All Whites at the 2026 FIFA World Cup: Warm-Ups vs England
The loss against Haiti was rubbish from the All Whites but at least it was misleading rubbish. Most of the damage was done after Darren Bazeley began making wholesale changes, sharing the minutes around to get his whole squad moving. This stuff was all written about in the yarn from that game – there was plenty of reason to be annoyed at the scoreline and the performance... but as far as a predictor for the World Cup goes, it didn’t have much relevance. A missed opportunity to get some momentum going, perhaps, but nothing that was going to damage the World Cup campaign. In fact it might even have been a useful cold shower to remind everyone (including us fans) that this is an underdog All Whites team that hasn’t actually achieved a whole lot on the international stage yet.
England were in that same phase for this game. It was our second pre-tournament friendly but it was their first, hence coach Thomas Tuchel used two distinct elevens – one team in the first half, then eleven changes for a completely different team in the second half (seemed more cohesive to make all those changes at once, that might be a lesson for the next time we’re allowed that many subs). This is how everyone attacks these games so there was nothing about Bazeley’s approach vs Haiti that was abnormal. It’s the same with club footy where you can never, never, ever make judgements about the proper competition based on preseason friendlies... the Wellington Phoenix beat Wrexham and how did that turn out? Gotta keep everything in context: these warm-ups are all about putting the team in the best position for those World Cup games. They’re played with a bigger purpose in mind.
That context extends to the 1-0 loss against England. It would have been nice to nick a goal but purely in terms of the result, that was a pretty commendable effort from the kiwis. Being the last game before the stuff that really matters, Darren Bazeley took it more seriously and only made one half-time change (and it was based on loading not tactics). He did eventually make eleven substitutions though he left his starters out there for longer than he did last time and those starters were good. They were good against Haiti, they were better against England (it’s the bench where the drop-off happens but that’s to be expected). Most importantly, they were good in a way that reflects how they’ll need to be good against Iran, Egypt, and Belgium where possession is going to be more scarce and there’ll be opposition threats across the pitch, and staying organised and alert in defence is going to be absolutely essential. Haiti didn’t offer that but England did so it means more this time around.
Certain challenges come with the territory when facing a team of England’s quality - nobody’s going to keep up with Marcus Rashford for pace and winning headers against Marc Guehi is easier said than done - yet the focus and effort never wavered and they did pretty well to limit England’s opportunities until Harry Kane popped up on the stroke of half-time with a perfectly placed header. Lovely movement to get free and then he put the minimal amount of contact on his glancing touch to ensure it went bottom corner where Max Crocombe didn’t have a chance. We could have done better with the marking, sure... though the bigger issue was Matt Garbett slacking in closing down the crosser. That’s what happens at the very end of the half in the Florida heat. He got tired and England capitalised. Fine margins. Lesson learned.
Tell ya what, the All Whites did have some moments though. We made a couple things out there at Raymond James Stadium, in the shadow of the pirate ship on that splotchy temporary grass surface. It was quite encouraging to see lads working the ball out of pressure and accessing space. Early runs in behind posed a danger. Didn’t get enough service for Chris Wood but that’s perhaps not something we need to go crazy about – Woodsy is not the kind of player that you operate through as a focal point. In some of his best Premier League performances he’ll only have 20-odd touches of the ball. He’s the type of dude who will eat whatever’s put on the table, so as long as the guys around him are cooking then he’ll do what needs doing. And there was juuuust enough of that to be satisfied with here. Way more so in the first half than the second, when England’s fresh legs allowed them to take the transitional stuff out of the game, but that also comes with the territory.
All the same, we’ve gotta be careful taking too many conclusions from a friendly game where 44 different footballers took the field across both teams. We’re treading dangerously close to pisstake territory when that’s the case... and you could clearly see that England and New Zealand had different priorities (first warm-up vs last warm-up vibes, not to mention contenders vs hopefuls vibes). Very little of the English media coverage afterwards has even bothered to mention the All Whites unless it’s to have a sook along the lines of: “this lot lost 4-0 to Haiti and we could only score once against them?”. As if that’s got any relevance at all. When Chris Wood got cornered by the Sky Sports UK mic, they mostly just wanted to ask him about his Nottingham Forest teammate Elliot Anderson. In the pre-game presser he had to answer questions about Morgan Gibbs-White not being picked for England, Anderson’s transfer status, and England’s chances of winning the World Cup.
That’s cool, it beats being overanalysed by people who’ve never heard of Elijah Just or Finn Surman (having checked in with a few overseas previews of the All Whites, I can confirm they’re entirely useless). And the same rule applies about not overreacting to warm-up games after a horrible 4-0 defeat against what should have been an evenly matched opponent as it does after a commendable 1-0 loss to one of the best national teams on the planet. People will make noise just to make noise after these things. There’s an appetite for information with the World Cup brewing but these games simply aren’t that relevant, at least not in terms of results. Keep it steady, take it easy, and trust/hope that the All Whites have gotten what they need out of these two fixtures.
At least we can say they didn’t get what they didn’t need from them because there have been no fresh injuries. Ryan Thomas is still touch-and-go working back from a muscle injury but has said all along he expects to be ready for Iran on Tuesday 16 June (NZT). We might have to adjust expectations about him starting given the timeline of all this but he’ll have a role, one way or another. Beyond that we got 60 minutes from Libby Cacace following 45 minutes in the previous game. Chris Wood has come through unscathed. Max Crocombe’s back in rhythm.
Plus we got a fantastic 45 minutes from Joe Bell whose presence at the base of midfield made such a big difference to this team defensively. And while he mostly left the progressive passing up to Marko Stamenić and Elijah Just and the like, he’s so smooth on the ball... misplacing just one of the 21 passes he attempted in the game. Respect to a fine soldier in Alex Rufer but it was a big dip when that (planned) substitution happened at half-time... the All Whites went from 33% possession with Bell at CDM to 24% possession with Rufer in that position. Not the only factor at play, England’s fresh legs were also significant, but a noteworthy one for sure. There are times when Bellinho’s steady hand is less necessary but for this type of contest, World Cup games against stronger opponents, he’ll be among NZ’s most crucial players thanks to his organisation, anticipation, and reliability.
Bell was great but the best performer was Finn Surman. He’d been way below his best against Haiti, partly culpable for a couple of those goals with his wonky positioning, but he returned to his usual self against England where he blocked five shots (out of 11 total blocks for NZ) in keeping with his MLS exploits where leads that stat by a country kilometre. One thing we know about the centre-back position is that Finn Surman will be there. He was Darren Bazeley’s captain at the U20 World Cup in 2023 (where he was superb) and in the eleven games that the All Whites have played since qualifying, Surman has started ten of them. The CB combos have been Surman-Boxall (5), Surman-Bindon (5), Boxall-Bindon (1).
It was Surman and Boxall against England and they did the job. England had a lot of ball and a lot of chances but from their 24 shots, only four of them were on target. Lots of long shots. Lots of drifting across the defence to shoot rather than penetrating. Darren Bazeley tends to lean upon experience when it comes down to those coin toss selection decisions and at a World Cup that’s probably how it ought to be. In that case, that Payne-Surman-Boxall-Cacace back four is probably the quartet we should expect against Iran... but guess what? This was the first ever instance of that back four starting together. They’ve had 3/4 on many occasions but injuries/unavailabilities/rotations along the way have always meant there’s someone missing. That’s no big deal though. The combo’s been prepared in piecemeal. If Bindon nudges ahead of Boxall, then that back four has been used three times: against Vanuatu and Tahiti in 2024... and against Haiti the other day. The lesson there has nothing to do with preparation but with how rare it actually is to get a full strength eleven on the pitch in international footy.
The (Prospective) Starting Eleven
Compared to the Haiti game, this did feel much closer to what Darren Bazeley and his staff probably have in mind for the Iran game. Give or take the fitness of Ryan Thomas. That’s not to say that Max Crocombe is definitely ahead of Alex Paulsen or that Matt Garbett is definitely ahead of Callum McCowatt or Ben Old. There’s still another week of training sessions before those decisions need to be made. But that’s the evidence we’ve been given so far, which suggests something along these lines...
We all had our debates about the squad naming but it’s the starting eleven that has the most impact on the success of this campaign. Lots of think about there and it probably deserves its own article in the coming days. In the meantime, let’s drop a few notes...
One thing that Darren Bazeley has shown us with his squad selection is that he values experience. Tommy Smith is there as a non-playing player because of what he offers as an off-field leader. Michael Woud was picked as GK3 because Bazeley specifically said he wanted a more experienced figure in that role, thus ruling out the young bucks of Kees Sims and Henry Gray. Keep that in mind when it comes to Boxall vs Bindon and Crocombe vs Paulsen. Keep that in mind also if you still think Callan Elliot has a chance to upend Tim Payne at right-back (there was a moment there... but Payne’s performance vs Chile should have ended that talk).
There are probably seven spots in that first eleven that are locked and loaded, with Finn Surman, Tim Payne, Libby Cacace, Joe Bell, Marko Stamenić, Elijah Just, and Chris Wood all ready to go. That crew all started against both Haiti and England with the exception of Bell who was rested for the first game. The other spots up for grabs are the aforementioned goalkeeper and second central defender, plus the attacking midfielder and the other winger besides Just.
Sarpreet Singh was the other bloke to start both matches. Singh was injured for the March window but otherwise has started every game since the calendars flipped to 2025. Bazeley loves him. Singh’s got money in the bank from way back, in particular for the way he’s been able to link with Chris Wood through the years – something that none of the other AWs forwards have figured out yet to the same degree. There was a lot of Sarpreet Slander on the timelines after a slack performance vs England where he got bullied off the ball and conceded a few fouls. Remember he’s barely played for the last four months – he’ll be better for that hit-out... and everything else is just short memory syndrome. This dude was scoring goals in the Serbian top flight late last year. People think his club career has been disappointing because it began at the top with Bayern Munich, distorting expectations, but remove Bayern from his resume and that career still looks better than most. Singh’s starting spot is contingent on Ryan Thomas not being fit to start... but if that proves to be the case then Singh is highly likely to get that nod.
The starting fullbacks are set but we did see some funky manoeuvring beyond them against ENG. Tyler Bindon spent some time at RB before Callan Elliot was introduced. Not something they should be trying from the start – Bindon had a bit of trouble in his 1v1s, placed in situations that he wouldn’t normally see as a CB – but it’s something to ponder. Could be a Plan B for getting another aerial winner out there without having to change the formation. Also, Ben Old was subbed on ahead of Francis de Vries at LB... which is fair enough because Old’s now got enough of a back-log at club level to be a genuine challenger as Cacace’s backup and based on the fact that FDV was subbed on as a winger rather than a fullback that tells us that Old may have won that duel. His recovery pace against speedy World Cup wingers would certainly come in handy. As for FDV, we’ve seen that tactic before from Bazeley where he chucks FDV on higher so that he can more easily get into crossing situations. That’s what he’s there for. That’s his unique selling point.
Joe Bell coming into the side meant that someone who played against Haiti didn’t get to play against England. That someone was Ben Waine who had been the last man subbed on against Haiti anyway. Michael Woud and Tommy Smith predictably saw no action in either game. Ben Waine therefore settles in at #24 on the depth chart, having only played 15 minutes across these two friendlies. Baze did suggest back during the squad announcement that he approached this squad wanting two players in every position and for those final four spots he wanted: a third goalkeeper (Woud), a third striker (Waine), a midfield utility (Bayliss), and Tommy Smith. Had this been a 23-man squad, Waine probably would not have made it.
Surprised to see Callum McCowatt used so sparingly in the last wave of subs. More than anyone he feels like the player in this generation who Bazeley hasn’t quite figured out how to use. He’s still in contention to start but Matt Garbett’s performance against England has tipped things in his favour. The energy that Garbs brings, his propensity to make effort plays and try for the magnificent, had seemingly set him up as an impact substitute... but perhaps that impact would be more useful running rampant for 55 mins before subbing on someone like McCowatt/Singh/Old/Randall to take it from there? Something to ponder over the next week, s’pose.
Other Bits And Pieces
Leicester City 2012-13 reunion, all these years later. Chris Wood was there having signed from West Brom. Harry Kane was on loan from Tottenham. Jamie Vardy was also part of that strike force. Across all competitions that season, Chris Wood scored 11 goals in 24 games, Vardy scored 5 goals in 29 games, and Kane scored 2 goals in 15 games. Their top scorer was actually David Nugent with 16 goals in 49 games. The Woodsman started ahead of Kane in the playoff semis (where they lost to Watford in infamous fashion).
Pre-World Cup Friendly Distribution
Started Both Games – Marko Stamenić, Elijah Just, Chris Wood, Sarpreet Singh, Finn Surman, Libby Cacace, Tim Payne
One Start, One Sub – Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Alex Rufer, Matt Garbett, Jesse Randall
Two Bench Appearances – Callum McCowatt, Nando Pijnaker, Francis de Vries, Ben Old, Callan Elliot, Kosta Barbarouses, Lachlan Bayliss
One Start – Joe Bell*
One Bench Appearance – Ben Waine
Didn’t Play At All – Tommy Smith, Michael Woud, Ryan Thomas*
*injury management
Thomas Tuchel’s post-match press conference yarns:
“I'm okay with it. I'm not super happy about it. I liked the second half more than the first half. I think we had more bite in the second half. Were more aggressive on and off the ball, created a bit more some good half chances and some good penetrations into the box. We played more from our positions and that that's why we had more speed and off the ball, like I said, we played with a bit more bite. The first half we were out of positions and it was a bit too much freestyle and that slowed our game down and made it difficult for our counter press because we were not in the positions that we wanted to be. So, that's basically the story of the match. To put it in context, a lot of our players last played together in November and we’ve only had four training sessions together. Then we mixed the team up completely. We never played before with these combinations, in these formations, but we wanted to give everyone 45 minutes. And then you have the conditions, you have the pitch, and it can look like this.”
Another thing he said later on is that England, who play Costa Rica in their next friendly on Thursday NZT, specifically wanted to face countries from different confederations outside of Europe. The buzzy thing about England is that they never play friendlies in foreign conditions. Between World Cup qualifiers, European Championship qualifiers, and UEFA Nations League they do travel lots around Europe but when it comes time to fill any gaps in the calendar with friendlies they always host them.
England’s last 21 friendlies were all in England up until this game vs New Zealand. Unless you count the 150th anniversary game vs Scotland as a friendly in 2023... that was in Glasgow so in that case make it 21/22 dating back to a 1-0 win vs Netherlands in Amsterdam in March 2018 (they didn’t have any official warm-ups prior to the 2022 World Cup, what with it being in the middle of their club season and all). The luxury that England has is that they can schedule any old game at Wembley Stadium (though they do take the team around the country) and it’s going to sell out and bring big profits for the English FA. The All Whites (and Football Ferns) often lose money by hosting games.
The pitch at Raymond James Stadium (home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team – hence the pirate ship at one end) got a bit of focus, particularly in the English media. Chris Wood was asked about it beforehand and he shrugged it off, saying he was sure it’ll be fine. Naturally, the English team (and media) did more whining, afterwards both Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham alluded to the surface having inhibited their best footy. Along with the heat. Along with the need to make all those substitutions. Would have been nice if any of them had alluded to the New Zealand defence doing a good job of largely restricting them to shots from range but never mind. The tweet there is from the bloke who oversees the ground maintenance at the stadium so he probably knows what he’s talking about.
All Whites WC Squad – Year of Debut
2008 – Kosta Barbarouses
2009 – Chris Wood
2010 – Tommy Smith
2011 – Michael Boxall
2012 – Tim Payne
2014 – Ryan Thomas
2015 – Alex Rufer
2018 – Max Crocombe, Sarpreet Singh, Liberato Cacace, Michael Woud
2019 – Joe Bell, Callum McCowatt, Elijah Just, Nando Pijnaker
2021 – Marko Stamenić, Matthew Garbett, Francis de Vries
2022 – Ben Old, Ben Waine
2023 – Callan Elliot, Tyler Bindon, Finn Surman
2024 – Alex Paulsen, Jesse Randall
2026 – Lachlan Bayliss
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