[Source: New Zealand Football]
The All Whites made history last night at Eden Park, qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026 by winning the Oceania Qualifiers final 3-0 against New Caledonia in front of 25,132 fans in Auckland.
The win sees Aotearoa New Zealand represented at the biggest sporting event in the world for the first time in 16 years, after the iconic 2010 and 1982 campaigns.
After a tight first half which saw the All Whites dominate the game but fail to find the net after some great defending by New Caledonia, the second half saw Darren Bazeley’s side find the breakthrough.
Michael Boxall had never scored for the All Whites in all of his 55 appearances but picked the most significant of times to change that.
With an hour played, substitute Francis de Vries fired in a pinpoint corner and Boxall was first to get his head to it, breaking the tension in the ground and sending the large Kiwi crowd into raptures.
Five minutes later it was two.
Kosta Barbarouses, on for the injured Chris Wood, was put through on goal by Wellington Phoenix clubmate Tim Payne and the All Whites forward managed to lob the onrushing keeper to double the lead.
With ten minutes left to player the result was sealed with a third goal.
Some great work from de Vries on the wing saw the Auckland FC left-back pick out Barbarouses on the edge of the box who quickly laid it off to substitute Eli Just in space.
Just took one touch to control the ball and then another to place the ball in the back of the net and secure the All Whites ticket to Canada, Mexico, and the USA in 2026.
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