PART I – THE CONTEXT

It was five years in November. Five years since the only NZ Football team of any age grade, male or female, to win a knockout game at a FIFA tournament. Not only did they win one, they won two. Including a third-placed playoff. This after a pair of wins in the group stage which itself was already a rare feat for any Aotearoa national team. The Women’s U20s had done so in 2014 while the Men’s U20s matched them both in 2019 as part of a tournament run that, with a little more luck, could have been equally as iconic.

It’s the blessing and curse of being the best team in the weakest confederation that New Zealand constantly qualifies for these major age grade tournaments and then rarely does much when they get there. Recent years have seen us become more consistently competitive but it’s only ever going to be an underdog story at these things. It’s possible to overcome the small population. It’s possible to overcome the geographic isolation. But it’s not really possible to overcome both of those things. Not in the overcrowded world of football, at least. Luckily we kiwis do love an underdog tag so that’s not such a big drama.

The U17 Men recently finished up a World Cup in which they scored once, conceded ten times, and lost all three games. Admittedly that was in a group that included eventual champions Germany – although they should’ve done better against Venezuela and Mexico (who both also progressed to the knockouts then both also lost 5-0 in the round of sixteen – to Argentina and Mali respectively). Earlier in 2023, the Men’s U20s were able to squeeze into the knockouts for the fourth time in a row but didn’t go any further, losing 4-0 to the USA. On the women’s side there have only ever been two instances of knockout footy. The record ain’t pretty when you lay it all out...

Age-Grade World Cup Knockout Games Involving NZ

• 2009 Men’s U17 World Cup | Nigeria 5-0 New Zealand

• 2011 Men’s U17 World Cup | Japan 6-0 New Zealand

• 2014 Women’s U20 World Cup | Nigeria 4-1 New Zealand

• 2015 Men’s U20 World Cup | Portugal 2-1 New Zealand

• 2015 Men’s U17 World Cup | Brazil 1-0 New Zealand

• 2017 Men’s U20 World Cup | USA 6-0 New Zealand

• 2018 Women’s U17 World Cup | Japan 1-1 New Zealand (NZ win 4-3 on pens)

• 2018 Women’s U17 World Cup | Spain 2-0 New Zealand

• 2018 Women’s U17 World Cup | Canada 1-2 New Zealand

• 2019 Men’s U20 World Cup | Colombia 1-1 New Zealand (Colombia win 5-4 on pens)

• 2021 Men’s U23 Olympics | Japan 0-0 New Zealand (Japan win 4-2 on pens)

• 2023 Men’s U20 World Cup | USA 4-0 New Zealand

Needless to say, neither senior team has made it this far at a World Cup either... although the Football Ferns did get to the knockouts of the 2012 Olympics. 1-0 defeats to the United Kingdom and Brazil were encouraging (although conceding in the 86th minute of the latter maybe not so much). But encouragement doesn’t take you anywhere. Progress depended on beating Cameroon in their last group game and they did exactly that, winning 3-1 that via goals from Rebecca Smith, an OG, and Sarah Gregorius. That took them through as the second-best third-placed qualifier and they lost 2-0 to the USA in the quarters. It was a 12-team tournament in which eight teams made the knockouts... yet it remains an unmatched achievement for either senior national team.

All of which makes what happened at the 2018 Under-17 World Cup in Uruguay that much more spectacular. An incredible campaign from a remarkable group of players (and coaches) which went so far beyond what any other kiwi team has achieved before or in the five years since.

Being Under-17s, that campaign promised a golden generation which could slowly filter into the Football Ferns over the proceeding years and maybe even someday replicate some of that success at the senior level. Sure enough, we’ve seen several of that squad stride on into the professional scene and the senior national team too. We’ve also seen a few of them disappear. And as much as those bronze medals felt like the beginning of a new era, looking back at their style of play and the tactics that NZ Football teams have prioritised since you can make a decent case that they were actually the glorious last hurrah of the old era. So let us now rip into the tale of the 2018 U17 World Cup bronze medallists.

PART II – THE FOOTBALL

Qualification was emphatic. In August of 2017, the NZ U16s went to Samoa where they began with a 17-1 victory against Tahiti (Kelli Brown scoring seven of the goals with Arabella Maynard and Grace Wisnewski also getting hat-tricks), before beating New Caledonia 7-0 (Maggie Jenkins with three) and Samoa 8-0 (Brown again with a hatty). In the semi-finals they won 9-0 against the Cook Islands (Brown with her third hat-trick) before battling through their closest game in the grand final... a 6-0 win in a rematch against New Caledonia (Maynard with four goals). Five games and five wins. 47 goals scored and one conceded. Kelli Brown was Golden Boot with 14 strikes to her name and the next three top scorers were also kiwis as Jenkins bagged nine, Maynard seven, and Wisnewski six. Maya Hahn was given the Golden Ball for player of the tournament.

Utterly dominant... but that’s no different than usual. The most recent Oceania U16s Women’s Championships were held in September 2023 and included Aotearoa winning 27-0 in a game against Vanuatu. The Class of 2023 won five out of five with 51 goals scored and one conceded, although they did only win 1-0 against Fiji in the final with a very late Katie Pugh goal doing the trick. That was actually the first Oceania qualifying tourney in this age wave since the group that are the topic of this article. Bloody old pandemic has wiped out the two others since.

That seems parallel dominance like a good omen... except that there’s often little correlation between qualifiers and the main event. Back in 2016, New Zealand won 5/5 scoring 55 goals without concession/ Michaela Foster won Golden Ball, Hannah Blake won Golden Boot. That team then failed to make it out of the group stage at the World Cup, losing 5-0 to Mexico and 2-0 to Spain... although they did smash Jordan 5-0 to finish on a high.

In other words, there was no inclination as to what was to conspire when Leon Birnie’s 2018 squad touched down in Uruguay for their U17 World Cup. A group stage draw of Finland, Uruguay, and Ghana had at least avoided them dealing with any powerhouse nations, even if such reputations are often misleading at youth level. Catching the hosts meant catching the lowest-ranked top seed. Although, as it happens, they’d end up playing two of the other three top seeds later in the tournament in the form of Japan and Spain (North Korea were the fourth but they mercifully managed to avoid our wrath).

The tournament began with a match against Finland who were making their first appearance at an U17 Women’s World Cup. It was the third game of the overall tournament, kicking off after a couple of 0-0 draws in one of the other groups. Despite a promising performance from the kiwis, especially defensively, they struggled to create many clear-cut chances of their own. Amelia Abbott had a first half effort tipped over the top by the excellent Finnish goalie Anna Koivunen (now at IF Brommapojkarna in Sweden) while Maggie Jenkins and Grace Wisnewski also forced a great saves later in the match. But no need to worry because a screamer of a long-range goal from Kelli Brown in the 41st minute gave the kiwis a 1-0 win. The first goal of the World Cup and one of the very best.

That game set the table for what followed. This was a team built upon sturdy structure with a single-minded intent on playing the territory game, working harder than their opponents, and hopefully having just enough attacking juice to hustle a goal or two from all of their direct running. Birnie had his side in a 4-4-2 formation with a clearly defined idea of what the best eleven looked like – with this specific line-up starting every game except for one (the third group stage game, when they rotated things around)....

Soon after that game ended, hosts Uruguay kicked off against Ghana in the other game of the group... and lost 5-0. That big win for the African nation left Uruguay needing a result against New Zealand in the next round of fixtures three days later, while Aotearoa knew that a win would put them through into the knockouts for the first time thanks to Ghana’s subsequent 3-1 win over Finland.

It didn’t start great for NZ as they fell behind in the 8th minute via a crunching shot off the crossbar from Esperanza Pizarro which was followed up by Belen Aquino (both have since become senior capped internationals for URU). However a reply wasn’t long in waiting. Bit of a throw-in routine down the right led to Rennie looping a high cross into the mixer. A stabbed, off-balance shot from Jenkins beat everyone except the post, and Wisnewski was there to pounce on the rebound after 26 minutes. Not as dynamic as the Uruguayan goal, almost seeming to unfold in slow motion, but it was equally as effective. Then, a further ten minutes after that, Brown scored her second of the tournament and just like the other two goals in this game it came after a rebound off the woodwork. This time a deep free kick from Fraser led to Jenkins poking another attempt onto the very same post and Brown was alert to do the rest.

That was the way it ended. Annna Leat was flawless in goal, claiming anything that came near her, and Uruguay just couldn’t muster the necessary shots to threaten. The NZers closed them down with hearty aggression. A hectic foul count came as a consequence but that was alright. A 2-1 win against Uruguay thus sent them through into the knockouts. History had been made. More was yet to come.

So it was that the Ghana game, despite offering a chance to finish top of the group, was meaningless as far as qualification went. Therefore Birnie switched things around with only three of the usual eleven backing up. One of those was Anna Leat in goal, the other two were Abbott and Mittendorff who were the first two players substituted, neither of them lasting past the hour.

At that stage it was nil-all (thanks largely to Anna Leat). But things soon changed when half-time sub Van der Meer misjudged a bouncing ball over the top and the speedy Mukarama Abdulai was able to get in between goalkeeper and defender to score after 61 minutes. Then, just before the end, Abdulai scored another (89’) thanks again to some searing pace after a midfield givewaway from the kiwis. 2-0 to Ghana. Not quite at the same level after all the changes but still onwards into the quarter-finals regardless.

For the record, Mukarama Abdulai had scored a hat-trick against Uruguay earlier in the group and would go on to win the Bronze Ball award at the tournament. She scored seven goals overall with two assists which also earned her the overall Golden Boot. Abdulai made her senior international debut one year later and recently returned to her home nation to play for Hasaacas FC after a couple of years on the books of Deportivo Alavés in Spain.

Making the quarters would have been special enough in its own right, but it’s what they did when they got there that took this group into legendary proportions. Up against Japan, always a powerful nation in women’s footy, it was back to the usual eleven and the New Zealanders started brightly. Big intent from the outset, lots of energy, and that culminated in a 17th minute lead. Macey Fraser’s corner kick was struck low and dummied by Mittendorff so that it reached Amelia Abbott who sent her strike into the bottom corner. This after Brown had already tested the keeper from range, while Jenkins would clip the crossbar later on.

That lead only lasted until the 31st minute when a slick attack from Japan led to Hannah Mackay-Wright turning the ball into her own net, sorta stumbling over the ball after making a goal-line block. But the confidence remained. Japan steadily raised the intensity and yet the NZers continued to withstand it... particularly thanks to Anna Leat’s super shot-stopping. The latter stages were basically just Japanese attacks recycled over and over but they never found a second goal.

It might have been a different tale had Japan been able to carry that momentum into extra time except there was no extra time at this tournament. Nope, it was straight on into penalties where Leat capped off what probably remains her signature performance on a footy pitch to this very day. She saved the first kick she faced, watched another one miss the target, then scored Aotearoa’s fifth and final herself to send New Zealand into the semis with a 4-3 shootout win after a 1-1 draw. Hahn, Wisnewski, and Brown also scored penalties (though Jayda Stewart did scoop hers over with the chance to seal the game with the fourth attempt).

The semi-final saw them run into eventual champs Spain... who have since won the U17s again in 2022. Consecutive U17 World Champs as well as winning the 2022 U20 World Cup and of course, most supremely, the senior 2023 World Cup that co-hosted by NZ and Australia. The only women’s team to hold all three concurrently (the Brazil men also did it around the 2002 World Cup). Cata Coll, Salma Paralluelo, and Eva Navarro were the three players who were part of this 2018 squad and also the 2023 Word Cup squad. Coll won the Golden Gloves in 2018 and her elevation to the starting XI at knockout stage of the 2023 WC proved a positive step towards Spain eventually lifting the trophy. She started every game from then onwards. Meanwhile Paralluelo won the Best Young Player award at the 2023 WC after scoring in both the quarter and semi-final stages.

All three of them started against New Zealand in 2018, with Coll making a crucial early save to deny Macey Fraser by tipping a heavy shot onto the bar. It was another brave beginning from NZ... but this time with no rapid goal to show for it. Instead they conceded five minutes before the break when Claudia Pina capitalised on Mackay-Wright only half-clearing a Navarro cross to break the deadlock. It was also an HMW header that led to the second goal a few minutes into the second half... but no blame to be apportioned there. HMW sent it clear of the area only for Irene Lopez to thump home an outstanding volley with her left foot.

There was no way back from there. Ayla Pratt had a shot smothered by Coll and it was Spain who advanced to the final with a 2-0 scoreline. Spain would then lift the trophy by beating Mexico 2-1 with Claudia Pina scoring both of their goals – one assisted by Paralluelo, one assisted by Navarro. Pina is now a Champions League winner with Barcelona and likely would have been part of that 2023 WC squad herself except she was part of the group that boycotted the national team over their coaching/administration dramas and has not yet made her return.

There was still one last game with which to cap off the magnificence though. The third-vs-fourth playoff is an oft-maligned aspect of these tournaments, forcing teams back out there when they’ve already been eliminated. And maybe that was the case for a strong Canadian side but for New Zealand the motivation was undeniable. They’d made it a focus to go rampaging from kick-off in those other two knockout games, yet nothing compared to what they did in this one with Grace Wisnewski scoring literally fifteen seconds into the match. Jenkins had poked away a heavy touch from the Canadian keeper then Wiz was there to do the honours. The fastest ever goal at a Women’s U17 World Cup. Wisnewski then scored again on 13’ with a ripping strike running onto a clever flick around the corner by Jenkins.

She would also hit the post in the second half, going so close to a famous hat-trick. Oh well, a famous brace would have to suffice. Another similarity to those other knockout games was that the more favoured side again tightened the screws as the game progressed and the NZers began to tire, in this case leading to Lara Kazandjian scoring a belter on 64’ to close the gap. However the kiwis knuckled down the rest of the way for a 2-1 victory. Didn’t need penalties this time. Bronze medals in the bag. These streets will never forget.

PART III – STYLE & SUBSTANCE

That’s what they did... and what they did was enough to warrant a five-year anniversary article. Yet the fascination runs deeper because while that team can be seen as the start of a new era for New Zealand football – and many of the opportunities afforded to these players since have backed that up – it’s also possible to see them as the end of of something.

To explain that further, we’ve gotta look at how this team played. Those game recaps explored a lot of it. They were aggressive without the ball. They were hugely competitive at all times. They defended with great shape and structure. But what they didn’t do was pass the ball very much. Or very accurately. The average number of passes in the World Cup was 419 per game. NZ lingered way back at 271. The average pass accuracy was 68%. NZ were at 49%. Both of those were dead last across the sixteen teams in attendance, as was their average possession rate of 37%. To be fair, NZ went deep in the tournament which bloated those numbers – the top four teams for possession were Spain, Finland, Japan, and Canada... all were opponents of NZ and those stats can’t purely be down to having played us. But the numbers still don’t lie.

In the years since there’s been an emphasis in all age grades and at all levels of NZ Football on being able to keep possession, with a preference for building up from the back. It’s a positive trend overall but there have been times where it’s felt detrimental. The Football Ferns are a good example of a team that has struggled to find the balance between trying to boost the technical aspects of their play without losing their gritty, rugged identity in the process.

Back in 2018, Leon Birnie’s side weren’t worried about any of that. They had their patterns of play with lots of vertical runners and forwards who knew how to flick the ball around the corner to find them. Their wingers had licence to squeeze inside for support but those were the only positions of fluidity with their fullbacks combining far more often with their centre-backs than their wide midfielders (notably Mackenzie Barry and Marisa van der Meer have since forged a really tidy CB partnership for the Wellington Phoenix... we should have known). As for building up from the back, maaaate. Anna Leat played literally one short pass all tournament. No goalie kicked the ball long more often than she did. They were direct. They were compact. There was almost no difference between their average shape in and out of possession.

There was also no team that worked harder, covering the most turf by a really significant margin...

Notice there that the defensive platform was not a result of sitting deep and letting the other team do all the work. They kept a high line thanks to the proactive way that their CBs would step up and engage their markers (Mackay-Wright is still famous for this in the National League). They weren’t direct passers due to a lack of ideas, they were direct because that was their plan: win the ball then attack immediately.

They rode their luck at times. Any underdog story is going to contain a few of those moments. But they had a formula that worked... a formula that has largely been disregarded by NZF ever since. Not saying that’s a bad thing, we’ve seen plenty of other NZ teams try to play this way only to get tonked, and it was pretty obvious that we needed to develop more technically-sound players if we were going to take things to the next level. It’s also true that much of the development since (especially on the male side) has come from private academies, like Ole and the Wellington Phoenix, who pay their own bills and can do what they want. And with a bunch of fellas from those pathways now enlisted in All Whites squads it’s up to any international coach to arrange his team in a way that suits the players at their disposal.

It was this push and pull between ideals that led to Maya Hahn switching allegiances to Germany. Having been the standout player in qualifying, she only played 229 minutes at the World Cup itself, being predominantly used as a second half substitute for Macey Fraser. The two most technically gifted players in the group had to do a job-share. Can’t argue with the outcomes... but that stylistic disillusionment was one of the stated reasons for her decision (alongside her strong German heritage, better professional pathways, and other similarly valid personal reasons).

It also feels like this was the last generation where getting an American college scholarship was the main ambition for top prospects. A combination of the USA’s diminishing dominance in women’s football and more reliable pro pathways having emerged has made the NCAA less fashionable these days. 4-5 years of age grade footy isn’t amazing for development. By the time you graduate you’ve lost ground on those who’ve been in professional systems that whole time. There is still a pretty high standard in the NCAA so good players are going to get better... but the seasons aren’t very long and game-time is far from guaranteed. Granted, the lifestyle is unrivalled and the free education goes a long way too. There are always going to be kiwi players going down the college route and we want that to stay the case. Every person is different so the more options the better. It’s just that the very best players now seem to prefer other ones.

You can witness the ups and downs of college ball from the varying stories within this squad. Anna Leat and Maya Hahn both spoke about it being a bit of a dream to get involved on the NCAA scene. Hahn already had a scholarship arranged with Oregon when the 2018 U17s took place, while Leat soon joined the Georgetown programme. Both then left when professional gigs in Europe came about (Hahn did still graduate despite only playing three seasons – presumably covering the distance with her online courses during covid – though all college athletes affected by covid were eligible to go back for an extra year if they wanted and clearly she did not).

Others have stuck with it: Gabi Rennie (Arizona State/Indiana), Genevieve Ryan (Rider U), and Maggie Jenkins (Central Florida) have gone the distance, while Blair Currie (Spring Arbor) and Amelia Abbott (U of Texas) each have one more year. As does Aniela Jensen (UC Pacific) while Rylee Godbold (Wofford) has two more – both of them were standby members of this squad.

And then there’s the issue of game-time. Abbott was one of the standouts in that U17 WC, a combative midfielder with a huge engine and a tidy sense of rhythm. Admittedly she attends one of the biggest universities in the biggest state in America... but in three seasons she’s played a total of 142 minutes. This is a player who has been capped at senior level and she’s barely getting a sighter in college. Rennie transferred from Indiana after two years of not playing enough. Her fortunes improved once she got to Arizona though it wasn’t until her fourth and final year that she finally scored an NCAA goal. Same deal for Jenkins, whose senior year was by far her best.

None of them are going to get drafted in to the NWSL. Neither did Jacqui Hand or Daisy Cleverley or Hannah Blake who’ve all ended up in great situations regardless... but that’s not the point. The point is that subsequent age grade sides haven’t had quite the same uptake in NCAA scholarships... likely for the simple reason that the Wellington Phoenix now exist as an alternative.

PART IV – THE JOURNEY SINCE

The great bummer of this team is that they should have had an U20 World Cup to build upon this, however the 2020 version got cancelled due to the pandemic. We never got to see what they could have done if given a second major tournament opportunity, with whatever other players of that age range might have developed in the meantime. Macey Fraser, Grace Wisnewski, and Marisa van der Meer were all young enough to go to the 2022 U20 WC (though Fraser didn’t end up playing due to injury) but the rest of the 2018 crew were one-and-done with the age grade stuff.

That squad as initially named featured only domestically-based players, though at U17s level that’s entirely normal – it’s usually only after this when the pro/college offers begin to emerge. You could also see how diligently Birnie and his team had scouted the nation by the range of regions represented. Ten players were based in Auckland, although several had moved there for football reasons (such as Anna Leat of Arrowtown, Hannah Mackay-Wright of Nelson, Maggie Jenkins of Wellington, and Ayla Pratt of Tauranga). Six more came from the wider Canterbury region – including three from Waimakariri Utd (Macey Fraser, Jayda Stewart & Gabi Rennie) and one from Nelson Suburbs (Amelia Abbott). Only one was based in Wellington (Maya Hahn) back in those days before the Phoenix Academy... ironically six of this squad have since played for the Nix in the A-League Women’s. New Plymouth was also represented by Mackenzie Barry, while a trio of Hamilton Wanderers players flew the Waikato flag in Brown, Wisnewski, and backup keeper Georgia Candy.

Four of those players had already been part of the U20 World Cup squad earlier in 2018. Anna Leat was the starting goalkeeper at both, while Maggie Jenkins, Aneka Mittendorff, and Gabi Rennie also did the double. Note that in the most recent cycle only Milly Clegg and Ruby Nathan went to both the 2022 U17 and U20 World Cups. Nine of that 2018 U20s team were in the Football Ferns World Cup squad including Leat and Rennie, who were the only two 2018 U17s ready enough for that stage to be selected, however Barry, Jenkins, and Wisnewski did feature in the wider training camp beforehand.

Anna Leat was only 15 years old when she debuted (off the bench) for the Football Ferns in a 3-0 loss against Austria in 2017. She wasn’t quite young enough to break Annalie Longo’s NZ record... though she is the youngest ever starter for the Ferns, accomplishing that later in the same year in a 5-0 win against Thailand. That game also saw the debut of Maggie Jenkins off the bench so the two of them had already played at senior level prior to their U17s World Cup. Malia Steinmetz, Vic Esson, and Liz Anton all debuted in that same game, by the way.

Gabi Rennie was the next to make a senior debut when she scored off the bench against Australia at the 2021 Olympics. Marisa van der Meer was part of that extended Olympic squad though didn’t get another call-up until the Colombia tour in November 2023... where she tore her ACL in warm-ups prior to the first game. Her turn will come eventually. Amelia Abbott debuted against Canada in 2021 as part of an understrength side for Jitka Klimkova’s first tour in charge (held when travelling restrictions during covid had depleted player availability). Mackenzie Barry joined the club against Japan in October 2022 and is now a semi-regular squad member. Grace Wisnewski debuted against America in January 2023. Macey Fraser was also called up for that Colombia tour in late 2023 but illness means she couldn’t travel. So that’s 6/21 players who’ve been fully capped with at least two more likely to join them.

Naturally, when the Wellington Phoenix were putting together their inaugural squad they leant heavily on NZ age graders. The then-upcoming U20 World Cup (which Gemma Lewis and Natalie Lawrence were also in charge of – remember that NZF helped bankroll the Welly Nix) was a major focus and so was this 2018 U17s group. Mackenzie Barry, Grace Wisnewski, and Kelli Brown were all inaugural members of the WahiNix. Brown wasn’t re-signed for year two which was harsh after an injury/concussion plagued season. But she made it back for year three after some wicked form in the Aussie state league. Year two of the WahiNix saw Marisa van der Meer added to the mix, who might have been an inaugural member had she not already signed with Melbourne City, as well as backup keeper Georgia Candy. Then in year three they added Macey Fraser who had already aligned herself with the club’s academy – having been present at the team’s initial unveiling alongside Tui Dugan and Annalie Longo (the latter as part of her role with NZF, though of course she’s now the club captain).

Obviously Maya Hahn is no longer eligible for NZ having moved to Germany to chase that dream instead. She’s not the only one of this group to have switched allegiances: Jayda Stewart has been banging in the goals for Samoa at senior international level, including a hat-trick at the 2022 Nations Cup. Stewart is still playing in Christchurch and was part of the Canterbury United Pride squad for the 2023 National League.

Hahn, meanwhile, has had a busy time of things since embracing her Germanity. In her three years at Oregon, she made 41 appearances albeit only 8 of them were starts. Three goals and an assist. Amongst that she popped back over to Germany to play at SV Meppen for a handful of Bundesliga games (playing in one of the best leagues in the world yet unable to get regular college starts... there’s another one for you in The Case Against the NCAA). After graduating college she returned to Germany to sign for Turbine Potsdam in 2022 where she’s made eight more Bundesliga appearances. Unfortunately the team was unexpectedly relegated after the 2022-23 season, with Hahn missing several months due to a ligament tear. That might have been a good thing though as she’s become a key player in the second tier, scoring three goals in 12 games from midfield. Turbine Potsdam sit second at the winter break, very much challenging for immediate promotion.

Can’t say the international switch has really worked out, at least not yet. Largely been for reasons beyond her control. After dealing with all the red-tape eligibility hurdles, Hahn was able to join the Germany U20s for several training camps and was due to partake in a warm-up tournament in Spain leading into the 2020 U20 World Cup. But that got cancelled and eventually the U20 WC itself got cancelled and after that there’s only the full German national team to aim for and that lot boasts some of the very best players on the entire planet. How many current Football Ferns would make a Germany squad? Realistically... none.

International footy is going to be tough to acquire for Hahn from here. The pandemic spoiled her best chance of that. Bottom line is that she hasn’t actually played competitively for Germany... maybe they’ll let her switch back? Times have changed since the 2018 World Cup. Klimková’s also got a decent record at recruiting dual internationals. Let us get the lawyers involved and see if it’s still possible.

And little really needs saying about Anna Leat, who moved first to West Ham in August 2021 then transferred to Aston Villa one year later. She’s been the backup goalie in each of her three seasons in England, learning from the likes of Mackenzie Arnold (Australia), Hannah Hampton (England), and Daphne van Domselaar (Netherlands)… in fact there was a window there when she almost usurped Hampton. She’s played regularly in cup competitions and has been able to make 12 appearances already in the Women’s Super League, plus the most recent Football Ferns tour gave plenty of evidence to the idea that Leat might just be ready for national team number one status. She was the golden prospect of this U17 squad and her career since has proudly lived up to that.

Alas, amidst the success stories there are also a few that have gone the other way. U17s is super young and not everyone finishes their education and decides to commit to the footy life. All of those who remained local have played in the National League but not all of them recently. Britney Cunningham-Lee’s goals took Ellerslie into the WNL last year while Hannah Mackay-Wright was brilliant for Southern United as they made the grand final. On the other hand, several others didn’t appear to be playing anywhere at all in 2023. None more tragically than Aneka Mittendorff who captained this side and, back in 2018, looked an absolute certainty to progress her silky centre-back skills into the Football Ferns one day. It’s not too late for a comeback. We can always hope.

As for the Where Are They Now yarns, here’s a list of the 21 players in the main squad (plus the three non-travelling reserves) and where they played their football in 2023...

• Anna Leat - Aston Villa (ENG)

• Mackenzie Barry - Wellington Phoenix (NZ/AUS)

• Hannah Mackay-Wright - Dunedin City Royals/Southern United (NZ)

• Aneka Mittendorff - N/A

• Marisa van der Meer - Wellington Phoenix (NZ/AUS)

• Macey Fraser - Wellington Phoenix (NZ/AUS)

• Gabi Rennie - Arizona State University (USA)

• Amelia Abbott - University of Texas (USA)

• Maggie Jenkins - University of Central Florida (USA)

• Grace Wisnewski - Wellington Phoenix (NZ/AUS)

• Kelli Brown – Macarthur Rams/Wellington Phoenix (NZ/AUS)

• Jayda Stewart - Coastal Spirit/Canterbury United Pride (NZ)

• Britney Cunningham-Lee - Ellerslie (NZ)

• Laney Strachan - Eastern Suburbs (NZ)

• Genevieve Ryan - Rider University (USA)

• Maya Hahn - Turbine Potsdam (GER)

• Ayla Pratt - Hamilton Wanderers (NZ)

• Rose Luxton - N/A

• Arabella Maynard - N/A

• Georgia Candy - Wellington Phoenix (NZ/AUS)

• Blair Currie - Spring Arbor University/South Georgia Tormenta (USA)

• [Aniela Jensen - University of the Pacific (USA)]

• [Rylee Godbold - Wofford University (USA)]

• [Casey Klyn - Queenstown AFC (NZ)]

Curious that only two of them are playing professionally overseas, Leat and Hahn, although that could hopefully change in the coming weeks with a few of those uni students having graduated. There is still that chunk at the Wellington Phoenix too. Should add the context that Kelli Brown scored absolute bundles in the New South Wales NPL with Macarthur Rams prior to re-signing with the Nix. She pocketed 23 goals in 27 games to finish runner-up for Golden Boot as her Rams team won the state championship.

Blair Currie also spent some time with a semi-pro USLW team (Tormenta FC) during her college offseason. Fellow goalie Georgia Candy (the backup goalies were the only two of the squad not to get minutes in Uruguay thanks to Anna Leat’s magnificence) hasn’t resurfaced at a new club since being released by the Nix but was a Phoenix scholarship player for the first half of last year making one appearance in the ALW.

Already mentioned that three of them played NZ National League in 2023. A few others were nestled slightly below that level. Ayla Pratt (now Ayla Koopu) scored seven goals for Hamilton Wanderers to be the club’s top scorer but they didn’t qualify for WNL (Britney Cunningham-Lee was the NRFL Premier Division Golden Boot with 11 goals). Laney Strachan played a little bit for Eastern Suburbs during the winter season but didn’t partake in the National League stuff. The internet wasn’t forthcoming with much information on the others, though Arabella Maynard has played some NPL in Australia before so who knows she could be tucked away somewhere unpublicised (or injured, as the case may be – another sad note is that Grace Wisnewski and Marisa van der Meer are both currently sidelined with ACL tears).

Gotta be honest, when you look at it in this context it feels like there ought to be a lot more going on. Despite what they achieved there isn’t much to separate this group from most other U17s waves as far as their professional/international graduates go. Which is another part of the fascination. Our greatest ever FIFA tournament performance and five years later two of them are playing for different countries, several others have been out of sight playing (or not playing as the case may be) at USA universities, the team’s tactics now appear outdated, and the captain is no longer even playing the sport.

But then this was only the five-year check. The night is yet young. Let us see how things are looking after ten. And no matter what has happened since or what will happen in the future, none of it diminishes what they accomplished in Uruguay in 2018 – a truly astounding achievement that genuinely might never be matched... although we’ll always keep on trying.

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