New Zealand qualifies for the 2026 World Cup with a 3-0 win over New Caledonia in the Oceania final
New Zealand qualifies for the 2026 World Cup with a 3-0 win over New Caledonia in the Oceania final
New Zealand will play at the 2026 World Cup after beating New Caledonia 3-0 on Monday in the final of the Oceania confederation qualifying series.
The New Zealand “All Whites” reached the World Cup for the third time after qualifying in Spain in 1982 and South Africa in 2010. They join hosts Canada, the United States and Mexico and Japan, which last week became the first team to qualify for the 48-team tournament.
New Caledonia still has a chance to qualify through a six-team inter-continental playoff involving teams from the Asian, African, North and Central American and South American confederations.
New Zealand had a setback when its captain, Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood, was forced from the field with a hip injury in the 53rd minute with the score still 0-0.
Wood is the focus of the New Zealand attack, scoring three headed goals in New Zealand’s 7-0 semifinal win over Fiji in a semifinal on Friday.
Up stepped an unlikely star in Wood's absence. In the 62nd Michael Boxall, the 36-year-old center back from Minnesota United, scored his first goal in 55 international appearances to finally break the deadlock. Boxall met Francis de Vries' corner at the far post and headed it home.
Four minutes later the 17-year international veteran Kosta Barbarouses, who replaced Wood, ran onto Tim Payne's pass and chipped the ball over Nyikeine to make it 2-0.
Finally, Denmark-based Elijah Just scored from Barbarouses' assist in the 80th to clinch New Zealand's place at the World Cup.
“When the goal went in I think I was a bit more relieved than anything,” Boxall said. "Fair play to New Caledonia, they made it pretty hard work for us.
“Everyone's reaction when the ball finally went into the back of the net was incredible.”
