All Whites at the 2026 FIFA World Cup: Game Toru vs Belgium
For a while there, we had room to dream. The All Whites made it to their third game still in with a chance of making the knockout rounds, all it would have needed was the greatest result in the history of football in Aotearoa. But Belgium looked brittle coming into this game. A few of their key players are past their peaks, they weren’t that flash during qualifying, and there was a lot of pressure on them after failing to convert their chances during draws against Egypt and Iran. Sadly that pressure brought the best out of the Red Devils who shattered any slim hopes of NZ progression and gave us a harsh reminder of the levels of international football.
This time the All Whites didn’t take an early lead. Elijah Just scored in the seventh minute against Iran and Finn Surman scored after quarter of an hour against Egypt... yet by that stage against Belgium the whole thing had been played in New Zealand’s own half other than one little Eli Just burst and a dodgy offside call against a retreating Chris Wood. The All Whites did well to get numbers behind the ball, digging in like they needed to as rank underdogs, but Belgium’s movement was too sharp. They were making third-man runs into dangerous pockets. Leandro Trossard hit the post after ten minutes with Tyler Bindon somehow hacking the ricochet off the line. Darren Bazeley had said pre-game that he was initially relieved to be facing Belgium third with the hope was that we might catch them in rotation mode having already qualified... instead we caught them in must-win mode with a point to prove. They were on it from the get-go and never allowed New Zealand to settle.
Okay, that’s how it goes sometimes, gotta fight through the struggles. Bazeley also said before the game that his team would have to be flawless for ninety minutes to get the result they wanted (and also lucky, let’s be honest). The problem is that this particular All Whites team have not proved themselves capable of handling those stints where they’ve been put under the pump. They conceded two equalisers against Iran and they shipped three in the second half against Egypt. They didn’t stick it out against Belgium either, leaking a truly soft goal from a corner kick straight after the hydration break.
KDB floated his delivery into a challenging area where it inexplicably bounced in the six yard box with Max Crocombe not even considering going for it. Keeper could have punched and zero dramas would have ensued. But even worse is that Tim Payne bafflingly turned his back to the ball and appeared to be marking Chris Wood instead of anyone in a red jersey. The ball then hit him on the back and dropped nicely for Leandro Trossard to score. Like, Crocombe should have been more assertive but if Payne was facing the right direction then that’s an easy clearance for him to make. Instead it was a goal that broke the New Zealand resistance. A long way from flawless, sorry Baze. Unfortunately we’ve been leaking soft goals throughout this campaign.
The goal chilled Belgium out a bit, allowing the All Whites to keep a bit more ball. But if anything the chances Belgium created from then onwards were a whole lot more dangerous despite the pressure not being as suffocating as it was leading up to the opening goal. Not willing to die wondering, Bazeley made a double sub at the break with very obvious attacking intent as he chucked on NZ’s two fastest forwards: Jesse Randall and Ben Old (in place of Ryan Thomas and Sarpreet Singh). Speed and direct running in place of guile and combination play. Both went wide to give NZ a pair of genuine wingers (Randall on the left, Old on the right) with the intention to stretch the defence and make some runs in behind and on the counter.
Alas, before those changes could have any positive impact, Trossard scored his second with a deceptively tricky volley on the second attempt, somehow staying in control of the shot as it bounced up around his hip. It was another lesson in the gulf between the two sides as Trossard found space in the box and KDB was able to thread an inch-perfect pass between Bell and Payne to find him. Baze made more aggressive subs with Callum McCowatt on for Joe Bell after 64 mins (and Michael Boxall for Tim Payne at the same time, sliding Bindon out to RB). McCowatt came on as an attacking midfielder with Marko Stamenić left to do the defensive mid duties all on his lonesome. 2-0 down and chasing goals to get back into it. Might as well go for it, right?
Those proactive changes worked in as much as Elijah Just was able to ping home another classy finish with about five minutes to go. His third goal of the tournament to further enhance his rapidly growing reputation. That’ll keep his agent busy. But the changes also backfired since Belgium scored three more times for a 5-1 final scoreline.
De Bruyne whacked one in from outside the box to make it 3-0 right before the hydration break and it all got pretty ragged from then. Just got his goal but Belgium’s subs had great fun running into the space left in front of them. Romelu Lukaku headed home with his first touch, a goal which came about because Alexis Saelemaekers was way too fast for Francis de Vries running onto a ball in the corner, forcing Boxall wide in cover and leaving Surman to defend Lukaku by himself and he got burnt by a brilliant little shuffle move to shake his attentions. Then Saelemaekers whacked one of his own in with about two seconds of stoppage time remaining, tired defenders not closing him down after Surman hadn’t been able to clear the ball under pressure from Lukaku. Crocombe got caught wrong-footed. Bit rude of the Belgians to rub it in like that... but they were levels above from start to finish and that’s the truth.
Underdog Realities
And so ends the All Whites’ 2026 World Cup participation. The first half of the tournament was great, drawing 2-2 with Iran and leading Egypt 1-0 at half-time. However the opponents got stronger with each subsequent game and results reflected that. 3-2 goal differential across the first 135 minutes... 1-8 goal differential across the last 135 minutes. Every game was a step upwards and with each of those steps, the tempo got faster, the intensity got tougher, the margins for error got slimmer, and when those things happen the gaps between good players and great players becomes so much more obvious.
It’s frustrating that the All Whites missed their chance for a win in the Iran game. It’s frustrating that they didn’t get the luck they needed in key moments against Egypt. It’s frustrating that they conceded those late goals to allow the Belgian scoreline to blow out. This was not a campaign without missed opportunities and regrets... all the same there’s a bit too much negativity going on across the kiwi fandom. It can be that way when things finish on a bum note like this but, like, what did people expect? Belgium’s entire squad plays in top European leagues. One, maybe 2-3 at the most, of our players would have even made the cut for the their squad. Kevin de Bruyne has been one of the world’s finest playmakers for the past decade. Thibaut Courtois one of the world’s premier goalkeepers. Leandro Trossard just won a Premier League title and started in the Champions League final with Arsenal. And so on, so forth.
A cohesive, committed team can lessen the gulf between the combined talents of its players but the All Whites have won two, drawn two, and lost eleven games since securing qualification. There isn’t exactly a track record here. Only Chris Wood and Tommy Smith had been to a World Cup before and only three starters from the 2022 loss to Costa Rica in the previous World Cup cycle’s intercontinental playoffs got on the pitch during this World Cup (Cacace, Bell, Wood) in what was our only competitive game against non-OFC opposition since November 2017. You can only learn so much from friendly clashes and there’s nothing to prepare you for a World Cup except for playing at a World Cup. Belgium still have several players left from the squad that finished third in 2018, that’s what pedigree looks like. We only qualify every twenty years on average so there’s nothing to build upon.
That’s the harsh reality of trying to compete at a World Cup. Our squad is as stacked as it has ever been and it wasn’t enough. Nor was there anything we could have done about it. Bazeley’s come under criticism for being too late with his subs but he sure didn’t sit on his hands during this game and guess what? The more changes we made, the less structured and composed we got. Those second half alterations did help buy us a goal and you’d always rather risk losing by more in order to give it a genuine crack (the opposite of how NZ approached the Paraguay game in 2010 where Ricki Herbert only made two subs despite needing to win to advance). And we did get a goal to show for those gambles... albeit at the expense of another four the other way.
There was no silver bullet on the bench. Max Crocombe played every minute and conceded ten times so naturally people are going to demand some justice for Alex Paulsen... but who is to say that Paulsen would have been better? Based on his club form with Lechia Gdansk he probably would have been worse. AP’s is an ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ scenario. He gets to be viewed more favourably because it’s all hypothetical as opposed to watching Max Crocombe in all three games. But Crocombe earned that jersey leading up to the World Cup, there was nothing controversial about it. We’ve simply gotta live with what our best guys were able to serve up. Same deal across the park. The starters were the starters for a reason and if you look at the team goal difference per ninety when various players were on the pitch you’ll see it’s the subs who struggled the most...
| Min | Min% | onG | onGA | +/- | G/90 | GA/90 | +/-90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Crocombe | 270 | 100.00% | 4 | 10 | -6 | 1.33 | 3.33 | -2.00 |
| Finn Surman | 270 | 100.00% | 4 | 10 | -6 | 1.33 | 3.33 | -2.00 |
| Chris Wood | 270 | 100.00% | 4 | 10 | -6 | 1.33 | 3.33 | -2.00 |
| Marko Stamenic | 269 | 99.63% | 4 | 10 | -6 | 1.34 | 3.35 | -2.01 |
| Elijah Just | 265 | 98.15% | 4 | 10 | -6 | 1.36 | 3.40 | -2.04 |
| Joe Bell | 244 | 90.37% | 3 | 7 | -4 | 1.11 | 2.58 | -1.48 |
| Tim Payne | 227 | 84.07% | 3 | 7 | -4 | 1.19 | 2.78 | -1.59 |
| Liberato Cacace | 223 | 82.59% | 3 | 7 | -4 | 1.21 | 2.83 | -1.61 |
| Sarpreet Singh | 211 | 78.15% | 3 | 5 | -2 | 1.28 | 2.13 | -0.85 |
| Michael Boxall | 206 | 76.30% | 4 | 8 | -4 | 1.75 | 3.50 | -1.75 |
| Callum McCowatt | 160 | 59.26% | 4 | 6 | -2 | 2.25 | 3.38 | -1.13 |
| Tyler Bindon | 95 | 35.19% | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0.95 | 4.74 | -3.79 |
| Ben Old | 91 | 33.70% | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0.99 | 5.93 | -4.95 |
| Ryan Thomas | 81 | 30.00% | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0.00 | 2.22 | -2.22 |
| Jesse Randall | 59 | 21.85% | 1 | 5 | -4 | 1.53 | 7.63 | -6.10 |
| Francis de Vries | 16 | 5.93% | 1 | 2 | -1 | 5.63 | 11.25 | -5.63 |
| Callan Elliot | 12 | 4.44% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
The best guy there is actually Sarpreet Singh. Only outscored 3-5 in the 211 mins that he played, completely blitzed 1-5 in the 59 minutes that he didn’t. Annoying as it was to see him struggled to hold the ball under any kind of pressure, that puts into context how effective his off-ball work really was. We shipped a goal every 12 minutes with Singh off the pitch. And since he was subbed for Jesse Randall on all three occasions that’s also how often we conceded with Randall on the pitch.
Look, we can only work with what we’ve got. Our dudes got increasingly outmatched as the group stage went on but one thing you cannot deny is that they put in a bloody shift. The workrates were nuts. The energy and commitment were always there. Tim Payne was probably the weakest player in the starting line-up as the only A-League guy in that frame (although he’s not an ALM guy any longer)... and you could tell. But you also can’t be too harsh on a bloke who was very clearly giving all he’s got for his country. There’s a difference between being outclassed and underperforming.
Another aspect of that idea about needing to be flawless goes back before the tournament even started. NZ’s best player across these three games was Elijah Just... no coincidence since he was coming off the sharpest club form of his career where his exploits for Motherwell had him on the three-man shortlist for Scottish Premiership Player of the Season. Great form translated into great form. Compare that to the run-ups that everyone else had.
Sarpreet Singh and Libby Cacace barely played in the previous six months due to injuries. Chris Wood missed most of last season out injured, although did get back in good rhythm by the end of it. Tim Payne had an injury-addled season that meant he only started half of the Wellington Phoenix’s games. Matt Garbett spent a couple months out with a foot injury earlier in the year, then pulled a hamstring shortly before the tournament began to rule him out entirely. Michael Boxall only just got back from an adductor injury for a couple of Minnesota United appearances before joining the national team. Max Crocombe lost his spot at Millwall when they signed an upgrade in January. Ryan Thomas has been dealing with a few niggles right up including the warm-up games. These are pesky situations that didn’t mean too much in isolation (the Garbett injury being by far the most significant) but together they added up to provide extra hurdles for a team that didn’t have a lot of competitive wiggle room to start with.
There’s plenty time to ponder what needs to happen from here, you’ll be seeing plenty more words about that on this very website. But the main thing to hold onto for now is that it took 28 years to get back to the World Cup after 1982 and it took a further 16 years to get back again after 2010. Both of those tournaments were culminations of a journey. This time around it’s different. Most of this team’s best players will not only still be around in another four years, with Oceania’s free entry ensuring a clear path towards qualification, but they’ll be better and more confident players by then. Among the 13 fellas who got at least 90 combined minutes in USA/Canada, nine of them are aged 27 or younger. They’ll go off and keep progressing in their club carers, moving up the club ranks, and in four years time they’ll be back with a point to prove. Our previous World Cups have been culminations but this one was merely the start of something.
Player By Player
Max Crocombe – Could have prevented the first goal if he’d been come out and punched/caught that floated cross in his six yard box... though after being a bit sketchy with his shot-stopping in the previous game he did make some good saves in this one. Wasn’t culpable for any of the other goals except maybe the fifth one after the jig was already up. Long distribution was still erratic but that’s part of the package. He was okay... but over the course of three games you’d have hoped he’d been able to prevent a couple more of those goals that got past him.
Tim Payne – We probably still would have lost if he hadn’t turned his back on that corner kick but it would have been cool if the deadlock breaker had been a screamer into the top corner instead of a defensive calamity. Other than that, Payne was fine. Puts in a huge effort and has earned his World Cup experience, can’t fault him there, but we do rapidly need to start developing a few more right-backs for competition. Got his ankles snapped by Jeremy Doku at one point - hope the Paraguayans weren’t watching.
Finn Surman – Another game where the Surmanator made copious blocks and defensive recoveries... but also had a couple of lapses which were ruthlessly punished. More than anyone else in this squad, he’s the one who needs a move to one of the big leagues where he can iron out his game because otherwise he’s got the full profile. It’s only the experience that’s lacking. At 22yo, he should have several more World Cups to come.
Tyler Bindon – Did well in his opportunity to start, from avoiding an OG with that goal-line clearance to leading the way with clearances (11) and possession regains (8) for the All Whites. Moved to right-back when Boxall came on (to spare a tiring Tim Payne) and stayed involved with his long throws and aerial threat. Wouldn’t say he did enough to show that he should have been starting ahead of Boxall all along (we conceded five goals after all) but glad he got one ninety-minute outing given how that Surman-Bindon combo will probably be the top choice centre-back partnership for, oh dunno, at least the next decade. This is early days for those two, they’re only going to get better from here.
Liberato Cacace – Probably his most effective game of the three, looking more like himself having gotten some matches in his legs. There was one point in the first half where he was trapped by two Belgian forwards and he slipped the ball between them to escape the pressure, prime Cacace areas that. Still it’s a damn shame that we never saw the best of him at this tournament coming off a season ruined by persistent muscle injuries.
Joe Bell – Didn’t play against Haiti and we got rolled on the counter. Subbed for the only time this World Cup for the last quarter vs Belgium (football has quarters now, did you know?) and we got rolled on the counter. Three goals conceded in the 26 minutes he missed... there’s a pattern emerging around Bellinho’s midfield shield mahi. It’s a pity he’s not more of an athlete as that’s sorta capped his potential, though what he lacks in pace he makes up for in smarts.
Marko Stamenić – Such a talented player, the only thing that gets in the way is the feeling that there’s so much more to come from him. A midfielder with that much style and finesse, as tall and mobile as he is, the sky is the limit. Stam was one of our better performers against Belgium same as in the other games. Got himself booked for a clean sliding challenge. He’s finally in a settled club situation after playing in four different countries the last four seasons (Denmark to Serbia to Greece to Wales/England) so hopefully Swansea City let him off his leash in year two because you can’t just ask a guy with that profile to sit deep all the time. Gotta let him run box to box and make things happen.
Sarpreet Singh – Curious that Singh held his position with Ryan Thomas coming into the team, rather than McCowatt or perhaps Ben Old from the start. Moved out to the right wing to accommodate Thommo and it was the usual story. Struggled to retain the ball, a little too slow in his final third movements, but also working like a madman throughout and kept getting into good areas. If only he’d had more games under his belt leading into the tournament.
Ryan Thomas – Put himself about in that attacking midfield role, covering plenty of ground (6.7 km in only 45 minutes!), but couldn’t really get on the ball with his team getting dominated. Not a natural fit in the CAM role behind the Woodsman. Has only been back in the national team picture for a year and there were a few instances where his combinations with teammates weren’t quite there. Would have been nice to see him used deeper where he’s more suited but it’s hard to make it all fit, so it goes.
Elijah Just – Player of the World Cup for sure, scoring another sweet finish against Belgium for his third of the tourney. Needed to find a way to get him playing closer to Chris Wood after the combos we saw from them vs Iran, though in fairness the opposition mostly prevented that. Nobody covered more ground for NZ during these three games (33,430 km!). Stayed busy throughout. Stayed threatening throughout. Had our only two shots on target in this game. Big things have happened for him over the previous twelve months and bigger things will follow.
Chris Wood – Less and less effective as the opponents got better. So it goes. He would have been #1 on every team’s scouting list. Wood played every minute across the three matches and muscled up tirelessly for increasingly scant rewards. We couldn’t even get him a shot against Belgium... credit to the way they defended him but also he was pretty isolated in this game. It’s tough when it’s that one-sided. Woodsy isn’t a striker who needs a lot of touches to be most effective, however when the goalkeeper is the guy who completed the most passes to him then that ain’t ideal.
Ben Old – Got 45 minutes on the wing, no left-back duties this time around, and... didn’t do much. His best chance to get behind, he angled inwards too early and McCowatt couldn’t get the pass through. Finished all three games so he was out there when things were the most stretched and it didn’t feel like he was much of a factor as he should have been in that environment (aside from getting nut-stomped vs Egypt).
Jesse Randall – See above but multiplied. Randall’s fast and he’s keen but if his final third decision-making is dodgy in the A-League then good luck at a World Cup, amigo. Half the goals conceded by the All Whites at this World Cup came in the 22% of minutes that Randall played. He’s a dude on the rise though, with that Dundee United move coming up next for him. He’s our fastest player and that kind of raw athleticism is rare among our top lads – he did his role as well as he could and will be a far better player for it.
Michael Boxall – Chucked on for 25 minutes against the rampant Belgium subs. Not an enviable experience. Managed to improve his top speed in this game (32.9 km/h). It’s both hugely impressive and also slightly concerning that the only guy in the squad born in the 1980s was our fourth-fastest player.
Callum McCowatt – Felt like he deserved a bit more for his efforts than being the first guy subbed off in the first two games and then only getting 25 mins in the last one. New Zealand didn’t score a goal without McCowatt on the pitch during this World Cup. Four goals in 160 mins with him, 0 goals in 110 mins without him. Was used as an attacking alternative in midfield this time although that’s not an unusual role for him (he does that a lot for his club team Silkeborg).
Francis de Vries – Got some scraps at the end of the game, whipping in some crosses and also looking hugely vulnerable defensively without hardly any cover around him. We were gambling by then, that’s what happens.
Bits And Pieces
There’s a lot we can take from this World Cup performance even if the results weren’t quite there. We didn’t turn up for our participation awards, we went out there and played positive front-foot stuff and scored as many goals in this tournament as we did in our previous two appearances combined. Yet so much of the language around the exit, both from fans and media, seems to be negative. Reminders of the Football Ferns at their last World Cup where they did get a win but failed to progress from the group having been very vocal in the lead-up about that being their target. Same deal here with the All Whites telling everyone they were aiming to get out of the group. They didn’t do that and now it’s perceived as a failure for not doing something that had never been done before. Context is useful.
Very pertinent words from Darren Bazeley post-match...
“We don't play we don't play these games, you know, not World Cup games, but we don't play competitive games. We obviously go through our qualifiers in Oceania and then we spend the rest of the time playing international friendlies. And, yeah, we can call them FIFA series and try and put points on them but you can't replicate this where it's brutal and ruthless. For some of our players that are not playing in the Premier League or not playing in the top top leagues like a lot of the Belgium guys are, we don't get enough of those moments for the players to feel it, for the players to really live in those moments that we've had at this World Cup. Whether it was the Egypt game or the Iran game or tonight. Most of these guys will be back in four years time and they will be better for it.”
There was some weirdness twenty mins in when the ref randomly decided to give Belgium a penalty for a block that caught Finn Surman’s elbow well within his silhouette. That’s what VAR is for. Kevin de Bruyne had the ball on the spot but Libby Cacace saw the big screen and knew what was up. Funny thing is, that actually worked out well for the All Whites because the ref’s early whistle meant that the game restarted with a drop ball rather than the corner kick Belgium should have had otherwise.
That Surman ‘handball’ non-penalty was whistled with 18:59 on the clock. By the time it was overturned, the clock read 21:50. Then some more whinging from Belgium (in part because of the nature of the restart) before Crocombe took a punt downfield which led to Wood being penalised for a very gentle shove in the back and the ref promptly called for the hydration break at 23:02. The game didn’t resume, with Belgium’s free kick, until 26:12... so the ball was in play for roughly five seconds during that 7+ minute spell. New Zealand conceded barely a minute after the restart. That was a hydration break within an indoor stadium on a rainy Vancouver day, by the way. We conceded shortly after the first half hydration break vs Iran too.
The Momentum Tracker
Physical Tracking Data vs Egypt
Most Distance Covered by All Whites at this World Cup
Elijah Just – 33,430.3 m
Marko Stamenić – 32,898.2 m
Joe Bell – 32,154.3 m
Chris Wood – 31,195.3 m
Finn Surman – 30,931.1 m
Fastest Recorded Speeds by All Whites at this World Cup
Jesse Randall – 34.6 km/h
Tim Payne – 33.7 km/h
Finn Surman – 33.2 km/h
Michael Boxall – 32.9 km/h
Ben Old – 32.4 km/h
All Whites 2026 World Cup Minutes Breakdown
Played Every Minute: Max Crocombe, Chris Wood, Finn Surman (270 mins)
Started All Three Games: Marko Stamenić (269), Elijah Just (265), Joe Bell (244), Tim Payne (227), Liberato Cacace (223), Sarpreet Singh (211)
Played in All Three Games: Michael Boxall (206), Callum McCowatt (160), Tyler Bindon (95), Ben Old (91), Ryan Thomas (81), Jesse Randall (59)
Appeared Occasionally: Francis de Vries (16), Callan Elliot (12)
Didn’t Feature: Alex Paulsen, Alex Rufer, Nando Pijnaker, Kosta Barbarouses, Ben Waine, Michael Woud, Lachlan Bayliss, Tommy Smith, Logan Rogerson
Elijah Just has scored 10 goals in his last 19 international appearances. He has 12 goals in 47 caps overall, putting him tenth-equal for All Whites goal scorers alongside Wynton Rufer (12 goals in 23 caps), Darren McClennan (12 goals in 43 caps), and Michael McGarry (12 goals in 55 caps).
Belgium vs NZ: 5 goals from 3.99 xG
Belgium vs IRN & EGY: 1 goal from 3.51 xG
No doubt our own abilities contributed to this but damn we really caught the Belgians on the day that it all clicked for them. Will be curious to see if this was a false dawn or a permanent awakening for this side come the knockouts. Speaking of which... if we’d won we would have played Australia in the R32. Soccer Ashes at the World Cup, oh what could have been.
UEFA Champions League Appearances in the Starting Elevens...
Belgium: 446 UCL apps with 51 goals (11/11 players)
New Zealand: 7 UCL apps with 1 goal (1/11 players)
See this right here...
That was the only free kick awarded for a foul on Chris Wood all World Cup. Took until ten minutes to go in the last game. He was shoved over late first half for one of the more egregious missed calls of the lot which is why he stuck around to give the officials a word at half-time, seemingly to some prevail since he finally heard a whistle in his favour later on. He’s so strong and so good at using that strength that it seems he doesn’t get given the benefit of the doubt when defenders are dangling all over him trying to disrupt him. Also thought there were a couple of offsides against him for retreating which were pretty close and if he were running in the opposite direction he probably would have been allowed to play on, knowing VAR could step in as a safety net if a wrongful goal was scored. But Woodsy holding the ball up around halfway doesn’t get the same licence.
Wishlist for the 2030 World Cup Campaign
More than one relevant player with previous World Cup experience
More than one player in the squad with UEFA Champions League experience
More than one player regularly playing in a top-five European league
More pace and athleticism among the attacking positions
Some actual game-changing depth on the bench
Anyone who can go 1v1 against a World Cup level defender
Much more big game experience for the All Whites as a team (not sure how we’re supposed to get it but maybe they’ll let us be a guest at Copa America or the Gold Cup or some equivalent comp in Asia)
Jeremy Doku vs Tim Payne’s Ankles...
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