New Zealand name World Cup squad
Captain Chris Wood headlines 26-strong All Whites selection for their third FIFA World Cup tilt.
Chris Wood and Tommy Smith are set to make history as the only New Zealand players to feature at two editions of the FIFA World Cup™.
16 years after the nation’s previous appearance at the global finals, captain Wood and defender Smith were among the 26 names revealed by head coach Darren Bazeley as having secured their tickets to the North American showpiece.
The squad is heavy on experience, with half the group having already accrued at least a quarter century of international caps and only five players that have ten appearances or fewer.
Speaking after the announcement, Bazeley said he is confident that he has chosen a squad that can impress in North America.
“We spent the last three years monitoring and tracking 50 players around the world and then arrived at the final process of selecting this squad, which is such a big moment.
“We left no stone unturned to make the right decisions to get the right balance for the squad, so there’s been a lot of nice conversations in recent days but also some challenging ones with players that missed out.
“It’s a really strong squad: talented, exciting, experienced and ready to go make New Zealand proud and create history for us at the World Cup.”
The All Whites are the only Oceania nation set to head to North America, where they will face IR Iran, Egypt and then Belgium in Group G.
England-based forward Chris Wood, his nation’s all-time leading scorer, will skipper the side and spoke of his pride at having been given the nod to join Steve Sumner and Ryan Nelsen as the only men to have captained New Zealand at a World Cup.
“It will be an absolute privilege to be leading the side out as captain at this year’s World cup. It’s been a long time, 16 years, since we’ve been at a World Cup and I can’t wait to share this moment with everyone and hopefully create some history and show the world what we’re capable of."
Max Crocombe Alex Paulsen Michael Woud
Tyler Bindon Michael Boxall Liberato Cacace Francis de Vries Callan Elliot Tim Payne Nando Pijnaker Tommy Smith Finn Surman
Lachlan Bayliss Joe Bell Matt Garbett Eli Just Callum McCowatt Ben Old Alex Rufer Marko Stamenic Sarpreet Singh Ryan Thomas
Kosta Barbarouses Jesse Randall Ben Waine Chris Wood
All squads are provisional until the final list of 26 players is announced by FIFA, following their submission by participating teams, on 2 June.
15 June: IR Iran v New Zealand – Los Angeles Stadium
21 June: New Zealand v Egypt – BC Place Vancouver
26 June: New Zealand v Belgium – BC Place Vancouver