WELLINGTON: New Zea­land’s players are carrying the hurt of failing to qualify for three straight World Cups and that pain should help them beat Fiji en route to the 2026 fin­als, coach Darren Bazeley said.

The All Whites were previously defeated in the intercontinental play­offs but should sail into the expanded 48-team event in North America as Oceania’s dominant team.

They play Fiji in the Oceania semi-finals in Wellington on Friday, with the winner to play either New Caledonia or Tahiti next week for a direct ticket to 2026.

“Obviously, those intercontinental games were big games, big moments,” Englishman Bazeley told reporters on Wednesday.

“What we have now is a lot of players who experienced the hurt of not qualifying, whether that was [against] Mexico, Peru or Costa Rica, and it hurts, the players are hurting.

“Some of the players know that they missed out on these moments, so that makes it more challenging for Fiji, knowing that we have a team that won’t be complacent. They are ready and know they have this opportunity in front of them, and they are ready to take it. It’s a been a while since we went to the World Cup and we are determined to go back there.”

New Zealand have been to the World Cup twice, in 1982 and 2010, but are yet to win a game on the biggest stage of all.

The semi-final is a huge mismatch on paper at least, with world number 89 New Zealand playing a 148th-ranked side of amateur footballers. Bazeley said it was difficult for the players to avoid getting caught up in expectations but backed them to do the job.

“We know that we’re the favourites with the squad that we have but we also know its a game of football ... We’re expecting a good, tough game.”

Captain Chris Wood, the only player in the squad to play in a World Cup the last time New Zealand qualified, will be a focal point up front having scored 18 goals for Nottin­gham Forest in the Premier League this season.

Wood called the upcoming matches “massive for us as a nation”.

“Those hardships that you go through strive you on for bigger and better things, and that’s what this moment has in time,” said the striker. “We’ve got a chance on Friday to do something great and I do believe Oceania should have automatic entry (to the World Cup) since a long time ago. This is truly a fair way of doing it and our confederation should be represented in some sort of way.”

Bazeley said it was up to Wood’s team-mates to give him the same service he has enjoyed at Forest.

“What Chris is doing is amazing. Scoring goals at the highest level in the toughest league in the world — and consistently — is great,” added the coach. “We’ve got some good players in the squad that are up for that challenge and they want to also supply good service for Chris to score goals.”

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2025