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Ezekiel - June 3, 2026
New Zealand have five million people and the honest truth is that in a tournament containing Belgium, Egypt and Iran, they are the clear underdogs in every single game they play.
But that is the wrong lens through which to look at this team and it misses what makes the All Whites genuinely worth watching at this World Cup. In 2010 they drew all three group games in South Africa, went home unbeaten, and became the only team in World Cup history to finish a tournament without losing and still be eliminated.
That is not a small achievement for a nation of their size playing against countries with populations twenty times larger and football infrastructures built over centuries.
In 2026 they have their best squad in years, a manager who has shaped most of these players since they were teenagers, and a group draw that while brutal on paper gives them a very realistic chance of taking points from Iran and making Belgium work extremely hard on the final matchday.
Sixteen years have passed since the last World Cup and the whole country will be watching. The one concern from preparation is a 4-0 friendly defeat to Haiti, which put the squad under scrutiny before a ball has been kicked in the tournament itself.
New Zealand are drawn in Group G of the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Belgium, Egypt and Iran.
“We are here to compete, not just to be here, but to actually compete and make people remember us.” – Darren Bazeley
Appearances: 3 | Best finish: Group stage (1982, 2010) | FIFA ranking: 86th
1982: Their first appearance in Spain, where they lost to Scotland, the Soviet Union and Brazil and conceded 12 goals across three games.
2010: The tournament that gave New Zealand football its defining legacy. They drew with Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay, collected three points from three draws and finished the group stage unbeaten. They remain the only team in World Cup history to finish a tournament without losing and still be eliminated.
2026: Back for the first time in 16 years, drawn into the toughest group the All Whites have ever faced, and determined to show that the spirit of 2010 still runs through this generation.
English · Age 53 · New Zealand manager since 2023 · Former Watford, Wolves, Walsall defender
Bazeley is not just a manager who arrived before a tournament and inherited a squad. He is someone who has been part of the fabric of New Zealand football for over fifteen years, working with players at Under-17, Under-20, Olympic and now senior level. When New Zealand walk out in Los Angeles on June 16, he will become the first coach in history to have managed teams at the Under-17 World Cup, the Under-20 World Cup, the Olympics and the senior World Cup.
More than half the players in this squad have been coached by him at some point in their careers, and that shared history creates a trust and a cohesion on the pitch that no short-term appointment could ever replicate. When things get difficult in Group G, and they will, the relationship between this manager and his players is the most important asset New Zealand have.
Formation: 4-4-2 or 4-5-1
Bazeley uses two different shapes depending on the opponent and the situation but the principles that underpin both of them never change. Stay compact, make it as hard as possible for the opposition to play through you, win second balls in the midfield areas and look for Chris Wood to hold up play and bring others into the game when New Zealand win possession.
The 4-5-1 is used against stronger opponents to put an extra midfielder in the defensive block and deny the space in behind that teams like Belgium and Egypt want to exploit. Against a side they can push against, the 4-4-2 gives them more of a platform to get forward through Wood and the wide players and threaten on the break.
Forward · Nottingham Forest · Age 34 | New Zealand caps: 89 | International goals: 45 | All-time leading scorer
Wood has scored 45 goals in 89 appearances for New Zealand, which makes him the country’s all-time leading scorer and most-capped outfield player. At Nottingham Forest he scored 20 Premier League goals in 2024-25, his best ever season in the top flight, before a knee injury disrupted his preparation for this tournament. He returned to first-team action in April, started their Europa League quarter-final against Porto, and arrived at the World Cup fit and motivated to make the most of what is almost certainly his last appearance at this level. Everything New Zealand do going forward is built around his movement, his ability to hold the ball up under pressure and his instinct for being in the right place at the right moment.
Left back · Wrexham · Age 25
Cacace is one of the most important players in this squad when it comes to New Zealand’s ability to cause opponents problems going forward, and his role goes well beyond what you typically expect from a left back at this level. He plays in the Championship at Wrexham and has the technical quality and the engine to get forward repeatedly from left back and arrive in dangerous areas at the right moment. His delivery into the box is one of the most reliable attacking weapons in New Zealand’s armoury and his ability to provide width while also tracking back to defend gives Bazeley’s team a real balance on the left side. Against Iran in the opener, his crossing for Wood could be one of the defining features of the game.
Goalkeeper · Lechia Gdansk (loan from Bournemouth) · Age 23 | 7 senior caps
Paulsen is competing with the more experienced Max Crocombe of Millwall for the starting goalkeeper position, with Bazeley yet to confirm who will start the opener. Paulsen’s season at Lechia Gdansk in the Polish top flight has given him valuable European experience at 23, and his composure and shot-stopping quality have impressed throughout the qualifying campaign. In a team that will defend for long periods in every single game they play in Group G, whoever starts in goal will be one of the busiest and most important players on the pitch. Paulsen’s performance in the first game against Iran could determine how the goalkeeper selection plays out across the rest of the group stage.
Midfielder · Swansea City · Age 24 | Represented New Zealand at Tokyo 2020 Olympics
The midfield anchor who gives New Zealand their tactical foundation when the ball is not at Wood’s feet. Stamenic at Swansea City has developed into a composed and reliable central midfielder who can play in tight spaces, win the ball back and distribute cleanly under pressure. He represented New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics and has the big-match experience for someone his age that gives Bazeley confidence to build the entire defensive midfield structure around him. When New Zealand sit in their defensive block against Belgium and Egypt, Stamenic is the player who holds it all together.
New Zealand will make every opponent work hard for their points and that is not nothing in a tournament where upsets happen every four years. The Iran game on June 16 is their most important fixture; Ghalenoei’s side are experienced and organised but they have never been tested by a team with Wood’s aerial presence combined with Cacace’s delivery. A point from that match keeps New Zealand in contention for the rest of the group stage.
The betting angle worth looking at is the Egypt game on June 22 in Vancouver. Wood scored nine goals in qualifying, Cacace creates chances from left back and Bazeley’s team are not the kind of side that sits back and accepts a defeat without putting up a fight. If Egypt are not at their sharpest and Wood gets a sight of goal in the second half, it would not be the first time a New Zealand team caused a result that everyone remembered for years afterwards.
The 4-0 friendly defeat to Haiti raised eyebrows and gave every opponent in Group G extra confidence. But warm-up results at tournament level rarely tell the full story, and the All Whites under Bazeley have shown before that they save their best performances for when it matters.
