All Whites Tour of China & Japan: The Reaction
Four games in one window is a lot to digest. Marko Stamenić and Elijah Just got more minutes during this window than they did at the World Cup... which Swansea City’s sports scientists will no doubt be stoked about. That wasn’t quite the same trend across the board. There were a few concessions made along the way (such as Chris Wood only playing the last two games), although far fewer than there could have been. After an initial free-hitter with a rotated team against Palestine (which wasn’t even televised), it was serious selections the rest of the way with the baseline quintet of Tyler Bindon, Marko Stamenić, Elijah Just, Alex Paulsen, and Ben Old starting all three of the remaining fixtures against China, Panama, and Japan. Would’ve been the case for Woodsy too had he arrived in time (and Finn Surman had he not been injured)... and if that’s the spine of the team throughout this next four-year cycle then we’re doing okay.
Serious selections mean that the All Whites were gunning for results and what do ya know that’s what they got: a win, two draws, and a narrow defeat. They scored in all four matches. Probably would have won the Palestine game had they picked a stronger eleven (though had they done that, of course, it would have compromised performances against Panama and Japan due to tired legs)... not that we can say that for sure because while our 3-0 win over China involved some of the most sumptuous footy seen from this All Whites incarnation, particularly the delightful second goal, gotta point out that Palestine beat China 5-0 afterwards. Even if there was rotation involved in both directions, that’s comprehensive enough to make our 2-2 draw against Palestine look much better. Also the draw against Panama was followed up by a victorious penalty shootout so that was better than it sounds too. It was still a draw, not a win, but the shootout victory did add some gloss to the occasion. Moses Dyer converting a panenka should inspire generations worth of tales around the campfire.
This was not a full-strength squad either. Finn Surman got injured. Joe Bell was rested. Chris Wood and Michael Boxall only played the last two matches. Callum McCowatt only played the first two after getting a head knock vs China. Guys like Tim Payne and Ryan Thomas were unavailable. Libby Cacace and Matt Garbett weren’t fit. Garbs is back in action as of this week but Cacace’s going to be a lot longer after yet another set-back with his recurring calf issues. He’s off to see a specialist in London to get to the bottom of whether Wrexham are poisoning him or what.
That they were able to do that without a drop-off in results is another sign of healthy progress. George Stanger looks to be the big winner of that lottery, appearing in all four games with two starts. Dane Ingham was quite prominent too, albeit not quite as convincing (though better than expected, fair play to him). Dalton Wilkins was given a lighter workload given his injury history but got at least ten minutes in every game and covered a variety of positions. Then there are guys like Henry Gray and Lachlan Bayliss who didn’t do anything excessive here but who each began writing a story that’ll be expanded upon when their A-League campaigns get going.
Formation Flexibility
Along with a decent set of results, we also saw a few tactical tweaks along the way. For the game against China, where New Zealand was more reasonably expected to dominate (and we did), Callum McCowatt and Elijah Just were picked in midfield to partner Marko Stamenić. The latter sat deep while the formers operated in more attacking roles giving the formation a 4-1-4-1 kinda look. Similar to the role that Just has been given at Swansea City and McCowatt’s certainly done that stuff in Denmark on many occasions but we don’t often see the All Whites operating without two tacklers in the midfield. Stamenić and Bell or maybe Rufer or Thomas – prior to this tour, there had been 23 consecutive games in which at least two of those four were in the eleven. Against China, Stamenić was entrusted with those duties alone and that was no issue at all because he’s fast becoming the most valuable player in Darren Bazeley’s squad. And Swansea City’s for that matter.
And in a very different test against Japan, more reflective of where they fell short at the World Cup when the All Whites were unable to withstand long stretches of defending against much stronger opponents, the tweak was to bring George Stanger into a back three alongside Michael Boxall and Tyler Bindon. Again, nothing unusual about that for those guys. Stanger’s Kilmarnock have improved vastly since moving away from a back three but he did start the season in that shape, while Michael Boxall plays that role all the time for Minnesota United and Tyler Bindon spent all preseason trying to learn the Oliver Glasner model with Nottingham Forest. Bazeley’s not asking anyone to do anything they’re not comfortable with. However, the All Whites hadn’t started with three CBs since the very first game of Darren Bazeley’s interim tenure. That was a 0-0 draw in which we were overly defensive and the players prompted a more balanced approach from then onwards. But you can still be balanced in a 3-4-2-1. All depends on the players you have in those positions and the attributes they bring to the party.
Hard to say whether the back three thing worked. They certainly knuckled down in defence although there were still a couple of sparse errors that cost them goals in a 2-1 defeat. Plus with the extra man back against a team that set themselves up very high, all that really left for the All Whites going forward was the counter attack. They scored one superb goal via those means... but once Chris Wood got subbed that flame was extinguished. There was also an inkling that by playing deeper they invited more pressure than necessary upon themselves. Jury’s still deliberating on that one, but what has to be said is that they tried something. They took lessons from the World Cup and are searching for solutions. That’s what we wanna see.
Brewing Goals & The Chris Wood Factor
Here’s a stat for you... since the beginning of the World Cup, the All Whites have scored in seven consecutive fixtures all against non-Oceania opposition. 2-2 vs Iran, 1-3 vs Egypt, 1-5 vs Belgium, 2-2 vs Palestine, 3-0 vs China, 1-1 vs Panama, 1-2 vs Japan. It wasn’t that long ago that they went six such games in a row without scoring once (the last five of Danny Hay’s tenure and the first game of Baze’s) now here we are and they’ve hit the net in seven consecutive, with a couple of top-20 ranked opponents in there. The last time they’d even gone five such games in a row in 2013. To find seven scoring games in a row you’ve gotta reach all the way back to a ten-game span between 1983-84 (which is a little slippery because it includes games against Australia, who were part of Oceania at the time, and some smaller Asian nations within Olympic qualifying). If you’re wondering what the record is, it’s 14 games in a row set in the first 14 international games that New Zealand ever played between 1922 and 1936, all against either Australia or Canada.
But there’s something else about this current streak of goal-scoring: Chris Wood has not scored any of them. He actually hasn’t scored an international goal since netting against Australia at Mt Smart Stadium in September 2025. Woodsy has zero of the past 17 goals scored by the All Whites. Others are chipping in around him – in fact he didn’t start in any of the past three victories for this team (1-0 vs Ivory Coast, 4-1 vs Chile, and 3-0 vs China). Since Wood last scored for the AWs, the following players have all found the net: Elijah Just (4), Ben Waine (3), Finn Surman (2), Ben Old (2), Jesse Randall (2), Kosta Barbarouses, Tyler Bindon, Owen Parker-Price, Marko Stamenić. Even the defenders are in amongst it!
Is that a sign that he’s falling off? Well, no, because he’s got three assists from his past five caps and has been pretty awesome in most of those games, especially the draw against Iran (the highlights package of his hold-up play from that game has since entered the aggregator rotation). He tends to play bigger minutes in the toughest games too, no doubt he’d have found a way to get a couple notches on the scoresheet had he played 180 minutes against Palestine and China. But that’s not the point.
The point is that for years people have asked whether the All Whites are doing enough to maximise their lone Premier League player yet if you look at how he’s been used at Burnley and Nottingham Forest, it’s not like they ever built their teams around him. First of all, he’s a lovely player but let’s be honest he’s not Lionel Messi. But also they didn’t have to build around him. Woodsy’s reputation is that of a good old fashioned big man up top and while there’s nothing untrue about that, it undersells what he does. Wood is more mobile than he gets credit for (as we saw with his assist for Ben Old’s goal against Japan – send that clip to Oliver Glasner). He’s gotten superb at getting those first-time passes out towards his running wingers. He’s an underrated presser, never shy to track back. Unselfish and adaptable (those traits often go hand in hand). You don’t have to play one certain way for him to be effective and being deferential towards him would only make the All Whites one-dimensional. Instead, they’re forging something that functions irrespective of him so that he can feed off the energy around him like the poacher that he is at heart. He’s not an instigator, he’s a very intelligent and experienced reactor. And that’s how you get the most out of him.
Also, you know, he’s about to turn 35 years old and while there’s still every chance he’s still doing his thing at the next World Cup, it’s a little too late to be centring him in the tactics. Elijah Just and Marko Stamenić are worthy conductors, with the likes of Matt Garbett, Callum McCowatt, Ryan Thomas, Joe Bell, and Sarpreet Singh all offering depth in those spots (along with hope for Lachlan Bayliss and Owen Parker-Price). Compare that to the cliff-drop between Wood and any of the replacement strikers and shifting the focus a little deeper also becomes far more sustainable, less dependent on a singular figure.
Elijah Just and the 50-Cappers
Elijah Just brought up his 50th international cap against Panama, by the way. Pretty rare air for a bloke who is exactly 26 years and 5 months old to have already surpassed his half-century. In the team’s history, only 21 men had previously managed that feat across their entire careers. That includes the record holder Chris Wood who is rounding the bend towards his hundy (95 caps at current count). Michael Boxall (68) and Tim Payne (55) are also up there as current players, as are Kosta Barbarouses (76) and Tommy Smith (56) though it’s very likely the international days of those two are over.
Bill Tuiloma is on 49 caps and for context, Bill Tuiloma is five years older than Elijah Just and debuted in October 2013. Elijah Just debuted in November 2019. That does suggest that we play more games these days, which is true, but it’s also true that the All Whites have played 57 games since (and including) the 3-1 loss to Ireland in November 2019 that saw Elijah Just make his debut (along with Joe Bell, Callum McCowatt, and Elliot Collier). 57 games and Just has only missed six of them...
W 1-0 vs Papua New Guinea in March 2022
W 7-1 vs New Caledonia in March 2022
L 0-1 vs Peru in June 2022
DNF vs Qatar in June 2023
L 0-1 vs Poland in October 2025
D 1-1 vs Norway in October 2025
We’ve got two World Cup qualifiers to begin with there, where teams were being rotated around. The Peru game was in preparation for the World Cup playoff against Costa Rica and he didn’t get off the bench, though he did get some minutes in the intercontinental playoff itself (very different time in all of these careers but, in hindsight, it doesn’t look amazing from coach Danny Hay that Alex Greive and Clayton Lewis started ahead of Elijah Just that day). Then we’ve got the abandoned game where Qatar got racist and the refs did nothing so the All Whites didn’t come out for the second half. Chances are Just would have featured had the game had been completed. He got injured for the October window last year and that’s it.
Joe Bell debuted in the same game and he only has 35 caps. As did Callum McCowatt with his 37 caps. Genuinely amazing how Elijah Just always seems to be available... even better that this trait belongs to a guy who is now one of our very best players. Marko Stamenić is not far behind either. He debuted a couple games later (which was also a couple years later due to covid) and is already up to 46 caps. He hasn’t missed very many either. Liberato Cacace and Ben Old both have 40 caps. Matt Garbett has 38 caps. And Tyler Bindon is on a similar journey having played in 32 of the 37 games since his debut in October 2023. This is the core of the team that’ll take us into the next World Cup and they’re starting to brew some serious experience at this level. Chris Wood is going to be the first NZ male to reach 100 caps but at least a couple of the lads mentioned in this paragraph should join him as centurions some bright day in the future.
| CAPS | GOALS | CAPS | GOALS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Wood | 95 | 45 | Duncan Cole | 58 | 4 |
| Ivan Vicelich | 88 | 6 | Chris Zorocich | 58 | 1 |
| Kosta Barbarouses | 76 | 10 | Leo Bertos | 56 | 0 |
| Simon Elliott | 69 | 6 | Ceri Evans | 56 | 2 |
| Michael Boxall | 68 | 1 | Tommy Smith | 56 | 2 |
| Vaughan Coveny | 64 | 29 | Michael McGlinchey | 55 | 5 |
| Ricki Herbert | 61 | 7 | Tim Payne | 55 | 3 |
| Chris Jackson | 60 | 10 | Michael McGarry | 54 | 12 |
| Brian Turner | 59 | 21 | Adrian Elrick | 53 | 1 |
| Steve Sumner | 58 | 22 | Jeremy Brockie | 51 | 1 |
| Shane Smeltz | 58 | 24 | Elijah Just | 51 | 12 |
And with that, the All Whites have shifted into 2030 World Cup preparation. It’s a case of evolution rather than revolution, building upon the foundations of the previous four years. Next we’ll see them back in Aotearoa for a pair of friendlies against India in November which should draw pretty big crowds in Auckland and Christchurch and should also, realistically, provide more goals and a couple of victories. Darren Bazeley’s contract runs down after that tour and whether he stays on or not will be a matter for NZF’s tournament review post-World Cup. Cross that bridge when we come to it.
More Stats & Reaction
Minutes Distribution During Sep-Oct ‘26 Window…
Tyler Bindon and Marko Stamenić playing every minute of the last three games, those fellas are indefatigable. Especially Stam doing that in the midfield after a much busier club season thus far.
There were some big movers during this tour. Most of it was telegraphed by the squad selection but guys still had to back that up with performances and Alex Paulsen, for one, did exactly that. He started all three of the serious games and was excellent. He’s been in wonderful form since moving to Motherwell although had allowed a couple errors to creep into his performances in recent weeks. No sign of that here. Especially against Japan where his hands were flawless, his distribution was as good as it was allowed to be by the deeper formation (the accuracy of his long balls still need lots of work), he made all the saves he could reasonably be expected to make, and most enticing was how great he was with the aerial stuff. Plus he saved a penalty in the shootout against Panama.
If you haven’t really checked in on Alex Paulsen since he left the A-League, you’ll be shocked to hear that his shootout save vs Panama was his first penalty save since May 2025 when he denied Kosta Grozos of Newcastle Jets whilst playing for Auckland FC. Even then, his record for AFC was one save from four which is right around the world average at 75%. Since then he’s gone 0/5 for Lechia Gdańsk and 0/3 for Motherwell and there were some worries when he dove the right way for the first Panama take and still got nowhere near it. Those ‘short goalkeeper’ limitations again. But he made a very good save later on and his teammates backed up him by going 5/5. Sweet as.
The last time that the All Whites were in a penalty shootout was against Tunisia in a similar situation where it was a two-game friendly tournament. That was in March 2023, early in the Bazeley reign. Max Crocombe was in goal and we lost 4-2. Kosta Barbarouses and Alex Rufer both scored while Ben Waine and Elijah Just both missed. The previous time was when we won the Oceania Nations Cup on penalties in 2026, the crowning achievement of Anthony Hudson’s tenure when he was picking back fives to play in the Islands and we only drew 0-0 with Papua New Guinea in the final. Stefan Marinovic was in goal. We won the shootout 4-2 with Jeremy Brockie missing but Rory Fallon, Michael McGlinchey, Moses Dyer, and Marko Rojas all scoring. So, yeah, Moses Dyer has scored in each of the past two shootout victories for the All Whites... more than ten years apart.
With Libby Cacace caught in a swirling limbo of calf injuries with no signs of escape (they don’t even know how his latest set-back happened – the coach called it a mystery), we can’t just automatically think of him as a first eleven player. He got fit enough for long enough to feature at the World Cup but even then you could tell he wasn’t 100%, lacking his usual burst. Fortunately, Ben Old’s transitioned into a left-back at an ideal time and with how rapidly he’s adjusted to his new position, it’s getting to where even a fully fit Cacace might have to earn that place back.
Steve Corica popping by in between Yokohama Marinos games to support a few of his former Auckland FC cohorts...
Dalton Wilkins was the only dude to appear in all four games without starting at least two of them. He made zero starts but that probably had a bit to do with managing his minutes having only very recently gotten back to playing at all for his club side after all those recurring injuries. True to his versatile reputation, he made appearances at left-wing, right-wing, and left-back. Didn’t see him at right-back even though that’s arguably the spot where we could see him most moving forward, where there’s less competition for spots. It was mostly just about getting him back in the environment for this tour.
Wilkins, of course, is one of the Declan Edge x Ole Academy fellas and watching him get back into the national team set-up after some tough years of injuries really highlighted something else about that crew of players. The fact that there are half a dozen key players in the All Whites who all came through an independent academy like that is crazy enough, the fact that they’re also technical talents who’ve helped shift the playing style of the national team is even crazier. But something they don’t get enough credit is the mentality that those fellas all possess. Dalton Wilkins, Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, Nando Pijnaker, Owen Parker-Price, Matt Garbett, Marko Stamenić... none of those guys have had straightforward careers.
Wilkins has been blighted with injuries. Just was playing second tier in Austria not long ago. McCowatt’s had injuries and it took him a while to kick-on in Europe after a season with the Wellington Phoenix that didn’t really live up to the hype. Pijnaker bounced around Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, and Denmark before finally settling in Ireland and then back in Auckland. Parker-Price spent years in the lower leagues in Sweden before everything came to him in a belated hurry. Garbett had his exile at NAC Breda and the injury that ruled him out of the World Cup. Stamenić was written off pretty quickly at Nottingham Forest. But they’re all strong personalities, with confidence in what they have to offer, showing a perfect example of the resilience needed to make it as a kiwi footballer where nothing is going to come easy and you’re often going to be at a disadvantage. Many such examples in both the All Whites and Football Ferns of players who weren’t quite prepared for what they were getting into when they first moved overseas. Not these fellas, though.
Quick word to say that even if the game against Palestine was a late addition to the calendar and treated mostly as a training exercise... it was still a sham that a capped international fixture went by untelevised. Three New Zealanders made their international debuts in that game and none of their families were able to watch. Didn’t need to be a proper telly-quality broadcast... if NZF can livestream games from across the National League every week then surely they can at least give us some scouting camera video from a full international. Closed-door internationals should be illegal. Anyway, that’s enough whinging.
The established first eleven at the World Cup was: Crocombe; Payne, Surman, Boxall, Cacace; Bell, Stamenić; McCowatt, Singh, Just; Wood. That’s how they lined up against both Iran and Egypt, though Bindon and Thomas were promoted for the Belgium match. That was then and this is now. Alex Paulsen has overtaken Max Crocombe. Tyler Bindon has naturally ascended beyond Michael Boxall. Ben Old should be left-back tahi until further notice from Cacace and his baby cows. And there’s at least an argument to be had about whether a more out-and-out winger like Jesse Randall could nudge Sarpreet Singh out of the eleven. Also, Matt Garbett was on course to be in that first eleven until he got injured so that might actually he his incumbent spot anyway. Remember that you barely ever get to pick your idealised eleven in international football though. Gotta be flexible, gotta have options.
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