All Whites in the FIFA Series 2026: The Reaction
Game by game, window by window, this All Whites team has been trying to figure out how to win. They’ve gotten to where they can consistently competing against more fancied nations but haven’t often been able to turn those performances into results. Immediately after booking qualification for the World Cup, they pulled off a fantastic victory by beating reigning African champions Ivory Coast 1-0 on neutral soil in America... but that was followed by an eight-game winless streak. One draw and seven losses. None of the defeats were by more than two goal margins but equally in none of those games (nor in the Ivory Coast win) did the All Whites themselves score more than once.
That might help explain what happened in the eighth of those games when they lost 2-0 against Finland at Eden Park last Friday night. It was a strangely tame performance from the AWs. For twenty minutes it was a bang-even game in which New Zealand more than held their own but then they conceded a very soft goal from a corner kick and completely lost their way (until a few substitutes with something to prove got amongst it towards the end). Here was a match where they might have felt their efforts would finally be rewarded in the scoreline. But nope, they fell behind and lacked the belief and experience to retaliate. It’s not so much about how they conceded as it was the response (or lack thereof). They looked like a defeated team for the rest of that half, all because of one goal.
That’s probably because the last time the All Whites won after conceding the first goal was way back in September 2009 against Jordan. Conceded in the second minute... before a brace from Shane Smeltz and a Rory Fallon goal flipped that into a 3-1 win at the King Abdullah International Stadium. From the current squad, only Chris Wood and Kosta Barbarouses had debuted at that time and neither were involved... meaning there’s not a single player in the current All Whites set-up who has ever won a senior international after falling behind. There have been draws from losing positions, of course, but draws don’t move the needle. The All Whites are thirsting for wins... but this vicious cycle declares that they need to win games in order to learn how to win games.
Turns out all it required to break the cycle was a cheeky serving of good luck. Like, oh dunno, how about a first half red card while the game’s still scoreless? Sure, that’ll do it. But there are red cards that happen out of nowhere (shout out VAR) and there are red cards that feel like an extension of the flow of the game. Darío Osorio was sent off for Chile against New Zealand after getting two yellows in a short space of time, the second of those being a deliberate bit of obstruction to stop an attack after McCowatt won the ball near halfway and Barbarouses tried to counter. The All Whites were already on top of the game, having had a Tyler Bindon headed goal disallowed for offside, and the red card came as a direct consequence of that pressure.
And if Joe Bell and Marko Stamenić were already bossing the midfield against even numbers then naturally they were going to take even more control with the numerical advantage. Chile didn’t find any grounding until they made four half-time substitutions and by then they were already two goals down. And they still conceded twice more. So don’t discredit what the kiwis did merely because there was a red card involved.
Also, three of those four goals were scored from set piece situations and you can’t whine about only having ten men when it comes to corner kicks. Pull your striker back if you need to. If the outlets aren’t there then that’s one thing but if the numbers in the box aren’t there then that’s your own wonky priorities. If Kosta Barbarouses is wide open unmarked free as a bird at the back post from a corner then that’s nothing more than crap defending. The other two set piece goals (Just and Waine) both came from second phase stuff where New Zealand reacted faster after Chile failed to clear their lines, sorry to say that’s also in the category of subpar defence. Not to mention the disallowed Bindon goal from a free kick delivery. It looked like the kiwis could score from every set piece situation, it was crazy.
The All Whites capitalised on all that... and the All Whites won. They triumphed, they succeeded, they were victorious. After scoring the crucial first goal they kicked on and scored a bunch more, thriving against a vulnerable opponent and showing the ruthless attitudes that winning teams possess. Pats on the back for whoever pinpointed Chile as potential opponents because this was exactly what the All Whites needed in their last game before the World Cup squad is announced. Not every victory needs to contain drama befitting the milestone. Just win the thing. Capture the feeling and learn how to repeat it. They kinda wet the bed against Finland but the rebound performance makes that irrelevant.
This was also the first time that New Zealand have ever beaten a South American opponent in a senior men’s international. Beginning with a 4-0 loss against Brazil at the 1982 World Cup, the tally has risen to 20 games against South American nations in the years since and this was win number one - careful how you word that though, because the Football Ferns did beat Brazil 1-0 in Sao Paulo in 2015 so it’s only the blokes who were lagging. To be fair, our record in Aotearoa is very decent: 0-0 vs Chile in 1998 (Auckland), 0-2 vs Paraguay in 2010 (Wellington), 0-0 vs Peru in 2017 (Wellington), and 4-1 vs Chile in 2026 (Auckland). They should come visit more often, aye?
In terms of the quality of opponent, this doesn’t tip over the Ivory Coast win as Bazeley’s Best... but the scoreline and the performance surely exceed it. Plus of course the context that matters most is the World Cup in a couple months and this was a confidence-boosting statement win from a squad that needed both of those things, as well as some hometown hype, ahead of their return to the biggest stage of all.
World Cup Squad Watch
Stocks Up
Kosta Barbarouses – Coming into this window, the striker order had flipped with Ben Waine scoring FA Cup winners and rejuvenating his career in England and Kosta Barbarouses having been dropped to the bench by the worst team in the A-League. Hence Waine started game one and Kosta got the second (with each coming off the bench in the other)... but with respect to Waineo’s usual hustle and energy (as well as a goal vs Chile), he was outshone by Kosta across this window. KB was bright off the bench against Finland and then tremendous against Chile, winning both fouls that led to the red card and scoring that crucial opening goal. His off-ball movement was amazing, always in motion, always capturing defensive attention. Chris Wood is the undisputed starting striker and, if fully fit, he’s doing ninety minutes in any World Cup game that’s still in the balance. But it’s now clear once again that Kosta Barbarouses should be his back-up. As for Waine, well he also got some time on the left wing so he’ll be fine. All three of them will be on the plane.
Jesse Randall – He was a rare spark against Finland (that one stepover he did, bruh) to earn a start against Chile where he delivered his finest display thus far with a fern on his chest. He was already a World Cup certainty and now he’s looking like he might be getting some chunky minutes once he gets there. In a team with a lot of forwards who like to drift around and lurk between the lines, Randall is a straight runner who’ll get in behind and who can take on defenders 1v1 and having a guy like that on the pitch makes such a difference. Does have a tendency to chop back infield a tad too often but that’s offset by having overlapping fullbacks to keep the width (such as Cacace and Old). There should be awards handed out to the scouting team at Dundee United because they’ve done some glorious free transfer work here.
Lachlan Bayliss – He broke down the door with a couple months of superb A-League form... and there was just enough from him off the bench in these games, particularly on debut against Finland where he played in midfield and really tried to move the ball in positive ways, to ensure he’ll be sticking around. Whether he makes the World Cup squad will depend on the next few months – a starring role in an A-League championship with Newcastle Jets would certainly help and a transfer overseas (like Randall’s) wouldn’t go astray either. He’s done all he can to this point and we’ll see how it all unfolds from here.
Stocks Down
Bill Tuiloma – Started both games at right-back against Colombia and Ecuador last window... but this time Tim Payne and Callan Elliot shared those duties while Tuiloma watched from the sideline the entire way through. He was there to be the third-up central defender and even in games where they allowed a ridiculous eight substitutions (and Baze used all of them) he never got called upon. He and Michael Woud were the only players not used at all. Tui covers two positions and they didn’t use him in either. With Michael Boxall to return, and Nando Pijnaker and George Stanger also in contention, not sure if that bodes particularly well for him.
Andre De Jong – There just isn’t an obvious role for him in this team. ADJ did get on in both games (as a late-ish sub), doing a mix of nine and ten, but as with other appearances he didn’t make much impact. You get the feeling he needs speed and directness around him to bring out his crafty best. The other thing is that he’s got this reputation in South Africa as a permanently underrated player who does so much good but subtle work that allows others to score the goals and get the assists. But, like, we’ve already got a bunch of those guys. What we need are the ones who’ll score the goals and get the assists. Unlucky for ADJ but there isn’t gonna be a spot for him unless somebody gets injured.
James McGarry – He was decent in his cameos, it’s nothing that he did wrong. But it was already doubtful that he’d make the WC squad with Libby Cacace and Francis De Vries ahead of him and now it turns out that Ben Old is ahead of him too. And this Ben Old at Left Back thingamjig is for real. His coach at St-Etienne compared his conversion to that of Bixente Lizarazu (a World Cup winning LB for France in 1998) and after seeing consecutive ASSE coaches embrace the switch, he’s now had a go for his national team. Old started ahead of McGarry against Chile. You can see a few areas where he’s still learning the position but you can also see how that role enhances some of his finest qualities (most of all his progressive carries, picking up the ball from deep and charging into space like he used to do for the Phoenix). As a winger, he’s usually collecting it higher up where his sketchy crossing and shooting are more in focus. Oldy won’t start ahead of Libby Cacace but tell ya what he’s on course to nudge FDV aside next time that Cacace’s absent. That’s fine for De Vries, his world class crossing abilities will still earn him a ticket (we’ve seen him chucked on as a winger before by Bazeley for that reason). But that’s where we’ll have to draw the line for left-backs.
One position that hasn’t shifted as much as people might think is the goalkeeping spot. Max Crocombe played against Finland. Should have done better with the second goal, perhaps, but was otherwise solid and showed off some improved long passing accuracy that he must have been working on with Millwall. Alex Paulsen played against Chile and made a couple good saves and was as sharp as ever with his short passing, though also dove over the one he conceded. Paulsen was part of a winning performance... but Crocombe was in goal for the win vs Ivory Coast.
We’re going around in circles if we think that these games have done anything to the depth chart. The fact is that they’re neck and neck and have been for two years. They’re different enough that the decision is going to be less about ability and more about tactical preference and there’s a strong case to be made for either one. There is no wrong answer. It’s simply about which skill set Baze and his staff decide to lean upon.
The Case For Alex Paulsen:
Has settled relatively smoothly into European football in a very tough environment playing for Lechia Gdansk in Poland – his first excursion beyond the A-League (which he clocked with two different teams)
Will continue to play regularly leading up to the World Cup as Lechia’s number one keeper, whereas Crocombe may not play again for Millwall after they signed a new number one in January
Cat-like reflexes and the ability to make freaky, sometimes unorthodox, saves
Superb short-passing game with complete calmness on the ball
In his short international career, AP has already kept goal in several positive results outside of Oceania: 4-0 vs Malaysia, 1-1 vs Norway, and 4-1 vs Chile
The Case For Max Crocombe:
Far more experienced than Paulsen, who is nine years his junior, having played in many more big games throughout his career (from relegation six-pointers to deep FA Cup rounds to promotion playoffs) - that includes his international experience where Crocs has 22 caps compared to 6 for Paulsen
Has been in career-best form this season, having adjusted to the English Championship with great success and keeping nine clean sheets in 23 matches to help push Millwall into the playoff picture... form that is considerably better than Paulsen’s over the full span of the season
His anticipated lack of games over the next few months is overrated - this is a guy who has made his career by staying ready and then taking his opportunity when it comes around so if anyone can handle that it’s Max Crocombe
Quite a bit taller than Paulsen and physically sturdier, lacking the same ability with his passing but he does have a massive boot and is a very reliable shot-stopper who rarely makes mistakes
Crocs is also the world’s greatest time-waster, a very useful trait to have if you’re 1-0 up and clinging on late in a match against Belgium, Iran, or Egypt... hypothetically speaking
One thing that does not apply in The Case For Alex Paulsen is A-League accessibility bias. Paulsen has been a standout for both the Wellington Phoenix and Auckland FC so the combined local fanbases are going to prefer him... but Darren Bazeley is a diligent old fella who watches almost as much footy as yours truly and he’ll know that AP has been making a few mistakes over in Poland. There are goals he’s conceded that you’d have banked on him making for WP or AFC (which he did make for those teams).
AP’s still been good. Lechia has improved massively since he arrived. But he’s been good whereas Crocombe has been great. Crocs did nothing worthy of losing his starting job, it’s just that a dude with more Championship experience and a previous working relationship with the Millwall coach happened to become available for loan and they jumped at it. Darren Bazeley kept faith with Matt Garbett when he was unfairly sidelined last season. He stuck firm with Ben Waine throughout his struggles. He’s a loyal coach and if he believes that Crocombe is his dude then it won’t matter if he’s stuck on the bench for his club for a couple of months. That’s what warm-up games are for. Once again, there’s a solid case for either so it’s simply a matter of preference. Either way the All Whites are going to have a very good goalkeeper between the sticks.
Alex Paulsen (Lechia Gdansk) vs Max Crocombe (Millwall) 2025-26 Stats
| Alex Paulsen | Max Crocombe | |
|---|---|---|
| Minutes | 1530 | 2070 |
| Games | 17 | 23 |
| Goals Conceded | 27 | 25 |
| xGOT Faced | 22.43 | 28.18 |
| Goals Prevented | -4.71 | 3.36 |
| Save Percentage | 65.40% | 75.70% |
| Clean Sheets | 2 | 9 |
| Errors Leading to Goal | 2 | 1 |
| Saves Per Game | 3.00 | 3.39 |
| Sweeps per Game | 0.76 | 0.48 |
| High Claims per Game | 1.53 | 0.61 |
| Passing Accuracy | 58.30% | 40.90% |
| Long Ball Accuracy | 31.80% | 27.40% |
In the preview article for this window, it was speculated that these fellas have already guaranteed their World Cup selection...
GK - Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen
DEF - Michael Boxall, Finn Surman, Tyler Bindon, Tim Payne, Liberato Cacace, Francis de Vries
MID - Joe Bell, Marko Stamenić, Ryan Thomas, Matt Garbett, Alex Rufer
FWD - Sarpreet Singh, Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, Ben Old, Chris Wood, Jesse Randall, Ben Waine, Kosta Barbarouses
Any doubts about Randall or Barbarouses have been shot out of a cannon after the Chile game. Ben Waine has not only resolved his club dramas, he’s also been getting lots of minutes out on the wing to give him the kinda versatility that reaffirms his place. Fitness permitting, the only other player that any logical person could even argue about from that list would be Alex Rufer. He did only get about twenty minutes in this window but we know that Bazeley values his leadership and he’s trusted him enough to start games against Ecuador, Malaysia, and Tunisia in recent years. Nah, Roof’s gonna be there. But have we learned anything more about the five remaining spots up for grabs?
We’ve learned that Callan Elliot’s got the jump as the reserve right-back. We’ve learned that Lachlan Bayliss is capable of hanging around. We’ve learned that Bill Tuiloma’s on shaky ground yet could still crack it as a reserve central defender. We’ve learned nothing about the GK3 spot which is good news for Kees Sims (and maaaybe Henry Gray). We’ve learned nothing in particular about the fringe spots that Logan Rogerson and Andre De Jong are clinging to. In summary, we haven’t learned anything definitive and that’s okay, that means those spots are still up for grabs and everyone stays motivated heading back to their clubs.
More Reaction
A word on the Chilean team... obviously they sucked on Monday night at Eden Park (a pity because their fan support was incredible). Obviously they’re nothing like the team that made it to the knockouts of the World Cup in both 2010 and 2014 when they had dudes like Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez, and Claudio Bravo. They just came last in South American World Cup qualifying and are therefore working with an interim coach and a lot of new players. But there’s a difference between rebuilding and sending a B-team. The squad that they took to Aotearoa was young and it was inexperienced... but it wasn’t rotated.
Chilean journo Rocio Ayala, as quoted by RedGol: “Once the match was over, the New Zealand journalists asked us, from this Chilean team that appeared in the friendly, how many will be considered for the next World Cup cycle. They asked whether these players were on trial or how many players had been rested or why not all the starters came... with the obvious lack of knowledge of kilometers away. We told them that today this is what we have.”
With respect to that lack of knowledge of kilometres away, Chilean fans with no context about the New Zealand team seeing this at a time when their own team is at rock bottom is quite hilarious...
Another dose of context is that Chile played Peru in November (hosted in Russia for some reason) and in that game Ivan Roman was sent off after 32 minutes, a direct red for a last-man foul that also cost is team a penalty. Peru scored from the spot to take the lead... but Chile, with ten men, fought back to win 2-1. This time they copped a red at a very similar time and ended up losing 4-1, so there’s an extra reason not to dismiss what happened on Monday night simply because Chile played most of it with ten men. Coincidence: Dario Osorio scored the winner vs Peru and then was the guy sent off vs NZ.
There was a funky tweak in the Chile game with Callum McCowatt used though the middle and Elijah Just out wide on the right. At first glance that might feel counter-intuitive given how those two operate for their clubs but it makes a lot of sense in this capacity. Just plays across the forward line for Motherwell, a team that keeps a lot of possession and likes to pick opponents apart in the attacking third. The All Whites don’t play that way. We tend to want to whip the ball into the area quickly hence there isn’t the same freedom to roam for the central attacking midfielder, room that Just is more likely to find as a winger drifting infield (with an overlapping fullback), hence it helps if the CAM is someone who can get into the area or run in behind... things that fit McCowatt’s skills more. And Just is gonna do the same stuff no matter where you put him. He’s irrepressible.
The most enthralling positional detail was the five minutes we got to see with Joe Bell, Marko Stamenić, and Ryan Thomas all on the pitch at the same time. Quite possibly the three most talented midfielders our fine nation has ever produced (if not now, give it a few years and it’ll be undeniable) sharing the field for the first time ever. They’re different ages so it never happened at youth level. No two of them have ever overlapped at the same club. There’s been lots of pairings between them for the AWs, especially Bell and Stamenić, but it took until now to get all three together. Thomas played the advanced role despite them all being defensive midfielders for their clubs. That’ll push the team into more of a 4-3-3 shape if they pursue this at the World Cup... which they probably should. The midfield battle is always so important and with those three we’ve got a chance. It’d mean one less forward in the starting team but for games of that magnitude it’s a concession that needs to be made. It’s also the simplest way to attend to the mantra of getting your best players on the field together.
All Whites In Darren Bazeley Era
When they concede the first goal:
0 W – 3 D – 11 L (6 GF, 23 GA)
When they score the first goal:
12 W – 1 D – 1 L (53 GF, 7 GA)
When they score first excluding OFC:
4 W – 1 D – 1 L (13 GF, 7 GA)
The game that they lost after scoring first was against Sweden in Bazeley’s third game in charge (June 2023). Callum McCowatt put NZ ahead for them to get smoked 4-1 by the end of it. The non-Oceania wins have come against China (2-1), Malaysia (4-0), Ivory Coast (1-0), and now Chile (4-1)... three of those games being on home soil and one a neutral venue. They also scored first in the 1-1 draw against Norway a few windows ago. The All Whites have been able to salvage 1-1 draws after conceding first against Congo, Ireland, and USA. There have also been two 0-0 draws in which neither happened (vs China & Tunisia) plus an abandoned game vs Qatar in which we were 1-0 up.
Players who started against both Ivory Coast and Chile: Finn Surman, Tyler Bindon, Joe Bell, Marko Stamenić, Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt & Kosta Barbarouses.
The All Whites have won 9/9 games in which Elijah Just has scored, a stat that gets even more impressive when you realised that includes three wins outside Oceania: Malaysia, Ivory Coast & Chile.
That was Kosta Barbarouses’ 10th goal for the All Whites, making him one of 18 men to have hit that total (with Ben Waine and Eli Just close behind with 9 goals each)... yet it was the first goal that Kosta has scored outside of Oceania since... a 2-2 draw with El Salvador in May 2012. Almost 14 years ago. He’s the third-most capped All Whites player ever, just quietly, having risen up to 74 caps.
Tim Payne has reached 50 caps for the All Whites thanks to these two starts. He’s the 21st man to reach that milestone and joins current players Chris Wood (88), Kosta Barbarouses (74), Michael Boxall (61), and Tommy Smith (56) in that realm. Bill Tuiloma is closing in with 47 caps, although he didn’t add to that in this series. Next up among active players, believe it or not, is Elijah Just with 42 caps. That’s what happens when you’re always available – Just has only missed six games since his debut.
The centre-back spot is a lot like the goalies. Michael Boxall wouldn’t have made the mistake that Tyler Bindon did to allow Chile their consolation goal... but Bindon was magnificent up until then, winning countless headers and even carrying the ball forward a few times. Finn Surman and Michael Boxall had nudged ahead while Bindon was having trouble settling at Sheffield United. Now he’s one of the Blades’ top players and we’re back where we were with three superb CBs to fit into a team that can only accommodate two of them (at least from the start, there’s always the possibility of closing games in a three). Just like the keepers, there’s no wrong answer and whichever way you slice it there’ll be a classy combination. Nothing to worry about. The question is more around how many others will get to tag along since Pijnaker, Tuiloma, and Stanger are all in the hunt yet it may be that only one of them is required.
The crowds for these games were pretty good at Eden Park: 17,603 for the Finland game on Friday and 14,327 for the Chile game on Monday. Would have been higher had the weather not been atrocious all week (shout out to the Chileans for boosting the numbers for a Monday night friendly). Both of those are higher attendances than anything Auckland FC have had since the 16k they drew on New Year’s Day (and only the 22k they got for the Derby tops the Finland crowd). Kinda cool that there were also 23k at Mt Smart Stadium on Friday night for the Warriors... meaning over 40,000 people were sporting events in Auckland that night without a rugby union ball in sight.
Tim Payne was great against Chile so the fact that he gave the ball away three times in the opening two minutes against Finland, really struggling to stay afloat there, is forgiven. You can see a difference between the tempo of the A-League players versus the tempo of the non-ALM guys but this is New Zealand and we don’t have a hundred Champions League calibre players to choose from so we make it work. And if anyone is still questioning Payne’s status as the starting right-back then note down that he took two of the three corners that NZ scored from as well as the inswinging free kick for the disallowed Bindon goal. Jesse Randall took the other one. Joe Bell was probably the next-up candidate but because Payne was taking those set pieces instead, it meant Bellinho could hover on the edge of the area for those half-clearances where he can either stroke a perfect cross into Eli Just’s path for an assist or he can do things like this...
The goal that wasn’t from a set piece deserves some focus too. It began with Chile on the attack with a free kick. That ball ended up in Alex Paulsen’s hands and he quickly rolled it out to Payne already on the move. From there they went back and forth from Barbarouses to Surman to Payne to Bell who opened up the field with a square pass to Stamenić. The ball then went from Old to Randall back to Bell on the edge of the Chilean penalty area. Chipped ball to Barbarouses on the angle. Side-foot back across goal. Touch off a defender with Eli Just challenging, poached on the line by Randall. From goalkeeper to goal in 35 seconds. 11 passes involving eight different players (ten if you count the off-ball contributions of McCowatt and especially Just). That’s champagne footy, baby.
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