Getting over that initial barrier and proving you can get results against top sides is one thing, but a World Cup group stage involves three matches in a short space of time and one good result usually doesn’t cut the mustard.

This two-game trip to Canada marks a new phase for the All Whites, going from qualifying for the World Cup (by beating lower-ranked nations) to preparing for the World Cup (with games against much higher-ranked nations)

The last time we saw the All Whites, they were busy qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Now that they’ve booked their tickets for that event it’s time to start preparing for it.

And with that, the All Whites are going back to the FIFA World Cup. There was 1982, there was 2010, there will be 2026.

In 1982, it was China. In 2009, it was Bahrain. In 2025, it will (hopefully) be Fiji followed by either Tahiti or New Caledonia. Among the many consequences of FIFA expanding the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 teams is that there’s now room for an automatic entry from Oceania

After scoring 16 goals across 180 minutes during this past window, the All Whites are only two further wins away from qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for just the third time in their history

There are a couple of things about Darren Bazeley’s selection tendencies that people should have picked up on by now. One of them is that Tommy Smith is going to be there no matter what

What do we want to see out of the All Whites in a pair of October matches against Tahiti (in Vanuatu) and Malaysia (in Auckland)? That’s simple: Wins.

Following a disappointing performance in a 3-0 loss to Mexico, there were many valid questions bouncing around about the All Whites. Then came a 1-1 draw against the United States and suddenly the forecast is sunny again.

There’s a busy schedule coming up for the All Whites over the next couple months, with these September friendly games against Mexico (in California) and USA (in Cincinnati) followed by World Cup qualifiers in both October and November

In a group with France, USA, and Guinea... you’ve gotta be beating Guinea if you’re aiming for the second round. Of course, Guinea were thinking the exact same thing about us...

If you’d been sitting back fretting over the past week wondering when the bloody hell they were going to announce the OlyWhites squad, then at least Wednesday morning’s unveiling helped explain the lag.

They weren’t even going to turn up originally. The All Whites had planned to use the June international window for some foreign friendlies instead but then the lure of multiplied FIFA rankings points became too much.

Originally, the All Whites weren’t even going to bother with the Nations Cup. They instead wanted to utilise the June international window for a pair of higher-quality friendlies... but then NZ Football remembered that you get multiplied world ranking points for confederation tournaments

There’s something increasingly familiar about an All Whites game in which the lads play some really silky football, passing smoothly through the midfield, battling hard at the back, bringing all of the energy, only to still lose anyway

What exactly is a W Cup, you ask? It’s not really anything. The ‘W’ stands for ‘Winsunited’ which sort of sounds like someone asked ChatGPT to design a football competition but this these are still just glorified friendlies

What do we want to see from a couple more All Whites games? That’s not an easy question to answer without making big picture generalisations about how it’s important to keep playing regular fixtures, especially against higher-ranked opponents