New Zealand national football team

New Zealand playing Australia in 1922

New Zealand's first international football match was played in Dunedin at the old Caledonian Ground on 23 July 1904 against a team representing New South Wales. New Zealand lost by the game's only goal, but drew with the same team 3–3 in a game at Athletic Park, Wellington seven days later.[5] The following year the team played a Wellington representative side on 10 June before embarking on a tour of Australia, during which they played eleven representative sides, including three "test matches" against New South Wales. Of these three matches they won one, lost one, and drew one.

New Zealand playing against Israel during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

A New Zealand national team did not play again until 1922, when New Zealand played three official full internationals against Australia, played at Carisbrook in Dunedin, Athletic Park in Wellington, and Auckland Domain. The results were two 3–1 wins to New Zealand and a 1–1 draw in Wellington.[6][7] In 1927, Canada became the second team to play in New Zealand as they played in four official matches with a win and a draw.[8]

New Zealand would become one of the founder members of the Oceania Football Confederation in 1966 which was founded between Charlie Dempsey and his Australian colleague Jim Bayutti in founding the federation.[9]

According to Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, up until the 1980s "the high visibility of British migrants in the All Whites, as well as in the game's administration and domestic club scene, attracted negative comments". The All Whites qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, losing all three of its games by multiple goals. Of the 22-man squad, 11 members were born in the United Kingdom, including seven in England alone. This included the captain Steve Sumner and striker Steve Wooddin, who had both played club football in England before immigrating. However, over the following decades the composition of the national squad changed and "the face of football became increasingly Kiwi".[10]

Since the 1990s, United States college soccer has played a significant role in the development of New Zealand players. This influence began when former Scotland international Bobby Clark returned to the US after his 1994–96 stint as New Zealand head coach to take the head coaching job at Stanford University (he now holds the same position at Notre Dame). Clark began recruiting in New Zealand, and former New Zealand national players Ryan Nelsen and Simon Elliott played for him at Stanford. The trend that Clark started has continued to the present; more than two dozen New Zealanders are now playing for NCAA Division I men's programmes in the US.[11] A common next step in these players' career paths is a stint in Major League Soccer; ESPN soccernet journalist Brent Latham speculated in a March 2010 story that New Zealand's 2010 FIFA World Cup squad could have more MLS players than the US squad.[11][12] However, Latham's speculation did not prove true, as only one MLS player made the New Zealand squad for the World Cup. New Zealand formerly competed against Australia for top honours in the OFC. However, after Australia left to join the AFC in 2006, New Zealand were left as the only seeded team in the OFC. New Zealand qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup though exited the competition after the first round despite being the only team not to lose a game during the tournament because they drew 1–1 vs defending champions Italy, Slovakia and 0–0 vs Paraguay while eventual champions Spain lost to Switzerland. New Zealand notably finished above Italy in their group as Italy lost to Slovakia in their final group match and finished with two points compared to New Zealand's three.[13]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Paraguay	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Slovakia	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1	4
3	New Zealand	3	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
4	Italy	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2

New Zealand playing against Portugal in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.

In August 2014, Anthony Hudson was appointed manager of the All Whites. Hudson's first game in charge of the national team was a 3–1 defeat away to Uzbekistan in September 2014. As a result of the All Whites playing "just three matches" in the previous year, which was "the least of any country in world football",[14] and having "seven months without a match" the All Whites dropped to 161 in the FIFA world rankings.[15][16] The All Whites went on to win the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, winning four matches with the final being won via a penalty shootout after a 0–0 draw against Papua New Guinea, conceding only 1 goal, from a penalty, in the process. New Zealand's victory saw them crowned Oceania champions making New Zealand the most successful national team in the competition's history, having won the tournament five times, and also saw them qualify for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. The All Whites moved up 54 places in the world rankings in July and achieved 88th in the FIFA world rankings, the highest ranking in three years, on the back of the OFC Nations Cup victory that qualified them for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.[17][18]

After a disappointing tournament at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup where they finished bottom of their group which featured Russia, Mexico and Portugal, the national team fell 27 places to 122nd.[19] In September 2017, New Zealand won the OFC Final against the Solomon Islands with an aggregate score of 8–3 to qualify for the inter-continental play-off qualifier against Peru, the fifth-ranked nation from the South America's qualifiers.[20][21] After holding Peru off in the first leg, they would go to lose 2–0 in the second leg to be eliminated from competition as Peru became the last team to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[22][23]

New Zealand vs Australia friendly match at Craven Cottage, London, England, 9 June 2005.

New Zealand's long time rivals are Trans-Tasman neighbours Australia.[24] The two teams' history dates back to 1922, where they first met in both their international debuts. The rivalry between the Socceroos (Australia) and the All Whites (New Zealand) is part of a wider friendly rivalry between the geographical neighbours Australia and New Zealand, which applies not only to sport but to the culture of the two countries. The rivalry was intensified when Australia and New Zealand were both members of the OFC, regularly competing in OFC Nations Cup finals and in FIFA World Cup qualifications, where only one team from the OFC progressed to the World Cup. Since Australia left the OFC to join the AFC in 2006, competition between the two teams has been less frequent. However, the rivalry between the two teams is still strong, with the occasional match receiving much media and public attention.[25] The rivalry extends to club football, with New Zealand's only fully professional team, the Wellington Phoenix, playing in the Australian A-League.

The main supporters group of the New Zealand national team are known as the 'White Noise'.[28][29][30][31] White Noise was formed in November 2007[32] with the supporters group of the Wellington Phoenix, 'Yellow Fever', rebranding themselves when the national sides play.[33][34][35]

Panorama from the 'White Noise' zone during New Zealand v Peru - 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification game at Sky Stadium.

The following 24 players were called up for the two friendly matches against China on 23 and 26 March 2023.[42]

Caps and goals updated as of 26 March 2023 after the game against China.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Oliver Sail	(1996-01-13) 13 January 1996	8	0	Perth Glory
12	1GK	Stefan Marinovic	(1991-10-07) 7 October 1991	30	0	Unattached
25	1GK	Alex Paulsen	(2002-07-04) 4 July 2002	0	0	Wellington Phoenix
2	2DF	Callan Elliot	(1999-07-07) 7 July 1999	2	0	Wellington Phoenix
3	2DF	Deklan Wynne	(1996-11-20) 20 November 1996	15	0	Charleston Battery
4	2DF	Nando Pijnaker	(1999-02-25) 25 February 1999	13	0	Sligo Rovers
5	2DF	Tommy Smith	(1990-03-31) 31 March 1990	50	2	Colchester United
13	2DF	Liberato Cacace	(2000-09-27) 27 September 2000	14	1	Empoli
15	2DF	Michael Boxall	(1988-08-18) 18 August 1988	42	0	Minnesota United
21	2DF	Tim Payne	(1994-01-10) 10 January 1994	32	2	Wellington Phoenix
22	2DF	Dane Ingham	(1999-09-08) 8 September 1999	13	0	Newcastle Jets
24	2DF	Kyle Adams	(1996-11-20) 20 November 1996	1	0	San Diego Loyal
6	3MF	Joe Bell	(1999-04-27) 27 April 1999	14	1	Brøndby
7	3MF	Kosta Barbarouses	(1990-02-19) 19 February 1990	54	4	Wellington Phoenix
8	3MF	Matthew Garbett	(2002-04-13) 13 April 2002	14	2	NAC Breda
10	3MF	Marko Stamenic	(2002-02-19) 19 February 2002	13	0	Copenhagen
11	3MF	Marco Rojas	(1991-11-05) 5 November 1991	44	5	Colo-Colo
16	3MF	Alex Rufer	(1996-06-12) 12 June 1996	8	0	Wellington Phoenix
18	3MF	Cameron Howieson	(1994-12-22) 22 December 1994	16	0	Auckland City
23	3MF	Clayton Lewis	(1997-02-12) 12 February 1997	23	1	Wellington Phoenix
9	4FW	Chris Wood (captain)	(1991-12-07) 7 December 1991	70	33	Nottingham Forest
14	4FW	Elijah Just	(2000-05-01) 1 May 2000	15	1	Horsens
17	4FW	Alex Greive	(1999-05-13) 13 May 1999	9	2	St Mirren
19	4FW	Max Mata	(2000-07-10) 10 July 2000	3	0	Sligo Rovers
20	4FW	Callum McCowatt	(1999-04-30) 30 April 1999	11	1	Helsingør

The following players have been called up within the last 12 months and remain eligible for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Michael Woud	(1999-01-16) 16 January 1999	4	0	Kyoto Sanga	v.  Australia, 25 September 2022
GK	Matthew Gould	(1994-01-07) 7 January 1994	0	0	Altrincham	v.  Costa Rica, 14 June 2022
DF	Bill Tuiloma	(1995-03-27) 27 March 1995	36	4	Charlotte FC	v.  Australia, 25 September 2022
DF	Storm Roux	(1993-01-13) 13 January 1993	11	0	Central Coast Mariners	v.  Australia, 25 September 2022
DF	Niko Kirwan	(1995-09-04) 4 September 1995	8	1	Padova	v.  Costa Rica, 14 June 2022
DF	Francis de Vries	(1994-11-28) 28 November 1994	6	0	Eastern Suburbs	v.  Costa Rica, 14 June 2022
MF	Ben Old	(2002-08-13) 13 August 2002	2	0	Wellington Phoenix	v.  Australia, 25 September 2022
FW	Andre de Jong	(1996-11-02) 2 November 1996	10	2	Stellenbosch	v.  Australia, 25 September 2022
FW	Logan Rogerson	(1998-05-28) 28 May 1998	9	1	Haka	v.  Australia, 25 September 2022
FW	Ben Waine	(2001-06-11) 11 June 2001	7	1	Plymouth Argyle	v.  Australia, 25 September 2022
FW	Joe Champness	(1997-04-27) 27 April 1997	6	0	Unattached	v.  Costa Rica, 14 June 2022
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad / standby RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.