercontinental playoff.<\/p>\n

Next year\u2019s World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams, meaning direct entry for the first time for the team that won the qualifying competition in Oceania.<\/p>\n

The region\u2019s top side previously had to go through an intercontinental playoff, with New Zealand falling at the final hurdle to Mexico, Costa Rica and Peru in recent editions.<\/p>\n

New Zealand have been to the World Cup twice before, in 1982 and 2010, but are yet to win at the competition in six matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the World Cup expanded we expected this of ourselves,\u201d said Boxall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about getting there, it\u2019s about what we do when we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facing a side ranked 152 in the world, 63 places below them, hosts New Zealand immediately went on the front foot.<\/p>\n

New Caledonia, a French Pacific territory of about 300,000 people which has never been to the World Cup, twice cleared off the line in quick succession after 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

Wood, who is in the form of his life at Forest with 18 goals in the Premier League this season, had a chance in the 32nd minute but Nyikeine saved comfortably.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old Wood then headed over the bar from a corner and at the half-time whistle, with the game unexpectedly level, the New Caledonia players mobbed Nyikeine.<\/p>\n

Bazeley had seen enough and made two changes at the break, bringing on winger Just and defender Francis de Vries.<\/p>\n

Despite losing talisman Wood, New Zealand\u2019s pressure eventually paid off against a rapidly tiring New Caledonia to put the All Whites into the World Cup.<\/p>\n

The post New Zealand qualify for 2026 World Cup<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

, <\/p>\n

New Zealand reached the World Cup for only the third time with a\u00a03-0 win over New Caledonia on Monday but lost in-form Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood to injury.<\/p>\n

The post New Zealand qualify for 2026 World Cup<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

, , Emmanuel Okogba, {authorlink},, , Vanguard News, March 24, 2025, 2:47 pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Zealand qualify for 2026 World Cup, New Zealand reached the World Cup for only the third time with a\u00a03-0 win over New Caledonia on Monday but lost in-form Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood to injury. The All Whites join already qualified Japan and co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico at next year\u2019s finals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/New-Zealand-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[760,761,8,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-world-cup","category-new-zealand","category-news","category-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t