, is the national team of New Zealand and is controlled by New Zealand Football.
It has reached the World Cup Finals only once, in 1982, but lost all three games. Because of the lack of a high-quality domestic league, most talented New Zealand footballers play their trade in the higher-class leagues of Europe, the United States, and Australia.
New Zealand usually battled Australia for top honours in the OFC. However, this will no longer be the case as Australia now play in the Asian Football Confederation. New Zealand have won the OFC Nations Cup four times, in 1973, 1998, 2002 and 2008. The white strip was originally based on the colour of England's strip and name is in contrast with the rugby union team, the All Blacks.
Development
Despite its large player numbers, New Zealand football struggles to compete with other sports such as Rugby union, Rugby league and cricket, financially and for media exposure. The performance of the national team is further hindered by a relatively young semi-professional domestic league, the New Zealand Football Championship having been established in 2004. However, New Zealanders are represented in professional football by Wellington Phoenix FC, who compete in the Australian A-League.
The best known current players are Blackburn Rovers defender Ryan Nelsen and Celtic striker Chris Killen. Several young players have shown promise in breaking through into the senior side, including Tampere United midfielder Chris James and Jeremy Brockie.
FIFA Tournament Participation
New Zealand has competed in one FIFA World Cup Spain 1982 and in two Confederations Cups Mexico 1999 and France 2003. In each of these tournaments, the All Whites have failed to progress past the first round. New Zealand has also qualified for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, and have the opportunity to compete in the World Cup the next year should they defeat the 5th-placed AFC nation.
New Zealand have competed in every OFC Nations Cup since the tournament was established in 1973, when New Zealand both hosted and won the competition. The All Whites have won the Nations Cup four times, including the most recent tournament (2008 OFC Nations Cup)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!Year
!Tournament
!Result
!Pld
!W
!D
!L
!GF
!GA
|-
| 1973 | OFC Nations Cup | '''Winner | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 4
|
|-
| 1980 | OFC Nations Cup | Round 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8
|
|-
| 1982 World Cup | Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12
|-
| 1996 | OFC Nations Cup | Third Place (shared) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3
|
|-
| 1998 | OFC Nations Cup | Winner | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1
|
|-
| 1999 | Confederations Cup | Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6
|
|-
| 2000 | OFC Nations Cup | Runner Up | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3
|
|-
| 2002 | OFC Nations Cup | Winner | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2
|
|-
| 2003 | Confederations Cup | Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11
|
|-
| 2004 | OFC Nations Cup | Final Stage | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 5
|
|-
| 2008 | OFC Nations Cup | Winner | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 5
|
|-
| 2009 | Confederations Cup | colspan="8"| Qualified (To be played)
|
|}
Match Competition Record
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Type!! Played !! Win !! Draw !! Loss !! Goals For !! Goals Against !! Differential
|-
|Internationals Only | 309 | 132 | 49 | 124 | 582 | 492 | +90
|-
|All | |531 | 211 | 84 | 236 | 976 | 999 | -23
|}
Current squad
The following players have been called up for the All Whites during their 2008 World Cup qualifiers. [»http://www.nzsoccer.com/plugins/newsfeed.cgi?rm=content&plugin_data_id=24850][»http://www.radiosport.co.nz/SportsNews/spsoc/Detail.aspx?id=147697].
|caps=8|goals=0|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=15|goals=0|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=0|goals=0|club=Auckland City FC|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|-----
! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" |
|----- bgcolor="#DFEDFD"
|caps=34|goals=6|club=Blackburn Rovers|clubnat=ENG}}
|caps=5|goals=0|club=Red Bull New York|clubnat=USA}}
|caps=16|goals=0|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=16|goals=3|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=15|goals=1|club=Macarthur Rams|clubnat=Australia}}
|caps=8|goals=0|club=Auckland City FC|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=0|goals=0|club=Waitakere United|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=7|goals=1|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|-----
! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" |
|----- bgcolor="#DFEDFD"
|caps=21|goals=0|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=14|goals=0|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=19|goals=3|club=Waitakere United|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=14|goals=1|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=50|goals=6|club=Unattached|clubnat=}}
|caps=7|goals=0|club=Tampere United|clubnat=Finland}}
|caps=22|goals=2|club=Columbus Crew|clubnat=USA}}
|caps=1|goals=0|club=Waitakere United|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=0|goals=0|club=Hawke's Bay United|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|-----
! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" |
|----- bgcolor="#DFEDFD"
|caps=8|goals=0|club=Team Wellington|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=0|goals=0|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=0|goals=0|club=Kristiansund BK|clubnat=Norway}}
|caps=0|goals=0|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=21|goals=8|club=Celtic|clubnat=Scotland}}
|caps=17|goals=11|club=Wellington Phoenix|clubnat=New Zealand}}
|caps=11|goals=0|club=Toronto FC|clubnat=Canada}}
Caps and goals accurate as of 22 October 2008.
Notable Squads
Notable players
The following is a list of notable players who have achieved more than 50 A-international caps for New Zealand, been inducted into the New Zealand Hall of Fame, received an international award or represented more than one country at international level.
{|
|- style="vertical-align:top"
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|}
vs New Zealand friendly match at Craven Cottage, London 9th June 2005]]
Notes and references
External links
}}
, | title = Oceanian Champions
, | years = 1998 (Second title)
, | after = 2000
}}
, | title = Oceanian Champions
, | years = 2002 (Third title)
, | after = 2004
}}
, | title = Oceanian Champions
, | years = 2008 (Fourth title)
, | after = Incumbent
}}
|