nd.While 1982 qualification is undoubtedly the crowning glory in New Zealand’s football history, they have won silverware in the form the OFC Nations Cup on no less than four occasions, the latest being 2008 in a group which doubled as the final stage of Oceania World Cup qualification. They have also competed in the Confederations Cup on three occasions.
New Zealand were the first winners of the OFC Nations Cup in 1973 when they beat Tahiti 2-0 in the final. The tournament wasn’t played regularly and in the next edition hosted by New Caledonia in 1980, New Zealand failed spectacularly by losing their two group games to Tahiti and Fiji.
However, glory was around the corner for the All Whites during the qualifying campaign for the 1982 World Cup. They topped their first round group ahead of perennial rivals Australia, having remained unbeaten through the 8 games. This took them to the final qualifying round with Kuwait, China and Saudi Arabia from which the top two teams would be going to Spain.
Thanks to a spectacular 5-0 away win in Saudi Arabia a week before Christmas 1981 in their final match, New Zealand finished joint second, tied with China on goal difference thanks to the five goals scored in Riyadh.
Under current rules, they would have progressed thanks to goals scored, but back then it went to a playoff on neutral ground in Singapore which the Kiwis won 2-1. New Zealand set numerous records on their first successful campaign. They played 15 qualifying matches and travelled 55,000 miles during qualification. Their 13-0 score against Fiji set a world cup record as did Steve Sumner’s six goals in that match. Also during qualifying goalkeeper Richard Wilson went a world cup record 921 minutes without conceding a goal.
In the Finals themselves, New Zealand lost their opening encounter 5-2 against Scotland in Malaga, and it went downhill from their, losing 3-0 to USSR and 4-0 to Brazil which was hardly a surprise. World Cup qualification would remain a distant dream in the years that followed, usually losing out in a playoff with Australia.
OFC Nations Cup hostilities resumed in 1996, with New Zealand losing a two-legged semi final to Australia, but revenge was gained in the 1998 final, New Zealand taking the title in Australia thanks to a goal from Mark Burton.
This took New Zealand to the 1999 Confederations Cup but back on the global stage it was another three defeats, this time to Brazil, Germany and USA.
The OFC title swapped again to Australia, and then back again to New Zealand in 2003 with a victory on home soil again beating Australia 1-0, this time scored by Ryan Nelsen. The 2003 Confederations Cup followed, but the story was the same. Three more defeats on the global stage, the punishment this time inflicted by Japan, Colombia and France.
Qualification for the 2006 World Cup doubled as the OFC Nations Cup, but New Zealand were embarrassed to be beaten in the semi finals by the Solomon Islands.
With Australia leaving the Oceania zone in 2006, that left New Zealand as the only “power” in the region, and helped them somewhat in their World Cup exploits. Again the 2008 Nations Cup tournament doubled as the qualification for the 2010 World Cup, and New Zealand comfortably topped the group in Australia’s absence to claim their fourth OFC Nations Cup title. With this came progression to the playoff with Bahrain, and a place in the 2009 Confederations Cup where New Zealand claimed their first point at global level, drawing 0-0 with the Iraq, having started in usual fashion with defeats to Spain and South Africa.
Other than 1982 and now 2010, New Zealand’s World Cup history is patchy to say the least. They first entered in 1970, on that occasion lasting a mere two matches, beaten home and away by Israel.
They finished bottom of their qualifying group again for 1974, finally recording their first World Cup victory in the 1978 qualifying, beating Chinese Taipei twice but losing out to Australia. The successful 1982 campaign followed, but after that it was slim pickings again, either losing out in a group or successfully navigating past some Pacific Island nations and then losing to Australia in a playoff.
New Zealand’s progress to next summer’s World Cup owes a lot to Australia’s move to Asia, but they still had to win their playoff which is a new experience for them. They are currently ranked 83rd by FIFA, which surprisingly wouldn’t make them the lowest ranked of the finalists. That honour would fall to hosts South Africa, currently two places below New Zealand. Their highest ever ranking of 49th came in 2003 and it’s a bit of a mystery how that happened.
At the very least, New Zealand’s fans will bring some excitement to the World Cup in South Africa, but the prospects of the team leaving with much to shout about are slim to none.
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