There is a U20 Football World Cup kicking off in a couple of weeks and once again there’s reason to be excited about the NZ fellas on their way to compete. There was no U20 World Cup two years ago due to the pandemic – meaning that this squad missed their U17 wave which was also cancelled – but in each of the previous three editions the New Zealand team made it out of their group and into the knockouts.

In 2015 we hosted it and were able to squeeze through as a third-placed qualifier thanks to a 5-0 win over Myanmar in the final pool game. Goals scored that day by Noah Billingsley, Monty Patterson, Joel Stevens, Sam Brotherton, and Clayton Lewis. They lost 2-1 to Portugal in the next round. Bill Tuiloma captained that squad.

In 2017 it was the Myer Bevan show as he scored a double in a 3-1 win over Honduras which, combined with a 0-0 draw against Vietnam in the opener, saw the kiwis progress in second place behind France (who beat them 2-0 courtesy of a brace from Allan Saint-Maximin). Alas, that team more than met its match when they were pumped 6-0 by USA in the knockouts.

Then in 2019 we had that fantastic squad with the likes of Joe Bell, Liberato Cacace, Sarpreet Singh, Callum McCowatt, Ben Waine, Max Mata, Elijah Just, Nando Pijnaker... many of them very soon becoming key members of the senior squad. A 5-0 win over Honduras followed by a 2-0 win over Erling Haaland’s Norway more than lived up to the hype... although they were unfortunately dropped on penalties against Colombia in the round of sixteen. Controversy about that one too, remember Michael Woud getting booked for leaving his line early?

Now it’s 2023 and here is the crew tasked with making it four in a row...

Before we get into the weeds on them lads, gotta look at what they’re up against because the draw conspired to deliver a pretty fascinating group. Thanks to the seedings being based largely on previous performances, and the NZers getting out of their group three editions in a row, we were in the second pot alongside the nations of England, Korea Republic, Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia. No worries about facing any of them. Sweet as.

There was still a first seed to deal with... and that served up hosts Argentina. As for the two other teams: Uzbekistan and Guatemala. Of course there are no easy games at this level but you’d imagine that Uzbekistan and Guatemala shape pretty closely to teams like Myanmar, Vietnam, and Honduras whom the NZ U20s lads have gotten results off in the past. Doesn’t mean they’ll do so again but it does mean there’s plenty of reason to be confident heading in. And if they take 4-6 points from those two games then it doesn’t even matter what happens against Argentina.

Funny thing there is that Argentina weren’t even supposed to be at this tournament. They failed to qualify through the usual route and only got given a place because they offered to host it at short notice after Indonesia were stripped of the rights at the end of March. That was due to protests over the participation of Israel who’ve qualified for the first time ever – in fact the first time they’ve made it to any FIFA tournament since the 1970 World Cup. Indonesia has a large Islamic population and, more politically pertinent, has very close ties to Palestine... including an ongoing refusal to recognise the state of Israel until there’s a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine. So they were like: nah bro, not having that. And FIFA were like: well in that case... we’re going to Buenos Aires.

It is what it is, no point in spending any more time on global politics. But it’s a ruthless one for Indonesia as they were supposed to host the previous U20 World Cup in 2021 which got canned for covid, so the hosting rights were passed on until the next one. Now Argentina will get to handle that instead and, since the Argies hadn’t even qualified initially, they’ll do so at the expense of Indonesia who no longer even get to compete. Indonesia didn’t make it out of their U20 Asia Cup group therefore had nothing to fall back upon without the hosting rights. From hosts to not even getting to go. Savage stuff.

Especially since they only made the call at short notice with Argentina confirmed as the new hosts one month shy from the start of the event. The Aotearoa U20s had even played a cheeky friendly tournament in Indonesia as recently as February, back when Indonesia thought they were preparing for the main event. There the kiwis lost 3-1 to Guatemala in their first game, although that can be excused by the very short notice they had in taking up a spot at that tourney which, combined with travel limitations, meant the squad wasn’t all there at the time. They then beat Indonesia 2-1 and Fiji 3-0 in the other two games.

All of those teams except Indonesia will be competing in Argentina later this month. Guatemala obviously ended up being drawn in the same group as the kiwis. Despite the previous defeat, the NZers should be in a good place for the rematch. Full strength squad with full preparation this time versus dudes who’d only just flown into the country the day before with no chance to train properly last time. Yeah, that’ll be a different story. Plus that game now gets to exist as a coincidental in-person scouting mission.

Meanwhile Fiji are going to the U20s because there are now two spots open to Oceania teams – as has been the case at this level for the last couple tournaments. Vanuatu and Tahiti were at the last two while Fiji also qualified in 2015 when NZ were hosts and the Oceania spot was therefore left wide open. Fiji have drawn USA, Slovakia, and Ecuador. Best of luck to our OFC brothers. Haven’t seen a squad named yet but we can probably expect a few National League players in the mix.

But we have got that NZ squad and it’s a funky wee collection of dudes. This squad was even more anticipated than usual for a couple of reasons, one being that the lack of an U17s cycle made it less clear where the hierarchy was for this age range, the other is that we seem to have this strange unusual thing called depth now. There are players at professional clubs who haven’t been selected. Reason for debate, sure, but more than anything a reflection a serious flow of talent emerging from this country. Not that this squad holds a candle to the generationally stacked 2019 group... but that squad was a freakish exception.

There have no doubt been plenty of ID camps over the last few years with an eye on this tourney. There have also been three major age-grade tours in the last year. There was the U19 Oceania Championship qualifiers which the kiwis won, beating Fiji in the final, winning every game and scoring 33 combined goals whilst conceding zero. Then there was that aforementioned U20s quad-series in Indonesia. And also the U22s team that played China last international window, winning both games, had several U20 World Cup eligible players amongst. All of the guys good enough for those U22s have been selected for the main event. That’s nine blokes, most of whom were involved in both other squads too...

Fin Conchie, Jay Herdman, Isaac Hughes, Noah Karunaratne, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Finn Linder, Dan McKay, Kees Sims, Adam Supyk

The place to start here is with the Wellington Phoenix. They had a significant presence through qualifying and sure enough there’s a significant presence here too. Seven of the 21 are current Phoenix Academy players, plus Finn Surman is on a first team Nix contract. Henry Gray left the academy to pursue other opportunities and is listed here as being ‘on trial in England’. Pretty sure that’s his second trial journey to that part of the world, while he also spent some time with Central Coast Mariners and played for Waterside Karori in 2022. Adam Supyk was a WeeNixer until he moved north to Eastern Suburbs for the 2023 season. Also Jackson Manuel, who played some A-League footy last season, did the same on his way to Western Springs (although is only there on loan from the WeeNix, apparently).

That brings us up to more than half the squad with Phoenix connections and there are deffo a couple others who were unlucky to miss out. That’s probably a bit too much of an influence from one academy but that’s the way the it worked out. Can’t say it was unexpected. Not much of an Ole Academy flavour this time around, might only be Sims and Garbett whom that applies to (granted others could have passed through previously, dunno). But Eastern Suburbs have done well with a couple of homegrown lads as well as the imported Supyk. Chuck in the two Vancouver Whitecaps II lads. Those are the main pathways represented here.

16/21 players here were part of the qualifying campaign. The quad series tour saw them stretch things out by offering extra opportunities to some more diverse options though curiously only one person who was on that Indonesia trip after not being part of the Oceania quals has been selected for Argentina. Despite casting the net out further they didn’t end up going with any of those new blokes except for goalkeeper Alby Kelly-Heald.

That, frankly, is a little odd. Especially given how domestic the qualifying squad had been – with only Jay Herdman based overseas at that point in time. A few of those guys have since moved on: Kian Donkers, Oli Fay, trials for Oliver Colloty and Henry Gray, while Welly Nix Academy Player of the Year Noah Karunaratne is rumoured to have something in the works after the U20s. But we didn’t get much of a global influx in the end. Seems coach Darren Bazeley is holding firm with the guys he knows and trusts.

Matt Dibley-Dias is one bloke that many were hoping to see selected. Fulham academy midfielder who is eligible for England, Brazil, Portugal, and Aotearoa. His mother’s family are all from Wellington. He’s not about to be scooped up by any of those other countries, certainly not yet and probably not ever, but it doesn’t seem that NZF have able to convince the fella to give it a go for the good guys. Not yet anyway. Youth teams are a lot easier to crack than senior ones (and let’s be fair he can still switch allegiances once more in the future), however that dream has not fully evaporated yet because there’s still the Olympics next year.

Goalkeeper was a hotly contested position from day one. Kees Sims wasn’t around for qualifying but he was always the prospective number one, the ex-Western Suburbs gloveman who moved over to Ljungskile in the Swedish third tier last year and very quickly won a starting spot despite his youth. He spent his European offseason training with Norway’s Lillestrøm before heading to England to spend time with Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, and Coventry. That’s some premier professional development right there.

In the end two WeeNix grads were selected: Gray and Kelly-Heald (whose twin brother Lukas was always likely to make it as a left-footed defender). Meanwhile Oscar Mason, Joseph Knowles, Regan Diver, and Matt Foord had all been involved in some capacity with those other squads. Every single one of those goalies has had National League experience except for Diver, a non-travelling reserve for the OFC stuff who’s currently the starter for Western Springs, and Foord who is with Christchurch United but is a bit younger than the rest of them... in fact he’s likely to be going to the U17 World Cup later this year. Mason’s with Napier City Rovers, Knowles is with Eastern Subs but played NL for Miramar Rangers last term. Jack De Groot is the current starter for Miramar Rangers and was also eligible for this squad. Chances are there are a few more at top NZ clubs too.

Suffice it to say that there are a plethora of quality goalkeeping prospects at the moment and it shouldn’t catch anyone unawares if fellas from outside this squad end up having bigger careers than one or two that did get picked. There’s room for everybody aboard this train. But there are only three spots available in the U20 World Cup squad.

Would imagine that Finn Surman captains this side as one of the few with genuine senior professional experience. He’ll definitely be at the heart of the defence and while recent months haven’t offered him the same opportunities with the Welly Nix first team as he got last season (largely due to there being fewer injuries) it may not be the worst thing that he’s been getting an extended run with the WeeNix alongside many of his defensive bros from this U20s squad. In particular Isaac Hughes at CB. Those two already have a class combo going on. Lukas KH could also nudge a start alongside them if Bazeley goes with a back three. He’s got the options, that’s for sure. Finn Linder is a dual-nat from Canada who plays central defence. The second U22s game vs China saw a Linder/Surman/LKH defensive trio with Hughes on the bench. This is a strong group of defenders... and it doesn’t stop there.

Jackson Jarvie is a right back, Aaryan Raj is a central defender. Neither played Natty League last term because Eastern Suburbs didn’t qualify but they did both start the Chatham Cup grand final for the Lilywhites against Auckland City. Adam Supyk plays left back (and LKH can also cover that spot) while Everton O’Leary of Birkenhead Utd is also a fullback. Based on the qualifying tournament, O’Leary and Supyk are the frontrunners for the wide defensive spots although lots of water has gone under the bridge since then so we shall see what unfolds.

Moving into the midfield, one bloke we can safely expect to see prominently is Jay Herdman who won the Golden Ball in qualifying and has progressed confidently from there, seemingly in line for a big season with the Vancouver Whitecaps reserves while scoring the winner in one of those U22s games as well. His dad may not want to be a part of the NZ Football scene but Jay sure does. Only trick is how they use him because a 4-3-3 with a number ten, as we saw in quals, would be ideal but that may not be possible if Baze wants a back three. But Herdman will be there regardless and probably as a key creative weapon.

In terms of central midfield, it was Fin Conchie and Charlie Beale who forged the most impressive partnership in the OFC games yet a really strong National League campaign from Dan McKay seems to have pushed him ahead of Beale - who was one of the shock omissions from this squad. Jackson Manuel is also firmly in that mix thanks to his CDM experience under Ufuk Talay’s guidance. He started the first two games of qualifying then didn’t feature again, potentially an injury, therefore it may be Conchie/Manuel as the best bet for the World Cup.

Then finally we step into the attacking areas. If there’s one major criticism of the WeeNix production line in recent years it’s that they haven’t produced a proper goal scorer since Ben Waine. A finisher. A genuine number nine. Lots of tricky wingers and progressive midfielders but less so the blokes to finish things off. Hence for the Oceania Champs that role was taken care of by the tag team duo of Oliver Colloty (Christchurch Utd -> Melville Utd -> On trial in England) and Kian Donkers (Cashmere Technical -> NEC Nijmegen). Those two actually shared the Golden Boot in that tourney. Donkers scored 9 goals in 267 minutes. Colloty scored 9 goals in 318 minutes. Both continued that form into the National League. Both have taken their careers forward since then. Lots to love about that pair. Not sure if there’s room for both in a starting eleven though (eh, never hurts to have options on the bench).

Alongside Herdman, we’ve got creativity in the form of Noah Karunaratne with his dribbling skills and Oliver Fay with his sneaky drifting movements. Both of them played in qualifying but we’ve got two new additions. One is Norman Garbett, younger brother of Matthew. Currently in Italy where he’s scoring and assisting on the regular for Potenza Calcio’s primavera team. That’s U19s for a third tier club so not quite the Big Time yet... but so far so good considering his form and impact. Then there’s the biggest bolter of the lot: Ben Wallace. A local option who wasn’t included in either of the previous squads. Not because, like Sims or Garbett, he was overseas. But because others were ahead of him in the queue.

Wallace must’ve been playing the house down whenever Bazeley was watching. He was quite exciting during the last National League and has scored a few goals this Central League season already. Josh Rudland seemed to be putting himself in that mix with some strong Central League showings (he’s the one clear successor to Ben Waine’s finishing legacy at the club) though in the end it was Ben Wallace to swooped in ahead of him. Wallace is a more versatile option who can play across the frontline, plus he did have the more impressive National League campaign.

That’s the squad as they fit together although pour one out for the humble soldiers from previous squads who didn’t quite make the cut...

U19 OFC Champs (September 2022) – Sebastian Barton-Ginger, Charlie Beale, Theo Ettema, Joseph Knowles, Marco Lorenz, Oscar Mason, Wilson Souphanthavong (Plus non-travelling reserves: Regan Diver, Joshua Rudland & Chase Taylor)

U20 Indonesia Quad Series (February 2023) – Charlie Beale, Ty Cobb, Roman Engle, Theo Ettema, Matt Foord, Josh Galletly, Marco Lorenz, Oliver Middleton, Oscar Obel-Hall, William Pierce

Might have to pour more than one out considering the length of that hefty list. Already mentioned Beale. Theo Ettema of Wellington Olympic can play CB or CM and is a victim of Bazeley only selecting three genuine central midfielders - something that lends more credence to the possibility of a back three given that there are five CBs in here. Goalkeepers got an earlier discussion. Wilson Souphanthavong featured in 4/6 qualifying games but didn’t get the summons again.

Looking at the fresh choices in the Indo games, Aussie-based fellas Ty Cobb and Roman Engle must not have done enough with their window to impress, while Josh Galletly and Oscar Obel-Hall are both very harsh omissions. Galletly was superb for Melville in the Natty Lge then left for a trial with Melbourne City. Attacking midfielder and a set piece specialist, now doing his thing at Eastern Suburbs. It was rough to leave him out of the initial qualifiers and even rougher to leave him out now given what he’s done since. The smaller 21-man squad doesn’t aid things. As for Obel-Hall, he’s a Cantabrian striker who has been in the youth system with Esbjerg in Denmark for the last two years. Don’t often see pro-adjacent guys like that excluded from these teams. Perhaps just not enough room for three number nines in the squad?

A couple of those exclusions are genuinely quite debatable and that’s not something we’re very used to with these squads. There are always contentious calls but usually they’re more subjective than this. Once again though, that’s what happens when there are more than 21 worthy players in the hunt. There will be guys who missed out entirely who go on to have great careers. Alex Greive is a recent example of someone outside the Welly Nix pipeline who never played age grade internationals yet now he’s a regular for the All Whites. But that’s enough youth football chat for today. U20 World Cup starts in two weeks. We’ll be ready.

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