New Zealand men's national football team

New Zealand
Nickname(s)	All Whites
Association	New Zealand Football (NZF)
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Head coach	Anthony Hudson
Captain	Chris Wood
Most caps	Ivan Vicelich (88)
Top scorer	Vaughan Coveny (28)
Home stadium	Westpac Stadium (Wellington)
FIFA code	NZL
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	161 (5 May 2016)
Highest	47 (August 2002)
Lowest	161 (April-May 2016)
First international
	New Zealand 3–1 Australia ; (Dunedin, New Zealand; 17 June 1922)
Biggest win
	New Zealand 13–0 Fiji ; (Auckland, New Zealand; 16 August 1981)
Biggest defeat
	New Zealand 1–10 Australia ; (Wellington, New Zealand; 11 July 1936)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 1982)
Best result	Group stage, 1982, 2010
OFC Nations Cup
Appearances	9 (first in 1973)
Best result	Champions, 1973, 1998, 2002, 2008
Confederations Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 1999)
Best result	Group stage, 1999, 2003, 2009

The New Zealand national football team represents New Zealand in international football. The team is controlled by the governing body for football in New Zealand New Zealand Football (NZF), which is currently a member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The team's official nickname is the All Whites, being one of many national team nicknames related to the All Blacks.

New Zealand is a four-time OFC champion. The team represented New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup tournaments in 1982 and 2010, and the FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments in 1999, 2003 and 2009.

Because most New Zealand football clubs are semi-professional rather than fully professional, most top New Zealand footballers play abroad for clubs in Europe, the United States, Canada and in the Australian A-League.

History

Early years

New Zealand's first international football match was played in Dunedin at the old Caledonian Ground on 23 July 1904 against a team representing New South Wales. New Zealand lost by the game's only goal, but drew with the same team 3–3 in a game at Athletic Park, Wellington seven days later. The following year the team played a Wellington representative side on 10 June before embarking on a tour of Australia, during which they played eleven representative sides, including three "test matches" against New South Wales. Of these three matches they won one, lost one, and drew one.

A New Zealand national team did not play again until 1921, when New Zealand played three official full internationals against Australia, played at Carisbrook in Dunedin, Athletic Park in Wellington, and Auckland Domain. The results were two 3–1 wins to New Zealand and a 1–1 draw in Wellington.^[1]

Recent success

Despite its large player numbers, football in New Zealand struggles to compete with other sports such as rugby union, cricket and rugby league, financially and for media exposure. The performance of the national team is further hindered by a relatively young semi-professional domestic league, the New Zealand Football Championship having been established in 2004. New Zealand has one professional team, Wellington Phoenix FC, which competes in the Australian A-League.

Since the 1990s, United States college soccer has played a significant role in the development of New Zealand players. This influence began when former Scotland international Bobby Clark returned to the U.S. after his 1994–96 stint as New Zealand head coach to take the head coaching job at Stanford University (he now holds the same position at Notre Dame). Clark began recruiting in New Zealand, and former New Zealand national players Ryan Nelsen and Simon Elliott played for him at Stanford. The trend that Clark started has continued to the present; more than two dozen New Zealanders are now playing for NCAA Division I men's programs in the U.S.^[2] A common next step in these players' career paths is a stint in Major League Soccer; ESPNsoccernet journalist Brent Latham speculated in a March 2010 story that New Zealand's 2010 FIFA World Cup squad could have more MLS players than the U.S. squad.^[2]^[3] However, Latham's speculation did not prove true, as only one MLS player made the New Zealand squad for the World Cup.

New Zealand formerly competed against Australia for top honours in the OFC. However, after Australia left to join the AFC in 2006, New Zealand were left as the only seeded team in the OFC.

New Zealand qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup though exited the competition after the first round despite being the only team not to lose a game during the tournament.^[4] The tournament also featured one of New Zealand's most notable results, a 1–1 draw with the then world champions Italy. New Zealand drew their other two pool games with Slovakia and Paraguay and inevitably finished above Italy, who placed last, in the group. New Zealand drew all three games and finished third in their group.

Supporters

The supporters of the New Zealand national team are known as the 'White Noise', a play on the All Whites nickname.^[5]

Rivalries

New Zealand's long time rivals are Trans-Tasman neighbors Australia.^[6] The two teams' history dates back to 1922, where they first met in both their international debuts. The rivalry between the Socceroos (Australia) and the All Whites (New Zealand) is part of a wider friendly rivalry between the geographical neighbours Australia and New Zealand, which applies not only to sport but to the culture of the two countries. The rivalry was intensified when Australia and New Zealand were both members of the OFC, regularly competing in OFC Nations Cup finals and in FIFA World Cup qualifications, where only one team from the OFC progressed to the World Cup. Since Australia left the OFC to join the AFC in 2006, competition between the two teams has been less frequent. However, the rivalry between the two teams is still strong, with the occasional match receiving much media and public attention.^[7] The rivalry extends to club football, with New Zealand's only fully professional team, the Wellington Phoenix, playing in the Australian A-League.

Coaching staff

^[8]

Position	Name
Head Coach	Anthony Hudson
Assistant Coach	Alex Armstrong
Assistant Coach	Darren Bazeley
Goalkeeping Coach	Paul Gothard
Sports Scientist	Aidan Wivell
Technical Director	Rob Sherman
Manager	Rob Pickstock
Performance Analyst	Jase Kim
Doctor	Mark Fulcher
Physiotherapist	Roland Jeffery
Massage Therapist	Mark Palmer

Players

For all past and present players who have appeared for the national team, see New Zealand national team players.

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly against Oman on 12 November 2015.^[9]
Caps and goals updated as of 12 November 2015 after the game against Oman.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Max Crocombe	(1993-08-12) 12 August 1993 (age 31)	0	0	Southport
1GK	Stefan Marinovic	(1991-10-07) 7 October 1991 (age 33)	3	0	Unterhaching
1GK	Nik Tzanev	(1996-12-23) 23 December 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Brentford

2DF	Michael Boxall	(1988-08-18) 18 August 1988 (age 36)	14	0	SuperSport United
2DF	Sam Brotherton	(1996-10-02) 2 October 1996 (age 28)	1	0	Wisconsin Badgers
2DF	Tom Doyle	(1992-06-30) 30 June 1992 (age 32)	2	0	Wellington Phoenix
2DF	Louis Fenton	(1993-04-03) 3 April 1993 (age 31)	3	0	Wellington Phoenix
2DF	Themistoklis Tzimopoulos	(1985-11-20) 20 November 1985 (age 39)	3	0	PAS Giannina

3MF	Kosta Barbarouses	(1990-02-19) 19 February 1990 (age 34)	29	2	Melbourne Victory
3MF	Henry Cameron	(1997-06-28) 28 June 1997 (age 27)	1	0	Blackpool
3MF	Clayton Lewis	(1997-02-12) 12 February 1997 (age 27)	3	0	Auckland City
3MF	Michael McGlinchey	(1987-01-07) 7 January 1987 (age 37)	32	4	Wellington Phoenix
3MF	Marco Rojas	(1991-11-05) 5 November 1991 (age 33)	23	1	Thun
3MF	Alex Rufer	(1996-06-12) 12 June 1996 (age 28)	2	0	Wellington Phoenix
3MF	Ryan Thomas	(1994-12-20) 20 December 1994 (age 29)	5	0	Zwolle
3MF	Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi	(1995-03-27) 27 March 1995 (age 29)	1	0	Auckland City

4FW	Logan Rogerson	(1998-05-28) 28 May 1998 (age 26)	1	0	Wellington Phoenix
4FW	Chris Wood (Captain)	(1991-12-07) 7 December 1991 (age 32)	40	14	Leeds United

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to represent New Zealand in the last 12 months:

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Liam Higgins	(1993-09-27) 27 September 1993 (age 31)	1	0	Richmond SC	v. Myanmar, 7 September 2015
DF	Harshae Raniga	(1994-10-01) 1 October 1994 (age 30)	1	0	Onehunga Sports	v. Myanmar, 7 September 2015
DF	Winston Reid	(1988-07-03) 3 July 1988 (age 36)	19	1	West Ham United	v. Myanmar, 7 September 2015

MF	Moses Dyer	(1997-03-21) 21 March 1997 (age 27)	2	0	Onehunga Sports	v. Myanmar, 7 September 2015
MF	Tim Payne	(1994-01-10) 10 January 1994 (age 30)	14	2	Unattached	v. Myanmar, 7 September 2015
MF	Bill Tuiloma	(1995-03-23) 23 March 1995 (age 29)	8	0	Strasbourg	v. Myanmar, 7 September 2015

FW	Shane Smeltz ^INJ	(1981-09-29) 29 September 1981 (age 43)	51	24	Sydney FC	v. Oman, 12 November 2015
FW	Jeremy Brockie	(1987-10-07) 7 October 1987 (age 37)	47	1	SuperSport United	v. Myanmar, 7 September 2015

^RET: Retired from international football.

Results and fixtures

For all past match results of the national team, see the team's 1922–69 results page, 1970–99 results page and 2000–present results page.

2015

31 March 2015 Friendly	South Korea	1–0	New Zealand	Seoul, South Korea
	Lee 86'	Report		Stadium: Seoul World Cup Stadium

7 September 2015 Friendly	Myanmar	1–1	New Zealand	Yangon, Myanmar
	Zaw 66'	Report	Smeltz 43' (pen.)	Stadium: Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

12 November 2015 Friendly^[10]^[11]	Oman	0–1	New Zealand	Al-Seeb, Oman
			Wood 5'	Stadium: Al-Seeb Stadium

2016

May 29, 2016 2016 OFC Nations Cup	New Zealand	v	Fiji	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
				Stadium: TBC

June 1, 2016 2016 OFC Nations Cup	Vanuatu	v	New Zealand	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
				Stadium: TBC

June 5, 2016 2016 OFC Nations Cup	New Zealand	v	Solomon Islands	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
				Stadium: TBC

Records

Most capped players

#	Player	Period	Caps	Goals
1	Ivan Vicelich	1995–2013	86	6
2	Simon Elliott	1995–2011	69	6
3	Vaughan Coveny	1992–2006	64	28
4	Ricki Herbert	1980–1989	61	7
5	Chris Jackson	1992–2003	60	10
6	Brian Turner	1967–1982	59	21
7	Duncan Cole	1978–1988	58	4
8	Steve Sumner	1976–1988	58	22
9	Chris Zoricich	1988–2003	57	1
10	Ceri Evans	1980–1993	56	2

Top goalscorers

Players in bold still active at international level.

#	Player	Period	Goals	Caps
1	Vaughan Coveny	1992–2006	28	64
2	Shane Smeltz	2003–	24	51
3	Steve Sumner	1976-1988	22	58
4	Brian Turner	1967–1982	21	59
5=	Keith Nelson	1977–1983	16	20
5=	Jock Newall	1951–1952	16	10
5=	Chris Killen	2000–2013	16	48
8	Grant Turner	1980–1988	14	42

Competitive record

For the all-time record of the national team against opposing nations, see the team's all-time record page.

Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
661	248	165	248	1179	1042	+139

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record									FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not participate								–	–	–	–	–	–
1934									–	–	–	–	–	–
1938									–	–	–	–	–	–
1950									–	–	–	–	–	–
1954									–	–	–	–	–	–
1958									–	–	–	–	–	–
1962									–	–	–	–	–	–
1966									–	–	–	–	–	–
1970	Did not qualify								2	0	0	2	0	6
1974									6	0	3	3	5	12
1978									4	2	1	1	14	4
1982	Group stage	23rd	3	0	0	3	2	12	15	9	5	1	44	10
1986	Did not qualify								6	3	1	2	13	7
1990									6	3	1	2	13	8
1994									6	3	1	2	15	5
1998									6	3	0	3	13	6
2002									6	4	0	2	20	7
2006									5	3	0	2	17	5
2010	Group stage	22nd	3	0	3	0	2	2	8	6	1	1	15	5
2014	Did not qualify								11	8	1	2	24	13
2018	To be determined
2022	To be determined
Total	Group stage	2/22	6	0	3	3	4	14	81	44	14	23	193	88

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1992	No OFC representative invited
1995	No OFC representative invited
1997	Did not qualify
1999	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	1	6
2001	Did not qualify
2003	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	1	11
2005	Did not qualify
2009	Group stage	8th	3	0	1	2	0	7
2013	Did not qualify
2017	To be determined
2021	To be determined
Total	Group stage	3/11	9	0	1	8	2	24

OFC Nations Cup

OFC Nations Cup record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1973	Champions	1st	5	4	1	0	13	4
1980	Group stage	5th	3	1	0	2	7	8
1996	Third place	3rd	2	0	1	1	0	3
1998	Champions	1st	4	4	0	0	11	1
2000	Runners-up	2nd	4	3	0	1	7	3
2002	Champions	1st	5	5	0	0	23	2
2004	Third place	3rd	5	3	0	2	17	5
2008	Champions	1st	6	5	0	1	14	5
2012	Third place	3rd	5	3	1	1	8	7
2016	Qualified
Total	4 titles	9/9	39	28	3	8	100	38

References

^ Hilton, T. (1991) An association with soccer. Auckland: The New Zealand Football Association. ISBN 0-473-01291-X. pp. 143–144.
^ ^a ^b Latham, Brent (17 March 2010). "U.S. connection helps New Zealand". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
^ Latham's piece directly states; "From his post across the Pacific Ocean, Ricki Herbert may have a more profound interest in labor peace in America [referring to a possible MLS player strike that was averted days after the piece] than anyone in the history of New Zealand, because when his team kicks off the World Cup against Slovakia on 15 June, the All-Whites' lineup could feature even more MLS players than [U.S. national coach Bob] Bradley's."
^ "All Whites grab slice of history". TVNZ. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
^ "Celebrating with a little Slice of Heaven". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
^ "All Whites backing derby rivalry to get them through". nzfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
^ "Tell us your top Socceroos-All Whites games as a precursor to another trans-Tasman showdown". foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
^ http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/all-whites-depart-for-korea-test/
^ http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/all-whites-named-for-oman/
^ "Oman to play Friendly against New Zeland". ofa.om.
^ "Oman to play friendly against New Zealand". Times of Oman.

External links

Media related to New Zealand national association football team at Wikimedia Commons

[1] Hilton, T. (1991) An association with soccer. Auckland: The New Zealand Football Association. ISBN 0-473-01291-X. pp. 143–144.

[US_connection-2] Latham, Brent (17 March 2010). "U.S. connection helps New Zealand". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 21 March 2010.

[3] Latham's piece directly states; "From his post across the Pacific Ocean, Ricki Herbert may have a more profound interest in labor peace in America [referring to a possible MLS player strike that was averted days after the piece] than anyone in the history of New Zealand, because when his team kicks off the World Cup against Slovakia on 15 June, the All-Whites' lineup could feature even more MLS players than [U.S. national coach Bob] Bradley's."

[4] "All Whites grab slice of history". TVNZ. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2011.

[5] "Celebrating with a little Slice of Heaven". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 10 October 2013.

[6] "All Whites backing derby rivalry to get them through". nzfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 30 September 2013.

[7] "Tell us your top Socceroos-All Whites games as a precursor to another trans-Tasman showdown". foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2013.

[8] ttp://www.nzfootball.co.nz/all-whites-depart-for-korea-test/

[9] ttp://www.nzfootball.co.nz/all-whites-named-for-oman/

[10] "Oman to play Friendly against New Zeland". ofa.om.

[11] "Oman to play friendly against New Zealand". Times of Oman.

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v t e New Zealand men's national football team
General	New Zealand Football History Managers
Statistics	All-time record Records FIFA World Cup record FIFA Confederations Cup record OFC Nations Cup record Progression of goalscoring record
Results	1922–69 1970–99 2000–19 2020–present
Players	Players Captains Born outside New Zealand
Goals	Chris Wood
World Cups Finals	Summary 1982 2010
Nations Cup Finals	Summary 1973 1980 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2008 2012 2016 2024
Confederations Cups	Summary 1999 2003 2009 2017
Noted rivalries	Australia
Matches	Noted matches Trans-Tasman Cup
Other NZF teams	New Zealand B Youth U-23 U-20 U-17 Beach Futsal

v t e National football teams of Oceania (OFC)
OFC Nations Cup
Active	American Samoa Cook Islands FS Micronesia² Fiji Kiribati¹ New Caledonia New Zealand Niue² Palau² Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tahiti Tonga Tuvalu¹ Vanuatu
Former	Australia (moved to AFC in 2006) Northern Mariana Islands³ (moved to AFC in 2009) Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)⁴ (returned to AFC in 1989)
¹ Associate member of OFC - Not a member of FIFA ² Not a member of OFC and consequently not a member of FIFA ³ Northern Mariana Islands was only an associate member of OFC between 1998 and 2009 - Not a member of FIFA ⁴ Although not geographically in Oceania, Chinese Taipei was a member of the OFC between 1976–1978 and 1982–1989 Although not geographically in Oceania Israel entered OFC World Cup qualification in 1986 and 1990 due to political reasons, though it never became a formal OFC member.