Tagged with: FIFA World Cup
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.
It was all going swell at half-time. Finn Surman’s towering (unmarked) header and another intense, energetic performance from the All Whites, full of clever interplay and sturdy defence, had the lads leading 1-0 at the break against Mo Salah and his Pharaohs
In 1982, the objective was simply to get to a first World Cup amidst an absolute odyssey in qualifying. In 2010, it was time to show that New Zealand belonged at that level by grinding out some results. In 2026, it’s not only about getting back to the World Cup, it’s not only about getting results…
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 All Whites team has been trying to turn potential into results throughout these last few years and they haven’t really done it yet. We’re long since past the stage where good performances carry much weight, these days the task is to score goals and win games.
Most of Darren Bazeley’s World Cup squad has been a foregone conclusion for a long time. At least 15-20 players have been as good as guaranteed, fitness permitting, since the moment that the team confirmed their qualification
They were the worthiest champions. Dominant against the weaker teams and efficient against their fellow challengers. Spain delivered a clinic in possession-based football, built around an incredible midfield and a couple of superbly aggressive fullbacks
The Football Ferns didn’t quite reach the resplendent realms of the World Cup knockout phase but the word ‘fail’ and its derivatives have no place in such conversations
And so here we are again. For the sixth time in six attempts, the Football Ferns have been knocked out in the group stage of a FIFA World Cup... but this one wasn’t like the others
Well that clearly didn’t go to plan. After beating Norway in a thrilling, impassioned, amazing upset in the tournament opener the Football Ferns would have been all but on the brink of the World Cup knockouts…
It was hard not to get caught up in the emotions of that legendary Football Ferns victory. All you had to do was peek at Ali Riley after the final whistle, eyes all watery, embraced by a beaming Vic Esson, leaning her head back and roaring into the night sky: “We did it!”
It began with a goal kick, it ended in a goal. In between five different players combined for six touches as the Football Ferns gave the 2023 World Cup its iconic opening game moment
We’re now only days away from kickoff at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and preparations are complete. No more friendly games, no more training camps. Just fierce anticipation for the main event.
The squad is set, training camp is over, the practice games are finished, and all the rival nations have amassed in Aotearoa and Australia for the biggest standalone female sporting event on the planet
It was a Football Ferns victory in Napier. They gave Vietnam a whallopping and while they didn’t make it as emphatic on the scoreboard as they should have... a 2-0 victory definitely counts as a hiding by Footy Ferns standards
After nine weeks of training camp, beginning with a long-list of over 40 contending players, Jitka Klimková has now unveiled her 23-strong Football Ferns squad for the World Cup
The World Cup kicks off on 20 July as the Football Ferns host Norway in Auckland. That’ll be quite a challenge against the highest ranked team in their group but the kiwis do play the Philippines in their next match, a side they beat 2-1 in September 2022…
The World Cup is nearing ever closer and the Football Ferns have work to do. A shocker of a series against Portugal and Argentina in February caught them off-guard and now the pressure is on with those co-hosting duties on the horizon.
You know, the funny thing is the Football Ferns actually didn’t play that badly against Portugal in the first half. Hard to imagine how drastically that was all going to change.
They did at least get better with each game. But the bottom line was that the Football Ferns had three games against seemingly competitive teams and yet the same problems still persisted.